Do we have a "Second Mile" in our lives?

There is often the concept of a “Second Mile” that is developed in the teachings of Jesus in the Gospel.  We come across this idea many times in his various discourses and speeches and especially in the Gospel of Mathew in his Sermon on the Mount.   This comes in contrast to the understanding of the Old Testament where the law simply stated: “An Eye for an Eye, a Tooth for a Tooth” which I don’t think has to be interpreted only in terms of retaliation, even though it was said to be the ‘Law of Retaliation’.  

It can be seen also as a customary norm for behavior even in terms of returning a favor.  That is to say, ‘if someone has wished you, wish him too in return, or if someone has given you a cup of water, give the same in return’.  In other words it would mean to say: “Return the favor in the same coin”.     

 

But in the mind of Jesus (as is often the case, because wherever there is Jesus in the midst, there is always an absolute novelty) the spiritual man is not just one who is satisfied with doing the bear minimum.  He was always prompting his listeners to go a step beyond the minimum.  “What good is there, if you love only those who love you?”, or “what good is there, if you lend only to those from whom you hope to get it back?” (Lk. 6: 32, 34).  “If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap your left cheek too.  If someone compels you to carry his pack one mile, go with him a second mile.  When someone asks you for something, give it to him; when someone wants to borrow something, lend it to him.  (Mt. 5: 39, 41-42).  So, Jesus is proposing an ideal for Christian living that surpasses the conventional norms of behavior.  And I, as a religious have often thought only about the first miles and at times even felt little proud about the first mile in my own life.  But the question that begins to perplex my mind is whether I have a ‘second mile’ in my life?  Thanks to Fr. Bobby whose book gave me a beautiful insight on the ‘second mile’ that Jesus speaks about in the Gospels.   

 

At the time of Jesus in Palestine, there was an unwritten law that all those territories which fell under the Roman Rule, had to give their total allegiance to the Roman government.  Now, this allegiance was shown in several ways which also meant that the citizens were forced to obey even the slightest wish of the least soldier of the Roman Army.  Any soldier, at any time of the day or the night, could command any of its citizens anything that he wished and the citizens had no choice but to fulfill the wish of the soldier, irrespective of his rankings or positions in the army.  For example, a normal soldier could ask any citizen to take his horse to the water or deliver a message to a particular village or anything of the kind.  The citizen couldn’t disobey or oppose the task that was asked of him.  (Even the favor that Simon of Cyrene renders to Jesus, on his way to Calvary, being asked by the soldiers has to be read in this light.)  So, the second mile would mean, precisely the willingness of the person to go beyond the mere favor asked of him/her, to take up an extra mile.  As I said earlier, as a priest, I don’t lack the first miles in my life and at times it has even led me to a feeling of complacency.  But what is going to qualify my life as a priest or a religious is precisely this ‘second mile’ in my life.

 

I give you an example to make this point clear.  Tomorrow is a Sunday and I have to deliver a homily during the Mass.  I have been spending the whole week, thinking about the Gospel passage, meditating upon it and even reading a few commentaries on the passage and I prepare a beautiful and heart-touching homily and I deliver it with the best of preparation.  But still it is only my first mile, because it is my duty, a service for my parishners that is expected of me.  But tomorrow after the Mass, I get to know that there is a woman in the village who is seriously sick and is needing help, she has not asked for me and maybe she doesn’t even know me, but knowing that she requires my help, I take my bicycle and instead of my legitimate siesta after my lunch I go and visit her in her hut, spend my little time with her sharing in her suffering and pain.  This would mean exactly the ‘second mile’ that Jesus talks of.  

 

You are a religious sister and as a teacher you are the best one in the school.  The children appreciate you a lot and you too know that you are a capable teacher.  Everyone comments about your efficiency: “When she is around everything runs so smoothly”, “she is well prepared for her job”.  Yes, all that is only your first mile.  But then, you have two students in your class who are so poor in studies and are not able to cope up with the other children.  You decide to meet them privately on Saturdays and Sundays during your legitimate free time, and you spend your little time for those two kids to explain the difficult lessons and make them also competent like the others; this would mean exactly the ‘second mile’ in your life.   

 

Jesus’s call is very precise and clear. It is not just to be men/women of first mile (unfortunately we have too many of them today). It is to be men and women of second miles.  As priests and religious and even as ordinary people, what will give quality to our lives is this element of second mile in our lives.  We are going to find space in the hearts of our own people (and allow me to say even in the mind of God) not so much for our first miles but the second miles that we have had courage to take up in the journey of our lives.