Saturday of the Third Week of Lent

Today's Readings

Luke 18:9-14

Those of us who are of a “certain age” may remember the song by Mac Davis: “Hard to be Humble.” Here’s a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCyYuLQ7_Ws

As funny as this song is, I think the humor is that perhaps there is a wee bit of truth to it. Many of us wrestle with the desire to remain modest and humble, yet also wanting our accomplishments and good deeds honored or acknowledged. In fact, this song isn’t too far from the prayer that we find the Pharisee praying in today’s Gospel, the message of which is often shared as: “Don’t be like the Pharisee, emulate the tax collector!”

I think what often happens when we read parables like this is we find ourselves falling into the trap of dualities. You know what I’m talking about, the scenarios we create deciding that there are two types of people in the world, and we place ourselves (and others) in one or the other. For example: There are the people in the world who wake up and say, “Good morning, God!” And then there are the people who wake up and say, “Good God, it’s morning!” Or those who walk into a room and say, “There you are!” versus those who walk in and say “Here I am!” This particular parable presents us with the duality of having to choose between either the tax collector or the Pharisee.

I often slide down the slippery slope of sizing up the people I encounter and judging some to be like the Pharisee. These are the folks who trust that they themselves are righteous, who are glad that they are not like “other people,” who see themselves as fundamentally better than others. Then I meet people who are like the tax collector, who are so aware of their own failures that they can’t even lift their eyes to heaven, who understand that they need forgiveness, that they feel like garbage, these are the folks who know that they are sinners.

But who am I? Am I like the Pharisee? I sure hope not. Or am I like the tax collector? I wish! In the Franciscan way of looking at the world…am I perhaps BOTH AND? In truth, sometimes I can be like the Pharisee, smug and assured of the wonderful deeds that I do, secure in the confidence that I’m not as sinful, mean, thoughtless or cruel as that co-worker or person (at a socially appropriate distance) on the subway. Other times there are nuances of the tax collector in my behavior and my prayer life, recognizing that it is only with God that all things are possible and NOT me! I can be that individual who knows that every day when I get out of bed, even as I sit here in the solitude of my home working and teaching at a distance, I mess up, I make mistakes, I sin.

When I frame my life in duality it places me in the trap of failing to recognize that there are other options, that one of two choices does not accurately capture the entirety of who I am or who others are. I guess that’s why I hate those theological and philosophical true/false quizzes because the outcomes and issues aren’t always either black or white. There is an enormous area of grey that is just as important to consider.

The other, and perhaps more important issue is that when I look at who I am and who others are through a dualistic lens I fail to recognize the profound truth of what we all share in common: The recognition that ultimately as humans we are more similar than we are different. I read this Gospel as an invitation to look beyond the differences between the Pharisee and the tax collector and remind myself that a central teaching of Jesus (and let’s not forget Francis and Clare!) is unity and not duality. This is at the core of who we are as creatures made in the image and likeness of the Divine. We are far more complex than being just one person or another and we should accept and forgive ourselves for those times when we may behave more like the Pharisee. We should also celebrate the fact that we can be like the tax collector as well. But most days we are a little bit of both, trying our best to respond with humility, charity, mercy and love to the Pharisee and the tax collector in ourselves and everyone we encounter. Because that is what God does with us with every breath that we take and every decision that we make, without exception.

If we are able to keep a clear eye on our ability to sin, it’s not too “hard to be humble.” No one of us “is perfect in every way” and I for one am grateful for my relationship with God, who knows this truth far better than I do. So with all that, embracing the reality that we are unconditionally loved by God, we can just “do the best that we can” as Mac Davis reminds us. 😊

Alexandria M. Egler, PhD

Executive Director of Mission, Ministry & Interfaith Dialogue