Opposites Attract

Appreciating what is different

 Luke 17:33-37

Jesus said to his disciples: “Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it. I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. And there will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken, the other left.”  They said to him in reply, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the body is, there also the vultures will gather.”

            Boys and girls, have you ever heard the phrase, “opposites attract”?  What does that mean?  Well, it means that things that are very different –even the opposite of each other—go very well together.  The world is a more fun and exciting place because people are different and not all the same.  Now we’re going to play a little game.  I’ll say a word and you tell me its opposite.  Ready?  “White.”  The opposite is “black.”  That was too easy.  How about “peanut butter”?  The opposite is “jelly.”  Here’s a hard one, “hands.”  The opposite is “feet.”  Here’s a really easy one, “Arkansas Razorbacks.”  The opposite is “LSU Tigers.”  You see, life is more fun and exciting when you have opposites: white and black, hands and feet, peanut butter and jelly, the Razorbacks and the Tigers.

          In the gospel today, we see Jesus also likes opposites.  He says: “He who seeks to preserve his life will lose it, and he who loses his life will save it.”  What are the two opposites that Jesus puts together?  To save and to lose.  It’s funny, isn’t it?  Jesus sees that “saving” and “losing” are two opposites that go good together for Christians.  When we lose something, we actually save it.  When we make sacrifices for others (lose something) we will gain a lot more in return (save something).  I gave up my own family and kids by not being married to be a priest, but now I have over 300 kids in our school!  I gained a lot more than I lost.  The two opposites: “loss” and “gain” go good together and make life more fun and exciting.

           Boys and girls, sometimes we want the world to be all the same: everyone should look the same, everyone should dress the same, everyone should think the same.  We think that the best friends are those who think and dress and act just like we do.  But that would make life very boring.  Instead, look for ways that opposites attract and make life more fun and exciting.  Today, try to find more opposites that attract, especially Christian opposites; opposites that Jesus would put together.  Here are a few more opposites for you: boys and…girls, Summer and…Winter, Cowboys and…Steelers, democrats and…republicans, wining and…losing.  I think we’ve lost enough football games now, so now it’s time to enjoy the opposites: winning, especially against LSU on Saturday!

Praised be Jesus C

hrist!