the height of stupidity
A mother one day asked her son who was so in love with his girlfriend. The mother asked, “What does your girlfriend like in you?” The young man replied, “Because she thinks I’m handsome, talented, clever and a good dancer.” And the Mother asked again, “And what do you like about her?” “Because,” the young man replied, “because she thinks I’m handsome, talented, clever and a good dancer.”
Sometimes this happens to us. We love somebody because we love the recognition we get from them. It is not actually the girl he is so in love with. He is in love with his ego, he is in love with his desire to be loved, his desire to be recognized and his desire to be affirmed. Just like the gospel, you invite because you want to get invited.
Things like this happen often than not. Sometimes it’s not really love, it’s only the reputation you want. Sometimes it’s not really the girl you’re after. Actually you’re only after the claim to manliness. Sometimes it’s not really the learning and knowledge that you desire to acquire. You’re only actually running after expectations and the good name that goes with it.
Yes there are no absolutely pure motives. Our actions are always colored by a tinge of selfishness. After all we are capitalists at heart - someone who works for something in order to gain something in return. As John Kennedy would say, "what is mine is mine what is yours is negotiable." But wouldn’t it be good to consider the lesson of another story:
When Robert was 14 years old he became madly in love with his neighbor’s daughter. In order to please her he sold everything that he had, gathered all his savings, worked odd jobs in order to buy her girlfriend a jewelry. So one day he brought his girlfriend to the jewelry shop and while his girlfriend was moving around the shop making up her mind the boy remembered what his teacher told him, that before getting something we must always ask ourselves what we wanted it for. That’s when the boy realized that he did not really want her after all, so he walked out of the shop and went away.
Before wanting to get something, before getting anything we want, we must ask ourselves what we want it for. We are all too young and too human to be absolutely pure in our motives but at least when you do something important, at the very least ask yourself this question, what do I want it for? I believe this is what Jesus is leading us into when he told us the parable in our gospel today. In everything that we do especially in doing or not doing things that matter, we must first ask ourselves this basic question of motive, "what do I want it for?" Look into your heart and ask, what do I really want it for? Para sa ano gid ini haw?
It may be a simple desire to skip classes or to pursue your studies with rigor. It may be as complicated as eyeing a girl or breaking the relationship. It may be as simple as bringing lewd magazines or hiding your cellphones from the prefect. It may be as complicated as choosing another career or wanting to become a priest. It must be as simple as growing beards or sporting long hair, or cutting it all together. But always ask yourself this question, what do I really want it for?
Jesus is teaching us the basics of relating to a God who sees our hearts and reads our minds even before we even express them or sugarcoat them with reasonable reasons. Jesus is teaching us a quality of relationship that we must have with God and with ourselves – a relationship of honesty, a relationship in truth. This question is a basic question of simple honesty to self – an honesty not to any other person but an honesty to oneself. You can tell a lie to others and perhaps that would make you look good, wonderful, pious possibly, manly perhaps. But don’t fool yourself. Because if you are dishonest even to yourself, kon mabutigan mo bisan pa ang imo kaugalingon, then that is the height of stupidity.
Sometimes this happens to us. We love somebody because we love the recognition we get from them. It is not actually the girl he is so in love with. He is in love with his ego, he is in love with his desire to be loved, his desire to be recognized and his desire to be affirmed. Just like the gospel, you invite because you want to get invited.
Things like this happen often than not. Sometimes it’s not really love, it’s only the reputation you want. Sometimes it’s not really the girl you’re after. Actually you’re only after the claim to manliness. Sometimes it’s not really the learning and knowledge that you desire to acquire. You’re only actually running after expectations and the good name that goes with it.
Yes there are no absolutely pure motives. Our actions are always colored by a tinge of selfishness. After all we are capitalists at heart - someone who works for something in order to gain something in return. As John Kennedy would say, "what is mine is mine what is yours is negotiable." But wouldn’t it be good to consider the lesson of another story:
When Robert was 14 years old he became madly in love with his neighbor’s daughter. In order to please her he sold everything that he had, gathered all his savings, worked odd jobs in order to buy her girlfriend a jewelry. So one day he brought his girlfriend to the jewelry shop and while his girlfriend was moving around the shop making up her mind the boy remembered what his teacher told him, that before getting something we must always ask ourselves what we wanted it for. That’s when the boy realized that he did not really want her after all, so he walked out of the shop and went away.
Before wanting to get something, before getting anything we want, we must ask ourselves what we want it for. We are all too young and too human to be absolutely pure in our motives but at least when you do something important, at the very least ask yourself this question, what do I want it for? I believe this is what Jesus is leading us into when he told us the parable in our gospel today. In everything that we do especially in doing or not doing things that matter, we must first ask ourselves this basic question of motive, "what do I want it for?" Look into your heart and ask, what do I really want it for? Para sa ano gid ini haw?
It may be a simple desire to skip classes or to pursue your studies with rigor. It may be as complicated as eyeing a girl or breaking the relationship. It may be as simple as bringing lewd magazines or hiding your cellphones from the prefect. It may be as complicated as choosing another career or wanting to become a priest. It must be as simple as growing beards or sporting long hair, or cutting it all together. But always ask yourself this question, what do I really want it for?
Jesus is teaching us the basics of relating to a God who sees our hearts and reads our minds even before we even express them or sugarcoat them with reasonable reasons. Jesus is teaching us a quality of relationship that we must have with God and with ourselves – a relationship of honesty, a relationship in truth. This question is a basic question of simple honesty to self – an honesty not to any other person but an honesty to oneself. You can tell a lie to others and perhaps that would make you look good, wonderful, pious possibly, manly perhaps. But don’t fool yourself. Because if you are dishonest even to yourself, kon mabutigan mo bisan pa ang imo kaugalingon, then that is the height of stupidity.
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