Meeting God in Unexpected Places

In today’s first reading, 2 Kgs. 5: 1-15b, a little slave girl, an Israelite captured in a Aramean battle with the Israelites, believes beyond a doubt, that Naaman, the army commander of the King of Aram, would be cured of leprosy if he were willing go to the prophet in Samaria, willing to go into enemy territory.  Naaman goes and when he presents himself to the king of Israel, he encounters an angry, suspicious king. “I’m not God.  He just wants to pick a fight with me.” No faith there!  Openness to a miracle? Are you kidding!  He’s too caught up in his own importance. Naaman leaves the king and goes to
Elisha, the prophet of Israel. When the prophet sends out a messenger, Naaman is angered: “He doesn’t even come out to meet me in person and denies me the respect  I, commander of the Aramean army,  deserve.” Naaman is also insulted by the message: go bade 7xs in the River Jordan. “What? We have rivers in my own country. Why should I bade in your river?”  Naaman’s friends challenge him:  “Set your pride aside. If the prophet had asked you to do something extraordinary, you would not have hesitated. But because he only asked that you bade 7xs in the River Jordan,  you refuse. Go now and do as he suggested that you might be healed of your leprosy.”  Naaman listens to his friends.

 Many times what God asks of us seems ridiculous, even insulting, repugnant.  We dig in our heels and refuse to follow God’s lead because it didn’t come to us in the form we wanted it.  “I deserve better,” we reason.  “What kind of a request is that,” we angrily ask.  Coming from her? Coming from him? In the River Jordan? In Nazareth?   We can very much be like Naaman, like the angry, suspicious king, or like the people in the Gospel who, when they realized Jesus was challenging their lack of faith, attempted to destroy Him. Or we can be like the little slave girl and the prophet Elisha. And, yes, we can be converted by listening to those who point out our irrational thinking patterns and point us in the right direction.