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.
“Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’? Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink’? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? 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 17:7-10, NRSVCE)
I’m in this situation. The rules are clear. They’ve been elucidated in meetings big and small, in documents, in videos. Yet resistance and 
argumentativeness continues. On the days that the rules do get followed, one of the recalcitrants acts as if a big brass band should be playing and hearty congratulations offered.
It’s gone on long enough that I no longer get angry or upset. I’m past that, and into weariness.
Today’s Gospel reading made me think of how weary God must be with me:
- “I went to Mass even though I would have preferred to sleep in. YAY ME!”
- “I got the Bible study lesson done with a whole hour to spare. YAY ME!”
- “I managed to arrange my face and not roll my eyes and sigh in one challenging conversation today, never mind the other five. YAY ME!”
I mean, seriously! Why is there that expectation of heavenly atta-girls and boys on the occasions we manage to do His will? When you think about it, it’s downright amazing and gracious that we receive as many boosts as we do from Him. The baseline is that we love Him with all our beings 24/7. If we manage to do that four waking hours a day, that’s no cause for celebration with an expectation of rewards, but rather an opportunity to do better the remaining eight to ten hours when the next day rolls around.
After all, that is what we ought to have done.
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