Gotta Serve Somebody

Hello, dear readers. I've been absent, I know. Two reasons for that: (1) excessive heat/humidity made me feel exhausted and ill and (2) all the negativity surrounding the U.S. Supreme Court's (SCOTUS) decision to support same-sex marriage. Number 1 just made me need a lot of rest. Number 2 made me start wondering if I was an atheist or worse because I was highly repelled by the religious fanaticism expressed by antigays. To his credit, Pope Francis did not comment on the SCOTUS decision. We know where he stands: He doesn't want same-sex marriage in the Catholic Church, but he renders to Caesar what is Caesar's in the civil sphere. Some day in the future, when the Church becomes more progressive, maybe in another lifetime, I'll be a Catholic.

But, as you all know, this unchurched writer, still gets very impressed by things that Pope Francis does. In a very ironic twist of fate, the Italian Vanity Fair named him its Man of the Year. That made me laugh—a man so against vainglory on the cover of a magazine devoted to complete superficial narcissism. I love it. It shows that his example is reaching even the frivolous people among us.

Now here's a new one: Paul Brandeis Raushenbush reports in HuffPost Religion that Pope Francis demanded that a statue dedicated to him should be demolished.

Visit: PopeFrancis Statue Must Go, Says Pontiff, Who Demands Removal of Buenos Aires Cathedral Monument

Citing the dangers of a "cult of personality," the Pope called the Buenos Aires curia and said he wanted the statue eliminated immediately. It's interesting that he used a term that was invented by Communists to describe the problem—that's very eclectic of him.

I kind-of felt sorry for the artist,  Fernando Pugliese, who had sculpted statues that included Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa. He did all that work to express admiration for Pope Francis only to have it slapped down. It reminds me of when Bill Cosby received a People's Choice award. Instead of thanking his fans, he lectured them on how wrong they were to give him the award. I never liked Cosby after that. I felt that his response to the honor was arrogant and mean.

So why then would I admire this in Pope Francis? It's not exactly a gracious act to express horror at being honored. But there is something more to this. Giving an actor an award is one thing. Erecting a statue of a religious leader is another thing. Religious leaders are not supposed to be glorified in that way; they aren't supposed to be on a pedestal together with G-d, Jesus, Joseph, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. 

I would hope that Pope Francis might talk to this sculptor and thank him for his efforts anyway and explain that the best honor for this papacy would be for Mr. Pugliese to live a life that avoids vainglory. He's got my empathy anyway. It's a tough lesson and it sure hurts to get Zen-slapped that way.

I don't know if Protestant churches have any such statues in their churches—not even of Martin Luther King, Jr. I've seen statues of King in public and political kinds of spaces, but not in churches that I know of. Correct me if I am wrong. Synagogues don't have statues. I don't think mosques have them either.

I've always found massive statues of people or beings extremely scary. Massive Buddhas are enough to give me nightmares, even though I love the gentle teachings of the Buddha. I never liked the statues of Pharoahs either. They are just downright creepy.

So, maybe it's a Catholic thing? Maybe the Pope got the creeps seeing himself made larger than life and graven in stone like that. I would not like to see a massive statue of myself like that either.

Now, here's the thing that's even more important here: Once again, Pope Francis is showing by example that vainglory is not a good thing—he firmly rejects it.

I can't count the number of times that I wished for fame, attention, and honor. Yes, that is one of my sins. That's a hard sin to get rid of. I'm human. I'd love to be the "Number 1" something or other. Yet, I seem destined to remain in the background, unhonored, unacknowledged, etc. I wonder: Am I a failure?

Recently, I got an answer to that question from a pagan source—a sample personal astrological reading about Career Strengths. It said this:

Not at home in a crowd, Billie can usually be found around the edges of a group, watching, perhaps criticizing, but always taking it all in. She runs cool, when others run warm (or hot). She thinks and plans, when others do. She serves, while others are served. She cares when care is needed. In the East (places like Tibet and China), Billie could be said to represent the Bodhisattva path, living to serve others.

Here in the West, the concept of serving others is considered a lesser position. In America it is considered much "more cool" to be served, than to serve. But this concept is slowly changing. (From CAREER ASTROLOGY-7-9_6-13-32 at Astrology.com)

The Bodhisattva path! Now that is strong stuff. That's talking about a soul who has wiped out all karma and comes back on earth to help enlighten other people. That's spirituality "on steroids," so to speak. That is the highest of the high. I'm far from being a Bodhisattva—way far from it—but it's nice to know that perhaps I have at least put one foot on such a path. Perhaps I can conquer my burning ambition to be famous and honored and simply use my talents to help people. Maybe I'll get a little recognition. Maybe it will always be simply one-to-one situations and incidents. In any event, I'll be helping people and serving G-d's purpose that way. I don't have to be a big celebrity to do this. It has to be what G-d wants—not what I want for my ego.

Maybe G-d gives certain people fame and honor for various reasons—honor for greatness in past lives, fame to push certain causes, and fame to teach lessons. Pope Francis is demonstrating that he is resisting vainglory passionately. He does not want the papacy to change him or his commitment to G-d and G-d's people. Oh that all famous and powerful people would heed this message-by-example!

You don't have to be Catholic to love this Pope. I do. Maybe I'm going to learn to feel fulfilled with whatever I can do instead of yearning for what is not mine.

Bob Dylan said: "It may be the Devil,/it may be the Lord, but you gotta serve somebody." Even the Pope knows this. The road to being a Bodhisattva is a very long one for me. Disagreements aside, the Pope is well ahead of many of us on that road, and he is lighting the way.