Jealousy

Tags

change, David, envy, friends, Goliath, gratitude, honesty, jealousy, King Saul, same, Samuel, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, truth

Jealousy is a very dangerous trait in a person. It seems to me a bit more serious than envy although it appears in the dictionary as envy’s synonym. I might be envious of someone’s good looks or good luck but, if I have a positive attitude about my own life, I don’t spend a lot of time comparing my lot with those of others. If jealousy takes hold of my life, however, it can lead to wishing harm to others – sometimes instigating events that will cause very bad things to happen.

In this morning’s lectionary reading from the first book of Samuel (1 SM 18:6-9, 19:1-7) we read about what seems like a childish attitude on the part of King Saul who is returning from a great victory over the Philistines. At his side was David, the hero that we know from his fame with his slingshot; he used it to slay the giant, Goliath. Everyone was singing and dancing as Saul and David approached. Unfortunately, the lyrics to their song (“Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten thousands”) planted the seed of jealousy in Saul and as it grew he feared that David would take over the kingship of Israel.

It’s always good to have a friend who can see such a situation honestly and speak the truth to the parties. In this case it was fortuitous because Jonathan was both Saul’s son and David’s friend. Well-placed to see the situation as it truly was, Jonathan convinced Saul (for the moment at least) that David had been a faithful servant, desiring nothing but the good of the nation and, in fact, had helped Saul very much by his deeds.

Two adages come to mind as I think about applications of this story for us. The French are known to say: Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose (The more things change, the more they stay the same) and in English we hear that it was ever thus. In our culture of today, there is so much pressure to get ahead, to be the best (which means the most successful or the richest), to climb to the top of the corporate ladder – as well as to be the best-dressed, most glamorous, the richest. We do well to cultivate the qualities of honesty, gratitude and the willingness to be satisfied with what we have and who we are. Oh yes, and don’t forget to thank God for good friends!

 

 

 

 

 

Know Thyself

Tags

accept yourself, envy, Hamlet, Jesus, John, John the Baptist, joy, Miss America, self acceptance, shakespeare, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, to thine own self be true, uniqueness

I’m thinking this morning of Shakespeare’s line: This above all: to thine own self be true, then it follows as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man. (Hamlet, act 1, scene 3) The gospel this morning was the trigger for this and some other thoughts about becoming and being my “true self” as opposed to living always in the land of “egoic consciousness” that can lead to all sorts of difficulties.

Most of us live in a time and a place where competition is fierce and social climbing is the order of the day. John the Baptist is my “wake up call” this morning about not getting caught in that particular web. His disciples are getting a little miffed because Jesus has appeared and seems to be stealing some of John’s thunder. They complain to him: “Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you testified, here he is baptizing and everyone is coming to him.” John, who is quite clear about his mission and his role in life responds: “No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said that I am not the Christ, but that I was sent before him. The one who has the bride is the bridegroom; the best man, who stands and listens for him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made complete. He must increase; I must decrease.” (JN 2:22-30) John isn’t saying that he, himself, is not important or that Jesus is the only important one. He is totally without envy and is totally happy to be doing what he’s called to do, being who he is meant to be as a gift of God to the world.

When we were young, my mother agreed that at least one of us (the girls) might hope to be Miss America. Eventually we came to see that perhaps that was just encouragement for accepting ourselves rather than wishing we were taller, slimmer or more talented in some way…and we both have done fine in what we have accomplished. There are days now when I would wish to be a speed reader or an athlete in the (senior) Olympics, but I’m happy that I can read and write and walk. Yes, these examples are written to evoke smiles, but the deeper truth of self acceptance underlies it all. May we thank God today for the unique gift that each of us is, without which the world would be a little poorer and the stars would shine a little less brightly. And let us be grateful for all of those stars, our companions, who light up the universe of our lives.