What to bring in

Jesus, help me decide whether I need to "cut off" my impatience with rules! Amen.

"If your hand makes you sin, cut it off," Jesus said. "It's better to go to heaven with one hand than to have two hands and not get into heaven. If your eye makes you sin, take it out. It's better to enter heaven with one eye than to have two and not go to heaven."

As the school year starts, lots of kids are writing about what they did over the summer. If you went to a ballgame, flew to a vacation spot or waited in line at an amusement park, you probably learned that the rules are strict about what you can bring!

Many places won't let you have cameras, big backpacks or even bottles of water any more. Even though it bugs you to have your bags searched and some things refused, you understand that it's better to buy drinks at the game than not go to the game at all.

That's exactly the point Jesus makes in this week's Gospel (Mark 9:39-48)! He uses some scary terms, but He's saying that if a bad habit is distracting you from being close to God, try as hard as you can to break that habit, because it's more important to hang onto heaven than some silly habit.

Some people get angry when they have to obey new rules about what you can bring on a plane or to a ballpark or amusement park. Not all rules make sense, and it may have been a pain for you to remember what you could and couldn't bring on vacation.

But the Gospel story taught that, before arguing that the rules are dumb, we need to decide whether it's worth it to argue. Did you enjoy a day on the roller-coasters -- even though you didn't have a backpack with you? Did you take your first plane ride -- even though you had to take off your shoes before getting on the plane?

If arguing is making you cranky, Jesus said, "Cut it off." That means stop arguing, so you can get inside and enjoy the ride!