“I'm shakin' the dust of this crummy little town
off my feet and I'm gonna see the world.”
-George
Bailey, “It’s a Wonderful Life”
Who hasn’t, at times, felt the urge to “shake the
dust off your feet” and move on? To just let go of the past, the people who
reject you, the town that seems to offer no future? When Jesus sent His
disciples out to preach the Gospel, He told them, “Whatever place does not
welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in
testimony against them.” Who among us would want this kind of testimony against
us when we face the Lord on the day of judgement? Yet so many people close
their ears to the Good News, carelessly rejecting Jesus and His Bride, the
Church. The Gospel has been shared in every nation, but is not welcome
everywhere even now, 2000 years later. It’s enough to make Christians want to
shake the dust off our feet and move on!
But then we think about those people in our lives
who still don’t know the love of Christ. They may have heard the Good News, but
somehow it hasn’t truly entered their hearts. They may even ridicule our
Christian beliefs. And we’re tempted to move on, shaking off the dust. But even
if our family and friends don’t welcome our attempts at evangelization, we don’t
really want to leave them behind. Instead, we keep trying, quietly, patiently, with
much prayer, to reach their hearts. And we ask Jesus for His mercy for them,
the mercy that saved us all. We know our Lord is merciful, loving, and patient
with them, just as He was with us.
Perhaps the disciples needed to move on quickly, so that the Good News could go out to the whole world. But for most of us, our vocation may be somewhat different. We are called to live out our life in a family, a community, and we are placed where we are by God. So we may not always want to shake off the dust and leave. There are times when we should keep on trying, keep on praying, never
knowing what a difference our witness might make. As George’s guardian angel, Clarence,
says at the end of “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “Strange, isn’t it? Each man’s life
touches so many others. And when he isn’t around, he leaves an awful hole,
doesn’t he?”
So, like George, we stay another year in that crummy
little town and keep trying to make a difference, touching the lives of the
people we love. In the end, God willing, may we discover our life's purpose has been fulfilled, our work is done, and on Judgment Day, may we stand humbly before the Lord with many, many, people by our side.
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