When I had finished all of my schooling, I remember talking politics with my father - I think it was about welfare and helping the poor in our society. I was saying that everyone has the same opportunity and that why should those of us who have struggled and created a place for ourselves be responsible for the bad decisions of other. My logic was personal and prideful. I come from a humble blue collar background. My parents had only a high school education, and I have memories of their struggles (especially when my father was injured at work). They put me and my siblings through Catholic school in spite of the cost. My dad had me working at grocery stores with him to understand what working meant. I paid my way through college, and came out the other side. I got a good paying job. I had worked hard and made it. It involved choices, and I made good ones. So, I didn’t see why I should be asked to pay for the poor choices of others.
My father looked at me and told me that others did not have what I had, and that what I had been given was a gift, not something I was entitled to. I have been given genetics that provided me intelligence. I have been given parents that sacrificed what they wanted so I could have an education. I have been given a father who showed me what hard work was and what responsibility looked like. My very existence is a gift. Certainly what I have accomplished took will and perseverance, but even these are gifts.
I have been given so much, how could I look down on others who have not been given these gifts? How could I think that I was better because I had been given more? We are not “self made” people. Who we are is a gift - from our genetics, to our up-bringing, to our experiences. This does not make one of us better than another - just different.
Pride can ruin our souls. It can make us think we deserve what we have and those less fortunate deserve what they have. It can harden our heart to the plight of others, blaming those who suffer for their suffering. This is a shame, because suffering too is a gift. To the one who suffers it is an opportunity to share in Christ’s suffering. To others it is an opportunity to meet Christ.
Not one of us deserves what we have.
It is all a gift.
It is all an opportunity.
What will you do with yours?
