Helping Shorty Through the Roof

I went to Church on Sunday. I love my pastor, Father Jerry DiSpigno, at Mary Immaculate Church in Bellport, NY. He isn't "preachy" when he does his Homily. He doesn't lecture, the way a lot of priests do. He speaks to people on their level. He relates to his congregation. He is very motivating, which is one of the reasons I love him so much. (And I don't mean I love him the way I love chocolate. I truly love him as a human being, and a part of me would be missing if I wasn't able to speak with him or at least see him in church.) I truly admire him.

Anyway, this Sunday's Gospel was about Jesus and the paralytic. Now, those of you that know me know that I'm not a "Bible Thumper" or anything to that effect. I don't read the Bible on a daily basis, but I can certainly quote it. I'm an Italian Catholic. I pray before bed and say grace before dinner. God has a place in my life. I'm not one of those people that pushes religion on anyone, but you better believe my kids are going to Catholic school. (FYI - 99% of students that graduate Catholic school go on to graduate college.) I don't usually talk about my religion or my spirituality because, frankly, I feel that it is private.

But, I really related to the Gospel over the weekend.  I will copy and paste the Gospel (Mark 2:1-12) after this blog entry so that you can see what I'm talking about.

Basically, in this Gospel four friends take their fifth friend - a paralyzed dude - to see Jesus in Capernaum. They had faith that Jesus could help their friend walk again. Well, when they got there, people mobbed where Jesus was and the five friends couldn't get in. So, they climbed the building (remember, one of them was paralyzed, so this was a feat), broke a hole in the roof right over Jesus and lowered their paralyzed friend down in front of Jesus on his mat.

Jesus forgave the paralyzed man of his sins. The scribes around him thought Jesus was blasphemous, saying that only God could forgive sins. Jesus told them that man can forgive, too. With that, he told Shorty the paralytic to get his mat and leave. Shorty stood up, took his mat and left with his friends.

Now, this blog is all about me working from home and building a business. "What," you may ask, "does this have to do with working from home?"

My dear reader, it has everything to do with working from home.

I was talking with Dionne tonight, and I told her about the Gospel I heard in Church. Dionne has been feeling down lately (as have I). and I thought that this would cheer her up some. I'm not trying to be funny or blasphemous in what I am about to write, but here goes...

The four friends that believed so much in Jesus believed that they could make their friend walk again. Even if Shorty didn't believe that he could be healed, his friends believed Him. They believe in Him so much that they carried Shorty to Capernaum, scaled a building with him, busted through a roof, and lowered their friend down to that Jesus could heal him. They believed. It didn't matter if anyone else believed. They believed.

With my business, a lot of people have said some nasty things to me and behind my back. Even my own husband thought it was a scam in the very beginning. He had some negative things to say, but he believes now. I believe in this business. I see how it works, albeit on a very small scale (so far). I have seen what it does for other people that work the business. So does Dionne. So does Sam. So do a lot of other people on my team. The point is, however, it doesn't matter to me if they believe in it or not; I believe in it.

The four friends wanted to help their paralytic friend walk again. They wanted him to have a better quality of life. So, they brought Shorty to the man that could help him get that quality of life. They carried their friends a far distance, up a building and down a roof.  With my business, people cannot do it on their own. I guess they could, but it would be outrageously hard to succeed. Could you imagine how hard it would be for one man to carry another man several towns away, scale a building with him on his back, break a hole into a roof, and then lower said friend and his mat through a roof? It would have been impossible. But it wasn't just one man doing it-- It was four friends working as a team to help their friend get a better quality of life. That's a metaphor for what we do on my team... We help people achieve a better quality of life. We do it because it affects us on a personal and spiritual level. Do you know what it is like to be thanked by someone because they are able to pay for their son's new bed because you showed them how to work from home? It's an amazing feeling. Truly, truly amazing. And then they, of course, want to help others. That's what my business is about. That's what my team is about. 

Finally, the story is about forgiveness. I've helped a lot of people through the roof, and they've spat on my, ridiculed me, taken me for granted, whatever. My feelings have been hurt so many times in this business (and outside of it, when I think about things). I have a bad habit of harboring resentment. I don't necessarily hold a grudge, but I don't forget things. I have a hard time forgiving the people that hurt me, too... I want to prove them wrong. Honestly, I should just forgive these people and let go. Let them take their mat and leave. Jesus says that man can forgive, and I think that sometimes we all forget that. I'm going to focus on remembering that a little bit more, and I think I'll be able to get centered better on the things that really matter to me.

Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man

¹ A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. ² They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. ³ Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. ⁴ Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. ⁵ When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
⁶ Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, ⁷ “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
⁸ Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? ⁹ Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? ¹⁰ But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, ¹¹ “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” ¹² He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”