John the Baptist. Radical, counter-cultural, wild. Such is the image Scripture gives us. John declared he was preparing the way for the Christ. If John's preparation was correct and timely, how does it affect us down the centuries?
Hans Urs Von Balthasar writes John was aware of his personal vocation as he grew up, and it is out of his awareness of having been called that he discovered his ineluctable symbol--baptizing in the River Jordan...
We are all called to some task destined for us, for me, and no one else. John learned his destiny through a life dedicated and directed toward his God. His vocation was unique, but his calling was not. Our very restlessness speaks to this issue, of having a destiny yet unfulfilled. Why are we waiting? Is it fear of the risk? Or perhaps we have yet to believe that discernment requires a willingness to fail. John lost his head for speaking out in truth. What could possible be worse than that? And yet, John became the greatest of the prophets born of women.
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