“Why do you speak to them in parables?” Or, why you should never take me seriously.- I almost got into another sticky argument the other day over some idle if careless remark I made at a meeting of a handful of well-intentioned people involved in promoting a religious devotion. Ironically, the remark had very little to do with the agenda for the day, hence, a less than tolerant presiding officer could have easily ruled me out of order or even have the remark struck down as impertinent and irrelevant. Indeed, what I had said should have been dismissed or disregarded as just another annoying wisecrack made by an old buffoon suffering from an incurable “foot-in-mouth” disease.
Which reminds me of the old story about a court jester who was sent to the gallows after the king tired of his annoying witticism. Just as he was about to be hanged, the jester got a reprieve from the king who warned him to stop his incessant punning, or else. Whereupon, the jester remarked: “no noose is good news.” Alas, it was his last pun. The moral, old habits are hard to break.
Actually, if you must know, my comment had to do with the communion rail in the church where only the week before we had sponsored a “healing mass” on the occasion of the anniversary of the 3rd apparition of our Lady of Fatima. Despite the bad weather, it was a well-attended affair capped with the imposition of a scapular/rosary after the mass by Fr. Jerry Orbos, SVD on all the attendees who then eagerly surged forward en masse toward the altar. In what may be described as a mild stampede, many of the faithful simply if irreverently jumped over the communion rail evidently apprehensive that the supply of free scapulars would run out. At the meeting to review and evaluate a most successful project, I commented, as an idle aside, that I had not noticed until then that the church had not (yet) removed the old communion rail which I then remarked (rather pompously perhaps) may not be in keeping with the spirit of Vatican II.
From hindsight, I should have known that such a simple comment would elicit or spark some strong disagreement, mainly from people who should have known better than to take me seriously. Which brings me to the first premise of this personal proposition, i.e., in any collective voluntary enterprise or activity, people who do not know each other cannot be expected to work together. Or, to put it another way, in any purely (no selfish or vested/material interest involved) voluntary group activity it is necessary for people to get to know (and even like and care for) each other well if they are to be expected to work together well. It is almost hypocritical if unrealistic for people to pretend to promote a common cause, no matter how noble or laudable, unless they themselves genuinely care for and about each other.
After a lifetime of involvement in all sorts of so-called social, community, civic, religious non-profit organizations, clubs, foundations, movements or crusades, I am convinced that fellowship or friendship which we tend to take for granted is a key factor in the success or failure of such voluntary enterprises. It is an all-too-common mistake of many well-intentioned, idealistic do-gooders to expect that all similarly-minded individuals will gladly and heroically volunteer their services, time and money to a common cause without regard to the people involved or with whom they must work to promote such common objective. It may sound all too pious and Ignatian to expect that one should sublimate one’s personal feelings and do it all ad majorem Dei gloriam, for the greater glory of God or the abstract “common good.” We have been sufficiently warned in 1 Jn. 4:20 and 1 Peter 1:8.
Instead, I will do it because I like you, you are my friend, or the good friend of a good friend; you asked me to and therefore I will gladly do it or do so. It’s as simple as that. It’s slightly different from a paid or tyrannical situation. You do it because you are paid to do so or because the king told you to do it. You have no choice on the matter.
With friendship also comes a little knowledge, patience and tolerance of each other’s little idiosyncrasies, faults, or weird ways, thereby allowing some elbow room for everybody to achieve a modicum of personal satisfaction in the collective enterprise; or, at the very least, avoiding or minimizing adversarial, confrontational if unpleasant situations. Best of all, in a meeting among friends and equals you eliminate the instinctive need to boast, to showboat or to show off. Quite the contrary, you look forward to meeting with such friends and, if nothing else, having a genuinely jolly good time.
Hence, getting to know you and getting to like you must be an integral part of any collective voluntary program.
As a corollary, all collective, cooperative and voluntary enterprises necessarily require a democratic, one-man, one-vote regime. As much as possible, the organization must not be beholden to any one person no matter how great a personal and financial sacrifice he/she may have expended for the cause. For any one person to claim such an organization as his own personal crowning glory all the while asking and utilizing others to volunteer their time, talent and treasure for what is supposed to be a common and noble cause is a form of dishonesty.
That is the other aspect of this proposition which has to do with the title of this essay. In such an organization which presumably is service-oriented, every member’s opinion must be heard. That is a mark of Christian leadership. The greatest among you…let him seek to be the servant of all. Mt. 23:11. Every man has a story to tell. Let him be heard, especially the quiet timid one. That also means that as much as possible only the pope or those wishing to become one should be allowed to speak ex cathedra. Dogmas and their infallibility must be considered a thing of the past. That means too that that while we should listen to each other, we should not take each other too seriously, especially me. I hardly ever say what I mean or mean what I say. I am hardly ever serious, hence, it is foolish to take me seriously.
Lord, why do you speak to them in parables? His disciples asked Jesus. Mt. 13:10. Personally, I believe Jesus spoke in parables to avoid sounding like the pope. He realized that anyway people would either misunderstand or refuse to understand what he was trying to say. Almost in desperation, Jesus instead promised to send us the Paraclete, the Consoler, the Explainer. Let’s face it, people will hear only what they like to hear, and believe only what they want to believe. If anybody tries to insist otherwise, he is liable to be crucified.
Look what they did to Jesus. Bro. JAMES D. LANSANG (jeemsdee@yahoo.com)
I agree with you, Kuya James. In any organization, people play different roles. Some are visionaries, some are missionaries. Some are philosophers, some are performers. Some give life to the group by providing financial resources, some give life to the group by providing fun and laughter, and still some provide the firm muscles. God must have meant these varied roles to exist and to interplay; otherwise, he would have opted for Ford-like mass production of exactly similar robots. He created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Even. He created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steven. What would life be, where would life lead, without the holes and the poles -- without the variety? How would a basketball team fare in a competition if all its players are centers, if all are guards, if all are forwards, if all are coaches? Who will fetch the water? In other words, God must have wanted us to have fun even as we pursue the true meaning of our existence. Otherwise, He would not have allowed us to know that beds are not only for sleeping. He must have wanted us to have fun in bed, too. Assembly lines for machines are boring. Truly, there’s a need to make a difference, but there, too, is a need to understand the differences.
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a long-winded justification 
Ang suspetsa ko, Kuya Elmer, ang similarity naming dalawa ay ito: ang kanya-kanyang buhay namin ay nag-umpisa sa love at mukhang magtatapos sa labada.
Other than that Kuya James is a higher form of organism. Baka tuluyan na siyang magalit sa akin. |
Tnx, Kuya FABS, for your usual kind comments. However, you must know that I entertain no illusions abt publishing a book, much less a bestseller. While many will deny they do it mostly for ego, prestige, career enhancement, etc., most books anyway find their way into the bargain bins of chain bookstores. I write when I can mostly because, as Thomas Jefferson wrote: "Every experience deeply felt in life needs to be passed along - whether it be through words or music, chiselled in stone, painted with a brush, or sewn with a needle - it is a way of reaching for immortality." At my age, I sometimes feel a compulsion to share some thoughts and feelings, musings and imaginings that I believe I should not simply take with me to the grave.
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