He said to them in reply, “Whoever has two tunics should share with the person who has none." // Luke 3:11
He clutched both suckers, one in each hand. His defiant seven-year-old face glowed red with tears and a post-holiday candy-induced rage. "She will never get one of them! No!"
I heaved myself off the couch to begin the stream of correction. Yes, you have to share and you have had too much candy in the first place and we want to practice kindness in our family. But he really only wanted to share if it meant a negotiation. If his older brother gave a better size and better flavored one, he'd dump something on the four year old. If he got more suckers later, he'd share. Lots of "if" statements were bantered about. I was tired, and a bit sugared out myself.
Saint John the Baptist didn't tell the crowds to share strategically if they felt like it would be to their advantage, or to share one cloak when they had worn through it, akin to my child eventually being willing to share the green apple flavored sucker (because who likes those??).
The Baptist told those with two to give to the person who had none. Who has nothing in your life when you have plenty?
Is it your roommate who longs for an invitation out on a date while you complain passive aggressively with a #blessed about your boyfriend?
Is it your friend who is piecing together kid Christmas gifts while you're fielding and vetoing extended family's lists for your kids?
Is it your coworker without any belief in a God Who loves her and you're a regular Mass go-er, delighting by Jesus coming to you in the Eucharist?
Let's sit with the two cloaks to zero parallels in our lives today. Let's think about how we bargain and barter and try to finish somehow on top. What if you gave, wildly, recklessly, and with a deep love? No strings attached.
What if we gave like God gives to us?
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