Mark, My Words: September 20, 2020
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Today seems to turn all of our expectations upside down. You think, you work the longest, you get paid the most, right? Well, guess what? WRONG! You were the first in? sorry, pal; you’re going to be last. And you who stumbled in, clueless, at the last minute?—you’re No. 1! Is that a great system, or what?
From young on, we think we know what’s fair. Children often complaint about what is fair and not fair, especially when someone younger seems to get something that the older child was denied. They complain, a lot like the vineyard workers who whined and grumbled resentfully: “You made them equal to us who bore the day’s burden and heat.”
God’s generosity is the whole point: God makes us equal, because God created us equal at a very deep level. But God’s idea of equality is too far from ours to be compared. It’s our problem if we are envious of God’s generosity to others around us. “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.”
And admit it: we can’t see a fraction of the deep reality of other people’s lives, we only think we can. But we judge them unfairly, harshly, and only separate ourselves from them. But God is seeing no separation—only One Body.
Those who say “I’ve paid my dues” have no idea what’s really fair in life, so they grumble ungratefully most of their lives. As your mother used to say, “Stop looking over at what he’s doing, and do your own work!” Let’s feel gratitude for the privilege of life in this present moment--For our many small healings, for waking up, for a car that starts in the morning—and for God’s generosity to all of us.