Climbing into a wheelbarrow is difficult. You don’t get to control where the wheelbarrow is going, someone else is pushing you. It is hard to maintain your balance, particularly when only one wheel is touching the ground and the wheelbarrow is rocking back and forth. Getting into a wheelbarrow requires offering your whole self. Quite frankly, riding in a wheelbarrow requires a lot of trust.
Being a faithful disciple of Jesus is the same way. Jesus invites us to climb in his wheelbarrow and allow him to guide and direct us, to trust in his ability to lead us where he wants us to go. Jesus wants us to offer our whole self to him and to his mission. We do not always get to go where we are comfortable or where we want to be, rather we are called to go where we are called, possibly even leaving everything behind.
Jesus often called his disciples to get into the wheelbarrow, or perhaps more biblically, “to get out of the boat,” “to take up your cross and follow me,” “to come and see.” After having an encounter with God, life as we know it is no longer the same because we now live for him and no longer for ourselves. As St. Paul tells us, “Yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20). Paul’s transformation happens because he has experienced the kerygma in his own life. Like St. Peter and St. Paul, we are called to be a disciple and get into the wheelbarrow. Both were uncomfortable at times, but both completely offered themselves to Jesus after their encounter.
In incarnating the kerygma in our own lives, we are called to live for Christ and no longer for ourselves. We are called to climb into the wheelbarrow and trust Jesus completely and totally. Are we ready for that adventure?
