Today, a friend with whom I grew up posted a wise proverb on his Facebook page:
"There is nothing to be learned from the second kick of the mule."
You might find a lot of wisdom in this, and I have to say that I agree with it. If this is so, then why do we so often find that we can recognize a particular mule by the way that it kicks? I think that there is more than one reason.
Many of us live in denial. We don’t believe that it will happen again. Just because we think that we didn’t deserve it, we magically believe that it won’t happen again. Surely the mules will figure out the error of their ways eventually!
Sometimes we’re willing the pay the price because it seems like a fair trade for doing what we want to do. I do not know what particular benefit might accrue from standing near the posterior of a mule, but I can’t rule out the possibility. Perhaps I would come running up to the back side of a mule if Kate was riding a mule and began to fall off its rump. Which is just a good reason to keep Kate away from mules (literal or figurative).
It could be that our self image is so poor that we think that we deserve the kick. Poor me. I deserve to stand behind mules. The fact that God created me and loves me is irrelevant compared to the fact that Jaime Bob or Billy Bob think that my nose hairs are too long. Just kick me. That will increase my justification for acting pathetic and helpless. If God knew that having long nose hair would be so socially painful, why did he give me this unbearable burden?
Perhaps the second kick comes because we don’t have a teacher like Jesus. Jesus seems to want to keep those he loves from the second kick. This is what I hear when I read Mark 10:35-45:
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you."
And he said to them, "What is it you want me to do for you?"
And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory."
But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"
They replied, "We are able."
Then Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared."
When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John.
Jesus called them and said to them, "You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."
Did we catch what Jesus said? “You know that among the Gentiles . . . .” You already know this to be true. You have already been kicked by that mule. Do you really want to be kicked by that mule again because you do the very same thing again? Be wise. Learn from the first kick.
When I read this story, I think about the children that we love. Even the wisest of them have times when they get the second kick. It’s not that they don’t feel the kick. They tend to make the same irrational excuses for receiving the kick that we do. If we warn them, sometimes they will refuse to listen to us, or refuse to make the connection. Sometimes, if we are willing to be patient enough, they will let us be Jesus to them and allow us to guide them from the second kick.
This means that they will have to trust us. After all, they prejudge the usefulness of our advice by the day-to-day kindness evident in our language, the hour-to-hour love revealed by our action. If they don’t feel safe with us, how can they feel safe taking our advice?
If we want children to see us as a savior in the time of trouble, then we must first be the servant who serves, and walks, and suffers alongside them.
Blessings,
Ron
