The Arithmetic Mind

When the Apostles come back to Jesus from their mission of preaching and healing, why does Jesus not praise them?  They are all excited about what they accomplished.  Before this they may have wondered why he chose them.  He sent them on their mission with no real training and told them to travel light.  Trust and go.  They did well.  Now all Jesus asks them to do is go away to a quiet spot for a while.  The Arithmetic Mind is the reason I think Jesus did this.  What is the Arithmetic Mind?  It is the one that is always adding and subtracting, comparing and contrasting.  The Apostles did well in their mission. Ergo, they must be good.  Do well=being good.  Later, when Jesus is arrested and they all run away, they are filled with fear.  We ran away frightened=we are bad.  The Arithmetic Mind says we are valued by what we do or fail to do.  Most of us have had this training.  Jesus' message is that we are good period.  We are wonderfully made and innately lovable, in spite of the good or bad that we do.  When we fail and repent, or surrender to changing our life, we don't become lovable.  We become whole.  There is a difference.  Do you have the Arithmetic Mind?  I have my days when I just don't seem to add up.  Some days are truly recovery days. I recover my basic goodness.  This is an act of faith.