Sunday Inbox Inspirations
33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Cycle B
November 14, 2021
Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
There is a rather famous American short story written over a hundred years ago.
The story is titled Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. Maybe you have heard of it or even read it.
The setting is the Civil War, and it is about a Confederate sympathizer who is about to be hanged by some Union soldiers. The soldiers march this man out to the bridge over Owl Creek.
The man’s wrists and ankles are tied, and a noose is put around his neck. The commanding officer barks the order, and the condemned man falls.
But then, the rope breaks, and the man goes into the river below. He sinks down into the water and miraculously frees his hands and feet.
He realizes that he now has a second chance at life. As he swims or floats down the river, he is struck by the beauty of the leaves on the trees.
He notices the blueness of the sky. Never has the world looked so beautiful, and he senses how great it is to be alive.
Finally, he swims ashore and starts to walk. Soon he comes to a house, and he can’t believe his eyes because he is back home.
His wife comes running out to greet him. But then, just as they are embracing, the story flips back to Owl Creek Bridge.
Shockingly, the body of this same man is hanging there. The man had only imagined in the split second that he fell to his death that he had gotten a second chance at life.
In that split second, he had seen life for what it is – as a precious gift to be appreciated. He had realized how differently he would have lived if only he had been given a second chance.
A Second Chance
That is the story of Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.
It seems to me that the author has the same lesson in mind that the Scriptures are conveying today. He is saying that the condemned man did not get a second chance at life but we, the readers of the short story, we are given a second chance.
In the same way, the Prophet Daniel in the first reading and Jesus in the gospel focus our attention on the end of our life on earth. Jesus wants us to live with an awareness of this.
And with this awareness, he wants us to appreciate life right now for the precious gift that it is. In effect, he gives us a second chance.
Our Second Chance
When I think about this, these are some of the things that come up for me.
We have a second chance to make God the center of our lives…
to live everyday with an awareness that we come from God and someday will return to God.
A second chance to develop an inner, personal relationship with Jesus…
to read, really read the gospels, and realize that we are loved by God and close to God.
We have a second chance to use the gifts and potentials God has given us…
to become the full person God has made us to be.
A second chance to smell the roses…
just to appreciate this day of life or the beauty of this season of the year.
We have a second chance to appreciate family and friends…
to express our love for them and to give time and a listening ear to them.
A second chance to appreciate the story of those we don’t understand or don’t like…
to take in their experience and see them as persons much like ourselves.
We have a second chance to look at the light that is around us…
to see light and point it out.
And a second chance to be positive…
to think and speak and do good, constructive, life-enhancing things.
Conclusion
So, unlike the man in the short story, but like the readers of the short story and of today’s gospel, we have a second chance to prepare for that hour which Jesus talks about.
Let’s make sure we use it well.
Fr. Michael Schleupner
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