There’s a passage in the book, A Gentleman from Moscow by Amor Towles, that reminded me of today’s Gospel. The book begins in 1922 in Russia at the end of the Russian Civil War and the formation of the USSR. The protagonist, an aristocrat by the name of Count Alexander Rostov, has committed the crime of being born into the aristocracy. He is sentenced to life in a 5-star hotel in Moscow. If he steps outside the hotel he will be killed.
The rest of the story revolves around his life in the hotel. One of the many friendships he has in the ensuing years is with a man named Osip Glebnikov, the Chief Administrator of the secret police in Russia, who asks the Count to help him with learning French and English. He also wants help in understanding the European and American mindset. A mindset very foreign to someone like Osip who has never left Russia. Every few months Osip and the Count meet at the hotel for dinner and a tutoring session. As the years pass the Count tutors Osip in French and French culture, followed by British culture and then American culture.
For one dinner the Count asks Osip to read, Tocqueville’s, Democracy in America, and they meet to discuss the book.
Osip says, “And here. A few chapters later, he singles out their unusual passion for material well-being. The minds of Americans, he (Tocqueville) says are universally preoccupied with meeting the body’s every need and attending to life’s little comforts. And that was in 1840. Imagine if he had visited them in the 1920s!”
Imagine what Tocqueville would have thought if he visited America in 2024! What would Jesus think? I guess it’s part of our ingenuity and entrepreneurship as Americans to discover ways to make life easier and make money off it. There’s nothing inherently bad about making life more comfortable, but could I let go of all my nice gadgets and comforts without hesitation. Like the rich young man in today’s Gospel, I know it wouldn’t be easy for me.
Occasionally I like to mentally torture myself by imaging Jesus asking me to empty my retirement account and trusting him that everything will be okay. And my immediate reaction is identical to the rich young man plus all my muscles tense up and I get a little tachycardic and sweaty. I like this exercise because it reminds me of my lack of trust in Jesus, but it also makes me consider: when do I have enough? Am I just accumulating money or stuff beyond what I need and merely because I can? Who do I rely on more, myself or Jesus.
Trusting and following God is difficult but the more we trust the more we strengthen our relationship with God. Luckily, it’s through God’s grace, not our own actions that we are given eternal life. When the disciples ask, if the wealthy struggle to be saved then who can be saved? Jesus responds, “For human beings it is impossible, but not for God…”
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