"John the Baptist said, “I am the voice of the one crying out in the desert, make straight the way of the Lord"

John 1:25

How ya doing? That is probably one of the most commonly asked questions we human beings ask one another. If you do not know, I teach just about everyone I come into contact with to respond, "Blessed." Why? Because we are infinitely blessed, twenty-four hours around the clock all the way to the timelessness of heaven. With Jesus anchored in our heart, there is no way in which we are not blessed.

So, how ya doing? I know many times we can answer, "All right". That can be a way of not having to go into things or covering up our true selves. If we are trying to cover up by saying all is all right when all is not all right then that makes us a phony. I now propose another way we can answer the question as to how we are doing, "I am not all right. And you are not all right. But Jesus is all right." It is a great way to admit our sin and brokenness and need and profess that we have the perfect answer to our dilemma.

Consider the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10. Here was a greedy, lonely man who was hated by many if not most all. He was not happy and things were not all right. He was looking for something different, something more than money and the high life. He must have seen how Jesus sparked love and life and joy and peace in all those who would accept him into their lives. He knew he wasn't all right but he also saw how Jesus made things all right. So, he invited Jesus, who has always been and will always be all right, into his life.

Be honest- what is not all right in your life right now? You may be good at admitting it or you may have spent your whole life as a phony, saying everything is all right when it is not. John the Baptist exhorts us to make straight the way of the Lord. He just wants us, who are not all right, to open wide the doors to the One who is all right so that we can become more all right until we are fully all right. That is what Zacchaeus teaches us to do.

I am not all right. And you are not all right. But Jesus is all right.

PS- I still encourage you to say "Blessed" when you are asked how you are doing but it is important to admit to yourself and God and, at least some others that everything is not all right all the time and in that way let the infinite blessing of God come into it. Make sense? Let me know what you think- I value that!

+Fr. John

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