The Riddling God

Back when I was going to A.A. meetings -- honest, it was to support a relative, not for me; I'm 40 years old and have never been drunk in my life -- there was an popular story doing the rounds.

Once there was a drunken sluggard who had a court appointment. A trio of A.A. members got wind of the event and showed up in court alongside the inebriate. As the judge was about to pronounce sentence for some drinking misdeed, the three men stood up and asked that the judge suspend sentence until they had a chance to work with the chap.

"We know something about this kind of man," the trio said. "Give him to us for a month. If we can't keep him sober for four weeks, we'll bring him back and then you can sentence him."

Though skeptical, the judge relented for the requested time.

During the next month the three men tag-teamed to keep the tippler from falling off the wagon. Day and night they took turns keeping him company, telling him stories to distract him, making him shave, feeding him healthy food, getting him to bed on time, and in general holding his hand and doing whatever it took to keep him sober.

On the appointed day the three exhausted men showed up in court with their well-groomed, cleaned-up trophy and presented him to the judge.

"That's the most amazing thing I ever saw," the judge declared. "One man kept three drunks sober for a month."

God can have us build the altar in one spot so that the fire from Heaven can come down in another place. And Job reminds us that the mysteries of Heaven are more satisfying than the answers of men. Our task is to keep to the duty God has called us to, which is first to see that we save our own souls; the outcome for the rest is in our Lord and our Lady's gracious hands