Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Mark 9:33-35

Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the way?’ But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’

Just be

Jesus’ words invite freedom and relief, and I feel a bit of both when I imagine meeting whomever I will meet this day.

I can just be. There is no need to impress or be smart … or be anything other than myself. It’s enough to give what I can, share what I know and do the work that needs to be done.

A terrible task master is being laid to rest in me: ego.

No longer is it so important to be better than others or to be seen as someone more traveled or accomplished. I am what I am, and whatever I am is to be shared with those given me in this life.

It is the ego-self that drives one to pretend, to place a high value on how others see us and to strain to become more powerful or important. Anxious ego needs to still the anxiety that we are not as acceptable or good as those with whom we compare ourselves.

All such comparisons destroy our peace and keep us from discovering and knowing ourselves, our depth and heart, our true beauty.

Just be, you seem to say. Just be. Surrender the anxious desire to be first. Worry about nothing.

Another self, more beautiful than the one you polish up for the world to see, lies within you. Share what you have and who you are from the heart, and your heart will be full … of my heart … and peace.

Pr. David L. Miller