So it was no easy task for my student to extract the bag from my arm. In fact, the bag that he happened to grab was looped under the other, and my closed hand was making it impossible for him to remove. We had a momentary tug-of-war. I couldn’t explain what the problem was. I didn’t want to drop my keys. He was determined to help.
There have been countless times during my work in this ministry when I have experienced awkward moments. I don’t know if it makes any sense, but it just seems that there is so much more opportunity to look like an idiot when you are attempting to communicate across language and culture barriers. Or, maybe it’s just me.
Whatever the case, I am slowly getting used to it. I have begun to feel God’s presence more distinctly in these moments. And the awkwardness is becoming more instructive than destructive for me. It is in the awkward moments that I am faced with my true self. It is here that I am forced to laugh or cry, to go on or to give up. It was at this particular moment, held captive by plastic bags, that I recalled a story I had heard about a technique hunters were using to catch monkeys.
It seems that if you place a desirable object in a clear glass jar in the jungle, a monkey will attempt to retrieve it. To catch the monkey, the jar needs to be heavier than the monkey is. It also needs to have a neck barely large enough for the monkey’s arm. Placed where he can see it, the monkey will soon attempt to get the object inside. It won’t take him long to realize he must reach into the jar through the neck. And in no time, he will grasp the object inside. But in so doing, he will have made a fist. And his fist, which is too large to fit back through the hole, essentially locks him to the jar. His desire to have the object holds him in place for hours. Even the approach of the hunters does not persuade the monkey to drop his prize and escape.
In the end, I laughed as I remembered the story and realized the only solution was to let go of my keys. My student and I managed to extract the bags from my arm. We survived the awkward moment. He has become one of my best students.
But it was through this event, and my struggle with this awkward moment that I was reminded of the profound truth in the monkey’s folly. We are so often held in place by those things we refuse to give up. Sometimes they are obvious things, like cars and houses. But sometimes they are hopes and dreams, or even anger and bitterness. Sometimes pride, as we allow ourselves to suffer awkward moments. It is in letting go that we become free.
When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.
Luke 18:22, 23
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Matthew 6:21
Great teaching Maggie
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