Recently,
I had a wonderful evening with a former student of mine. He was no
longer the grubby, demure, T-Shirted little boy of the 1960's.
He
had become a "successful" businessman, one of those constructing
new buildings in different cities of the Philippines. During our meal
he told me the rules for getting on that he had learned in business
school but even more so from the University of Life - the rat race
world.
"First
of all you make the impression that you are rich, famous and successful.
You must dress snappy and look the part. Have all the paraphernalia
of progress hanging out of you, a beeper in your top pocket, a cellular
phone on your belt, and an electronic organizer in your clutch bag
embossed with an impressive logo. Remember, nearly everybody is taken
in by appearances; they always trust their first impressions. People
do judge a book by its cover and they judge you in the same way.
"The
second important rule is that you never start your campaign in your
home area. Avoid your own family, neighborhood and friends. They know
you and your weaknesses and the weaknesses of your family. If you
have any success they will be the first to get jealous and pull you
down. Your home place is like crabs in a pot. There is no need to
put a lid on it. The crabs pull down anyone who wants to escape. No,
it is far better to begin with total strangers, and if you have a
Stateside accent it helps.
"The
third important thing is not to upset people. Sell yourself by telling
them what they want to hear. Be like the politicians who make surveys
to find out what people feel and what they want. Then they get speech
writers to find witty ways of promising the people the nice things
that they want to hear. Flattery lubricates life and pays big dividends.
Do not forget a word or two also about their loved ones, especially
if they have died. People love hearing their dead relatives - who
are no longer a threat - praised; it makes them think that excellence
was hereditary and that brilliance was bred in their family.
"Lastly,
do not put yourself on the line. Do not say that you are going to
do something. Just make promises, paint a bright picture of the future,
distract people from the present. What people want is illusion, not
the hard facts of reality. Better still, give them a scapegoat. Tell
them that some other group are responsible for their problems. The
worst thing is to tell people what they do not want to hear; like
that they should be responsible, sacrifice for others or limit their
own lifestyles."
After
this entertaining evening I went home to read the Gospel and prepare
this reflection. Poor Jesus didn't have a chance! He broke all of
the rules. When he began to preach he had just come in from a long
fast in the desert looking like a starved animal. He addressed his
own people and told them the truth about themselves. They answered
"Who does this fellow think he is? Isn't he the son of Joe the
Panday?" He challenged them to change their ways and to become
responsible for themselves. So what did the people do? They eventually
took him out and crucified him. But even in death Jesus did not keep
the rules. In the business world a dead competitor is no longer a
threat. But Jesus came back and the kingdom he established has continued
through the ages while empires have risen and collapsed.
When
it comes to prayer, there are lots of methods and devotions that promise
health and wealth and freedom from suffering in this life as well
as everlasting happiness in the next. Are these feeding into our needs
and promising us illusionary redemption? The story of Jesus is of
a man whose prayer for an easy escape was not answered. "Would
that this chalice could pass from me." It did not. It was through
facing the reality of suffering that he came to Resurrection.
The
way of Christian meditation is a way of being still before God. There
are no words or images to divert one from reality. One just sits with
reality and comes away from prayer better able to face and cope with
this reality, painful though it may be. Like the message of Jesus,
it does not have a good sales line but it may be the road to ultimate
truth and universal love.
