From Steve Hammond, Principal

Chapel Reflection

September 13, 2006

You can't reason with Hurricane Season!

Hurricanes are out there. And they will visit us sooner or later.

We just finished a bout with Ernesto. Florence and others are out there in the Atlantic and will pass us by. Hurricanes are pretty much unavoidable. The deal is not that we can stop the Hurricane, but the deal is to be prepared when they come.

If we are not prepared for a Hurricane, it can be pretty disastrous. It uproots trees, tears down houses, throws everything around...it can be scary stuff. We don't really want hurricanes to visit us, but no matter how hard we try, you can't reason a hurricane away. You can't reason with hurricane season! No matter how hard you try.

But you can prepare for it.

Put some food away. Get a First aid kit. Board up the shutters. Leave town if you have to. Go to high ground. Stay tuned to the weather channel. Get ready for the storm. So when it gets here, you will be safe and everything will be alright.

We have Hurricanes in our lives. That is sometimes we have problems. Issues. Most of the time these problems are RELATIONAL.

In fact, what makes us unhappy most of the time is a present relationship that is not going well. Might be with a brother, sister, mother, father, aunt, uncle, friend, or classmate.

The winds start blowing. The clouds get dark. The rains come down. The thunder rolls. The lightening strikes. Oh, these relational hurricanes can be scary in our lives. Just as scary as real hurricanes. And sometimes the people who are causing these kinds of hurricanes are behaving very poorly.

Sometimes.despite your best effort, you can't reason with these people. We learned last week, that the only person's behavior that YOU can change is YOURS! You can't change another person's behavior and they can't change yours. They are the only ones who can choose to change their behavior, and you are the only one who can change yours. Jesus knew this in today's Gospel.

In the Gospel, Jesus was not going to reason with Peter. Peter was telling him, "Hey, Jesus, wait a minute. You don't have to suffer. Not you. You don't have to carry that cross. We can duck this, you know. Let's not go there."

Jesus said to Peter (his really good friend), the friend and disciple that he would build the Church on,

GET BEHIND ME, SATAN!

Jesus drew a boundary. He chose to act in a certain way. He knew what he stood for and he knew what he would not stand for. (If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.)

He was not going to try and reason with Peter. He was simply saying: "You might believe that, You might do that, You might go there, but I'm not going to."

He was saying I'm in control of my behavior. You're not. You have your own choices to make. I have my choices to make.

He knew that we all have Hurricanes in our lives. Jesus is saying to be prepared for those Hurricanes.

How do you do this?

Know what you stand for; know what you will not stand for. Set your boundaries now, so when the Hurricane comes, you don't have to think what to do. You just will do.

HOW DO YOU respond?
When someone gets angry....How do you respond?
When someone criticizes you...How do you respond?
When someone tempts you....How do you respond?
When someone treats others mean...How do you respond?
When your friends do mean things to someone else, how do you respond?
If someone you know sends a mean note to a classmate, how do you respond?
If your friend wants to trash someone's locker, how do you respond?

The choices you make in these situations will tell others who you are and what you stand for. Sometimes it is not a question for reasoning. Just acting. And showing everyone WHO you are. So prepare now so you can make good choices later.

And if it takes saying to your best friend, "Get behind me, Satan." Then do it.