Tram or Burro?

I was watching an absurd comedian on television a few weeks ago. He was telling of a trip to Greece with his wife and a side excursion to the top of some minor mountain top.

"Now the tourists have two options to the top... you can take an aerial tram, takes two minutes, or you can ride a burro, which takes all friggin' afternoon.

"The guy renting the burros has to have about the worst sales pitch in the world...

" 'You can take the burros to the top of the mountain, or you can take the tram. The price is the same.'

"Now I don't know about you, but if I was trying to rent burros, I'd keep that little piece of information to myself."

He got his laughs, I smiled a little. I knew the point wasn't about the comfort or the speed to the top of that grecian mountaintop. It was about experiencing Greece. It was about going to the top to watch the sun set, or appreciate the archipelago. The whole point in going on a trip like that is to appreciate the place itself, its beauty, its culture. It isn't about speed.

I might very well choose the burro if I had the time.

I understand his point though. We like to do things fast, easy, conveniently.

Want to lose weight? Surely there must be a pill for it. Let's fax it, email it, order it online. Let's do it virtually, swallow the capfull, drag the ol' Ab Do-er into the living room.

Want to get closer to God? Change the radio station to a Christian one, or get to your seat in church on time.

Want life to be easy?

Me too.

I walked into the counselor yesterday. We made small talk. I sat silently, impatiently. We finally got to business. Brenda reported the events of the past week.

What a mess.

I had three options for Brenda and they had one trait in common trait: they were quick. Each had a finality about them, an immediate resolution. A nice and tidy conclusion to a messy situation.

The counselor had a fourth option. One that hasn't a quick resolution. One which requires more work, more prayer, more patience from me.

It offered help for Brenda, healing, time to catch her breath, time to learn to make good decisions.

Being human is a strange thing. We are spiritual beings trapped in physical bodies driven by animal needs and desires. We are so far removed from our true home, the one we have been adopted into. We are visitors to this world, this foyer into eternal life.

We are sort of like middle schoolers. No matter what is next in their schedule they are eager to be dismissed from their current location to rush to science or math or Language Arts. I would like to rush through this, get past the messy part.

The point of being here isn't just to complete the task. It isn't about getting to the top of the mountain and getting the snapshot that can be emailed home or uploaded onto a blog. The point of being here is to learn, to grow, to understand who we are, what we are about, even if the learning is difficult. Maybe it is even to help each other, especially those we love.

I may be just a visitor to this mortal life, but I know that sometimes I should take the burro, not the tram.

I want this to be over. I want us to move on. I want my wife to say she is sorry, that she loves me, that we can be whole again.

Instead I find that my wife needs me, that she is ill and it is my job to do as I vowed, to love and cherish in sickness and in health.

So, there's a steep mountain ahead. The fellow renting the burros tells me the tram is faster and the same price. But I know that the purpose here is to do what is right, to experience this “vacation from eternity.” Besides, I think the guy renting the burros is my Lord in disguise.