Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.
“So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’: (Luke 17:10 NRSVCE)
Doing what is good can be hard. Being eager to do it, almost impossible at times.
We take the five minutes to talk or walk with an acquaintance who seems starved for human contact when what we really want to do is get home, put up our feet, and read a good book.
We congratulate the person who got the job we really wanted when what we really want to do is be by ourselves and self-medicate with chocolate.
We send that $25 or $50 or $100 to a charity that’s on the edge of survival when what we really want to do is order another hoodie or a couple more pairs of 
sweats or maybe a nice bottle of wine.
But here’s the thing about doing good. We may start out doing it because, as Jesus says in today’s Gospel reading, it is what we ought to do. But like any other habit, the more we do good, the more it becomes our default and the more we become eager to do it. For the closer we drag ourselves to the Light, the more the Light embraces, feeds, consumers and cleanses us. When we become one with the Light, we become one with all that is good.
