MATTHEW 20:1-16
IT MAY NOT BE TRUE IN
OTHER PROFESSIONS, BUT IN MY CAREER AS A DOCTOR INVOLVED IN TEACHING
AND RESEARCH, IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT MOST OF US WERE ALWAYS COMPARING
OURSELVES TO OTHERS. EVEN THOSE PHYSICIANS WHO WERE AT THE TOP OF
THEIR GAME – PROFESSORS IN IVY LEAGUE SCHOOLS, DIRECTORS OF CENTERS
OF EXCELLENCE, PEOPLE WHO RAN DEPARTMENTS – THEY ALSO WERE ALWAYS
LOOKING OVER THEIR SHOULDERS, FEARING THAT SOMEONE YOUNGER OR SMARTER
OR MORE ENERGETIC WOULD SOONER OR LATER PASS THEM UP. MANY SO CALLED
ACADEMIC PHYSICIANS LEAVE TO GO INTO PRIVATE PRACTICE BECAUSE THIS
RAT RACE EVENTUALLY BECOMES TIRESOME. I THINK A LOT OF
PROFESSIONALS, LAWYERS, DOCTORS, ACCOUNTANTS, MILITARY OFFICERS, EVEN
CLERGY – LIKE TO PRACTICE IN ISOLATION BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE TO
COMPARE THEMSELVES TO ANYONE ELSE – ALL THEY HAVE TO DO IS ATTRACT
ENOUGH CLIENTS OR PATIENTS OR CONGREGANTS SO THAT THEY CAN CONTINUE
PRACTICING THEIR PROFESSION.
WHY DO INTELLIGENT PEOPLE
HAVE RAT RACES? IT HAS TO DO WITH HAPPINESS. THERE ARE FOUR LEVELS
OF HAPPINESS. THE FIRST COMES WITH SIMPLE BODILY PLEASURE. HOWEVER,
AS SOON AS THE EXPERIENCE IS OVER, THE HAPPINESS IS GONE. THE SECOND
HAS TO DO WITH PSYCHIC GRATIFICATION. THAT'S WHAT THE RAT RACE IS
ALL ABOUT. IF WE CAN SEE OURSELVES AS BETTER THAN OUR PEERS, THERE
IS A SORT OF HAPPINESS, BUT IT IS DIMMED BY THE POSSIBILITY THAT
THERE ARE THOSE WHO ARE BETTER THAN US AT OUR PROFESSION. WE KEEP
TRYING TO IMPROVE AND RISE IN THE RANKS SO THAT WE WILL BE HAPPY –
BUT PSYCHIC HAPPINESS ALWAYS ENDS SOONER OR LATER.
THE THIRD LEVEL OF
HAPPINESS HAS TO DO WITH ALTRUISM. WE FIND SATISFACTION IN EASING
THE SUFFERING OF OTHERS, OR MEETING THEIR NEEDS IN SOME WAY. THIS IS
A MORE LASTING HAPPINESS, BUT PEOPLE WHO FIND HAPPINESS IN A LIFE OF
ALTRUISM ARE IN DANGER OF BEING DISCOURAGED – TOO MANY PEOPLE WHO
DON'T SAY THANK YOU, TOO MANY PEOPLE WHO SEEM NOT TO APPRECIATE YOUR
EFFORTS; OR TOO MANY FAILURES ON YOUR PART – THE DEDICATED DOCTOR
WHO HAS A RUN OF UNSUCCESSFUL OPERATIONS; THE ALTRUISTIC LAWYER WHO
KEEPS LOSING CASES, THE CLERGYMAN WHO LABORS OVER HIS CONGREGATION
AND AFTER YEARS SEES NO REAL CHANGE.
THE FOURTH LEVEL IS
ALTRUISM, BUT NOT FOR THE SAKE OF THE PEOPLE BEING SERVED, BUT
BECAUSE OF A CONNECTION WITH THE GENEROSITY OF GOD HIMSELF. THIS
HAPPINESS IS LASTING, AND THE PERSON WHO SEEKS HIS HAPPINESS IN THIS
AREA KNOWS THAT WHETHER HE IS SUCCESSFUL OR NOT, WHAT IS BEING DONE
FOR GOD IS NEVER LOST.
THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO
INTERPRET THIS PARABLE, AS IS TRUE FOR SO MANY OF THE PARABLES OF
JESUS. I CAN'T HELP BUT FEEL SOME SYMPATHY FOR THE PEOPLE WHO BORE
THE DAY'S BURDEN AND THE HEAT. THEY MUST HAVE FELT DEVALUED,
DISRESPECTED. THERE WERE TWO WAYS TO MAKE THEM FEEL BETTER; EITHER
GIVE THEM LOTS MORE MONEY THAN A DAY'S WAGE, OR GIVE THOSE WHO
STARTED WORKING LATE IN THE DAY A LOT LESS MONEY. EITHER WAY WOULD
HAVE MADE THOSE WHO BORE THE BRUNT OF THE DAY FEEL BETTER. AND WHEN
YOU THINK ABOUT THE PEOPLE WHO BEGAN WORK LATE IN THE DAY – DID
THEY FEEL A LITTLE SHAME? I PROBABLY WOULD HAVE. I WOULD HAVE KEPT
THE MONEY BUT MY SENSE OF FAIRNESS WOULD HAVE BEEN SHOCKED. AND
MAYBE THAT'S WHAT JESUS IS AFTER; HE WANTS EVERYONE TO PUT HIMSELF OR
HERSELF IN THIS PARABLE – HOW DO YOU REACT TO THE GENEROSITY OF THE
OWNER OF THE VINEYARD?
IN THE MOVIE “PHILOMENA”,
A WOMAN OF THAT NAME GIVES BIRTH TO A CHILD CONCEIVED OUT OF WEDLOCK.
THIS TAKES PLACE IN A CONVENT WHERE THE NUNS ARRANGE FOR THESE
CHILDREN TO BE ADOPTED. THE MOVIE IS ABOUT THE WOMAN'S SEARCH FOR
HER CHILD MANY YEARS LATER, WITH THE HELP OF A REPORTER. BUT THERE
IS ONE SCENE THAT STAYED WITH ME. WHEN THE WOMAN VISITS THE CONVENT
SHE MEETS SISTER HILDEGARDE, AN ELDERLY NUN WHO HAD BEEN THERE WHEN
THE BABY HAD BEEN TAKEN FROM HIS MOTHER AND GIVEN TO ADOPTED PARENTS.
AT THE TIME OF THE FIRST VISIT, SISTER HIDEGARDE SAYS THAT ALL THE
RECORDS OF THOSE ADOPTIONS HAVE BEEN LOST. LATER, PHILOMENA AND THE
REPORTER DISCOVER THAT HER SON HAD RETURNED TO THE CONVENT SEVERAL
MONTHS BEFORE, LOOKING FOR HIS MOTHER. WHEN THE REPORTER CONFRONTS
SISTER HILDEGARDE AND ACCUSES HER OF COVERING UP, SHE REPLIES THAT
PHILOMENA DOES NOT DESERVE TO KNOW HER SON BECAUSE SHE HAD GIVEN IN
TO CARNAL DESIRES – WHEREAS SISTER HILDEGARDE HAD GIVEN UP
EVERYTHING – A FAMILY, POSSESSIONS, EARTHLY PLEASURES, SO THAT SHE
COULD GO TO HEAVEN. IN THE SCENE, THE SISTER COMES ACROSS AS A
BITTER OLD WOMAN BEING EATEN UP BY ENVY. SHE COULD WELL HAVE SAID,
“I HAVE BORN THE DAY'S BURDEN AND THE HEAT” AND HOW CAN YOU ALLOW
THIS WOMAN WHO HAS GIVEN UP NOTHING, TO BE REWARDED? SISTER
HILDEGARDE, DESPITE HER VOCATION AND HER LIFE OF WORKING WITH UNWED
MOTHERS AND THEIR CHILDREN, IS STUCK IN THE SECOND LEVEL, AND HER
HAPPINESS SUCH AS IT IS, IS RELATED TO HER LIFE OF SELF-DENIAL, NOT
HER ALTRUISM.
THERE WAS ONCE A GOOD MAN
WHO SPENT HIS WHOLE LIFE AND FORTUNE DOING GOOD. WHEN HE DIED, GOD
SHOWED HIM A BEAUTIFUL MANSION IN HEAVEN – IT'S ALL YOURS, SAID
GOD. AND ANYTHING YOU NEED TO MAKE YOU HAPPY, YOU'LL FIND IT IN
THAT MANSION. THAT'S YOUR REWARD FOR ALL THE GOOD YOU DID ON EARTH.
THE MAN WAS OVERJOYED. A FEW DAYS LATER HE SAW GOD SHOWING AN
IDENTICAL MANSION TO ONE OF HIS NEIGHBORS, WHO WAS KNOWN TO DRINK TOO
MUCH, WHO CHEATED IN HIS BUSINESS, WHOSE CHILDREN WOULD HAVE NOTHING
TO DO WITH HIM BECAUSE HE'D BEEN SUCH A LOUSY FATHER. THE MAN ASKED
GOD HOW COME THAT MAN WAS GETTING A MANSION THAT HAD EVERYTHING IN IT
TO MAKE HIM HAPPY? GOD REPLIED, “WELL, ONCE HE DROPPED SOME CHANGE
IN THE CUP OF A BLIND BEGGAR. AND THERE WAS A TIME WHEN HE GAVE SOME
OLD CLOTHES TO THE SALVATION ARMY. AND THERE WERE A FEW OTHER
THINGS, I THINK...” THE GOOD MAN SMILED AND SAID, “HOW
WONDERFUL!”
IF YOU SYMPATHIZE WITH
THE MEN WHO BORE THE DAY'S BURDEN AND THE HEAT, AS I DO, YOU AND I
AND SISTER HILDEGARDE HAVE SOMETHING IN COMMON. BUT IF YOU CAN SAY,
AND I'M TRYING TO SAY, ABOUT THE MEN WHO ONLY WORKED AN HOUR, “HOW
WONDERFUL THAT YOU ALSO RECEIVED A DAYS WAGE!” THEN YOU BEGIN TO
KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
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