Being self-centered is not a way to live. Thinking more highly of oneself always is not a good attitude towards God or God's people. Yet, we know that sometimes we feel that way or we encounter those who believed they were God's greatest gift to humanity and we're just lucky to be in their presence. The Gospel teaches different; Jesus said in red letters, "Do to others as you would have them do to you." (Luke 6:31). We call this the Golden Rule and it is a great rule with which to live. The Rotary Club's motto is "Service Above Self." I have shared before this story of my "fireside chat" before entering the San Marcos Rotary Club. The man giving us this chat, required of all new members, was in his late 80's and he had transferred to the SM Club from the Manhattan Club, at one time the world's largest Rotary club. He shared that the motto of service above self ideal was brought home to him when he had to sit at the Birthday Table. All who had a birthday that week had to sit at one big table. He said it was his good fortune to sit between two men whose name you may recognize, James Cash (J.C.) Penney, and Dr. Norman Vincent Peale. He said the two talked to each other and him, and finally they told him that that next Friday to meet them at a certain New York corner for they were going on their weekly service above self outing. He said they did not ask him if he wanted to, they told him. And he added, "If J.C. Penney and Norman Vincent Peale tell you to be some place, you will!" These two famous and influential men every Friday would go to Harlem to be big brothers to poor children of that neighborhood and take them to the movies. As much as God blessed these two men, they were not complete until they thought about and did for others.
Our Lenten Journey should have us praying for, and living with, others. Our lives reach more meaning when we do for others and grow beyond thinking just about ourselves.
PRAYER: Loving and Amazing God, speak to my needs, especially the one that says I think too much about me and the things of me. Let me be all about others, not just today, but all days. I pray in Christ Jesus, amen.
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