Jesus and Mary went to the marriage at Cana and we may assume they partook of the simple treats placed on the table. Jesus was weary one night and He went into Peter's ship, settled the pillow under His head, stretched out His aching limbs and fell fast asleep. A specially warm welcome always awaited Him at the house of Mary and Martha and Lazarus, and He often slipped away from the crowds and relaxed here, where He could feel quite at home.
In His Sacred Passion He sought consolation from His human friends and was hurt when they failed to give it. An angel came to Him instead and He gladly allowed Himself to be comforted. On the road to Calvary He gratefully accepted assistance from Simon to carry the Cross, and a few steps further on He halted and allowed Veronica to wipe some of the blood and sweat off His face.
So, if His divine example is to be a model, we would seem to be justified in believing that those who would follow Him closely may, at least sometimes, enjoy the good things He puts into the world. Undoubtedly there have been men and women of the heroic type who consistently chose for themselves what was hardest for human nature. Are all those who seek to grow in His love expected to do the same? Must they rival the fasts and vigils and scourgings of a Bernard or a Teresa or else be ranked amongst the cowardly and the ungenerous?
A delightful passage, written by Sir Lawrence Shipley on his deathbed, will supply the first part of the answer. "Our chief way of praying with the powers God has given us, is to use them. An example of this was to hand, even as I turned the matter over in my mind. My throat and tongue had meantime become parched and furred. In my altogether human desire to lull the discomfort I besought Jesus, by His thirst on the Cross, to come to my aid. Then suddenly I remembered that on the little table by the bed-head was a decanter of homemade lemonade, set most blessedly within my reach.
"God had thus answered my prayer before it was uttered, and I had only to reach out my hand and bring a glass to my lips to fulfill all I had besought. As the cool streams of lemonade refreshed the Sahara of my tongue and throat, I pondered on all that God had done to be beforehand with an answer to my prayer.
"God had created the lemon fruit. God had created the sugar-cane, to temper the bitterness of the lemon fruit. God had created the water, to blend the bitter lemon and the sweet sugar. God had created the fire, to empower the water to blend into a bitter-sweet the fruit of the sugar-cane and the lemon. God had created the air, to cool the hot breath of the fire. God had created the human heart, that, in love and sympathy for stricken me, had delicately prepared from the fruit of the lemon-tree and the sugar-cane a cool draught for my fevered tongue and throat. God had created a hand, my human hand, that now thanked Him with much trembling, by stretching out to the cool draught prepared by the love of God and the love of one of God's creatures."
It is heresy to believe that the good things placed by God in His world are evil in themselves and therefore to be shunned. They are like the steps of the stairs, intended as a means to mount ever higher in Godward direction. Things that are naturally pleasurable to me — dancing, holiday-making, feasting, friendships — may be used insofar, and only insofar, as they help me to love God better. Merely that I like them naturally is not a sufficient reason for taking them. The enjoyment they afford me must be such as can be blessed by God and shared in by Him. If my natural pleasures fail to do this, they must be renounced.
My life is far from being ruled by this principle, O God. I seek contentment in selfish satisfaction and, if the truth must be told, the more assiduous my seeking, the more does the prize elude my grasp. I would learn to go through the creature to You, the Creator. Teach me how and enable me to put into practice what You teach.