A Good Person...

At church on Sunday, our Deacon talked a lot about what it takes to be a good person.  In doing so, he also talked about the 10 Commandments.  The commandments, as we know, are the foundation, the basis for our behavior as Christians...as people.  Deacon John went on to ask, "If one 'just' follows the commandments, is that enough to be a 'good person'?  Is simply not doing bad things the same as doing good?" 

He asked us to think about what we have done for others.  I, of course, immediately had Janet Jackson's "What Have You Done For Me Lately" song going through my head with the lyrics changed to "What Have I Done For You Lately?"  (Singing Janet Jackson during mass, sacrilegious?  Maybe.  But no more so than quoting the movie, Airplane during the Passion readings during Lent.  You know, when Jesus tells his Disciples that they will betray him and they say "Surely, not I."?  You mean you don't picture Jesus saying, "Of course you will, but stop calling me Shirley"?!)

Anyway, it really got me thinking about how easy it is to be busy with our own lives and forget about the lives of others.  I know that I for one have been really busy being busy lately.  I usually like to think of myself as the kind of person who puts others first, but I don't know if I've done the best job of that lately.  I have not stopped to ask myself, "What have I done for you lately?"  And for that, I am truly sorry.

Deacon John also went on to tell a story about a raspberry bush.  How there was an old woman whose neighbor had a raspberry bush in his yard.  She had very sentimental memories attached to that plant.  When new neighbors moved in and cut it down, she was crushed.  When she asked the new neighbors about it, they apologized saying they just thought they were weeds.  Deacon John then gave other scenarios about things we think of as "weeds" actually being "raspberries": 

• getting stuck in line behind the woman with a hundred coupons...weed; a mother struggling to make ends meet and doing what she needs to do to get food for her family...raspberry
• being mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted...weed; having a good job and happy, well-rounded kids...raspberry
• the bully at school who was cruel and hurtful to your child...weed; the opportunity to forgive and to teach your child forgiveness...raspberry

He continued giving more examples, but those were the three that stuck with me.  (And yes, of course, every time he said "raspberry", I couldn't stop thinking of the movie, Spaceballs.  But clearly things like that don't keep me from paying attention.)

So, let's hear it for Janet Jackson and Spaceballs!  Let's ask, "What have I done for you lately?"  Let's focus on the raspberries in life.  And let's all try to get a little closer to that "good person" status.