The Remedy for Self-Service

THE GOOD OLD DAYS

Does anyone remember the days at the gas station when an attendant would come out and clean your windshield with a squeegee and fill up the tank in your vehicle? Or when you actually did not see any self-checkout registers in stores? How about actually standing in line at the bank before their were ATMs?  Yes we have become self-sufficient to a fault. We are in control and no longer have to depend on anyone or so we think.

TITLES

Jesus admonishes both the crowds and his disciples not become dependent on their own self-worth and lust for recognition, but instead to serve others. Don't follow the example of the scribes and Pharisees (MT 23:1-2).  Don't be called Rabbi or Master he continues.

Who doesn't like titles of prominence. As a person who has taught in Mexico I liked the sound of the word "Profe" or "maestro" in Spanish as it made me feel like a true professor or teacher. Likewise the term licensiado was equally endearing as it was given to teachers who had advanced degrees. But for a person who likes recognition and titles this can be a dangerous road.

A EARLY MORNING THOUGHT

After my daily morning reading I read a meditative passage from Luis Maria Martinez found in the month's edition of the Magnifcat (1). The focus was that we are in continual ascendency to God, but in order to continue this trajectory we must descend. Descending into nothingness was the term used. Quite a contrast to the idea of self-dependency projected upon us today.  But as Archbishop Martinez so well conveys the spiritual life is one of constant descent in order for God's light to shine through.

I can easily bring to mind moments of in my own life in which I found the proverbial darkness. It was soon after that I found the light of God's grace in my innate smallness. The events leading to this were full of self-serving and self-sufficiency. The societal message of becoming the master of your domain rang quite true for myself.  I was filling up on me at the gas pump. I was at the ATM withdrawing bills of myself.  I was as Jesus said wanting to be exalted, not willing to serve others.  But the paradox was for in order for me to grow spiritually I had to continue the descent in order to look up. Placing myself on a equal footing with God did not allow for any true light to shine. Instead I was looking down unaware that the light could not shine in because it was blocked by the cloud.

SPIRITUAL LIFE

For me the spiritual life is many moments spent surrendering to the will of God. It is about making myself small and allowing the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to loom large or as John the Baptist so well put it, I must decrease so that He may increase. It is as Archbishop Martinez states "one can see God better from below."(1)  Looking up I can observe the life that God has created around me. Spiritual life is all about growth. Growth can only come with failures and the recognition that things are broken.

NO LONGER BEING SERVED, BUT SERVING

So taking a page from the gas attendant, the checker, and teller, I must put myself in a position to serve. Taking time to fill others with blessings (GN 12:3).  Helping with weight of the bags that others are carrying and filling others with the currency of life are probably a good start.

And yes I do sometimes long for those days for someone to clean my windshield and fill up the gas tank. Where have those days gone?







1. Martinez, Luis M., Archbishop. "Whoever Humbles Self." Magnificat Mar. 2017: 188-89. Web.