After several weeks of reading from the Bread of Life discourse, this week we return to Mark’s Gospel and it’s a doozy. Jesus pulls no punches as he goes after those who focus on the wrong things. The scribes and Pharisees were more concerned about traditions and customs than they were about God’s commandments. Another way of looking at this is: Are we more concerned about how something gets done or getting the job done?
I had a conversation with a student who was learning common core and she argued that it was vitally important that students learn different methods to get the answer rather than getting the answer correct. I explained to her that my father could add up all of the groceries in his head before the cashier did with the machine, yet in her system of common core he would have been marked down because he didn’t show his work. I said which is more important the method or the answer?
My mother taught me how to do dishes by hand. I found a more efficient way to do them. However, she wanted them done her way. I said which is more important—getting the dishes clean or doing them your way? After I broke a few dishes she saw that my way was better (yes, I was that kind of a child).
Too often, we get caught up the method rather than the why of an issue. Another way of putting it is, can we not see the forest for the trees? May our prayer this week be, “Lord help me to see the bigger picture and focus on what is truly important rather than dwelling on insignificant details.
