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I'm Asking for Nothing but My Rights
Tuesday, February 4, 2014 Today’s Blog is taken from CS Lewis Institutes’ Reflections
Tuesday, February 4, 2014 Today’s Blog is taken from CS Lewis Institutes’ Reflections
give more honor to others than to yourselves”
Philippians 2:3-4 (NCV)
"What
I'd like to understand," said the Ghost, "is what you're here for, as
pleased as Punch, you, a bloody murderer, while I've been walking the streets
down there and living in a place like a pigstye all these years... personally,
I'd have thought you and I ought to be the other way round. That's my personal
opinion...Look at me, now," said the Ghost, slapping its chest (but the
slap made no noise). "I gone straight all my life. I don't say I was a
religious man and I don't say I had no faults, far from it. But I done my best
all my life, see? I done my best by everyone, that's the sort of chap I was. I
never asked for anything that wasn't mine by rights. If I wanted a drink I paid
for it and if I took my wages I done my job, see? That's the sort I was and I
don't care who knows it...You may think you can put me down because you're
dressed up like that (which you weren't when you worked under me) and I'm only a
poor man. But I got to have my rights same as you, see?"
"Oh no. It's not so bad as that. I haven't got my rights, or I should not be here. You will not get yours either. You'll get something far better. Never fear..."
"What do you keep arguing for?... I only want my rights. I'm not asking for anybody's bleeding charity."
"Then do. At once. Ask for the Bleeding Charity. Everything is here for the asking and nothing can be bought..."
"I don't want charity. I'm a decent man and if I had my rights I'd have been here long ago and you can tell them I said so."
The other shook his head. "You can never do it like that," he said... "And it isn't exactly true, you know..."
"What isn't true?" asked the Ghost sulkily.
"You weren't a decent man and you didn't do your best. We none of us were and none of us did...all the men who worked under you felt the same. You made it hard for us, you know. And you made it hard for your wife too and for your children."
"You mind your own business, young man," said the Ghost. "None of your lip, see? Because I'm not taking any impudence from you about my private affairs."
"There are no private affairs," said the other...
"I'd rather be damned than go along with you. I came here to get my rights, see? Not to go sniveling along on charity tied to your apron-strings...I'll go home. I didn't come to be treated like a dog. I'll go home. That's what I'll do. Damn and blast the whole pack of you ..."1
"Oh no. It's not so bad as that. I haven't got my rights, or I should not be here. You will not get yours either. You'll get something far better. Never fear..."
"What do you keep arguing for?... I only want my rights. I'm not asking for anybody's bleeding charity."
"Then do. At once. Ask for the Bleeding Charity. Everything is here for the asking and nothing can be bought..."
"I don't want charity. I'm a decent man and if I had my rights I'd have been here long ago and you can tell them I said so."
The other shook his head. "You can never do it like that," he said... "And it isn't exactly true, you know..."
"What isn't true?" asked the Ghost sulkily.
"You weren't a decent man and you didn't do your best. We none of us were and none of us did...all the men who worked under you felt the same. You made it hard for us, you know. And you made it hard for your wife too and for your children."
"You mind your own business, young man," said the Ghost. "None of your lip, see? Because I'm not taking any impudence from you about my private affairs."
"There are no private affairs," said the other...
"I'd rather be damned than go along with you. I came here to get my rights, see? Not to go sniveling along on charity tied to your apron-strings...I'll go home. I didn't come to be treated like a dog. I'll go home. That's what I'll do. Damn and blast the whole pack of you ..."1
Like
the ghost, in comparison to others, we tend to think that we're pretty good and
decent and deserve better. Yet in reality, we don’t see ourselves all that
clearly and deserve far less than we think we do . How
might this story apply to your marriage, friendships, or work relationships?
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This comparison with others and not being as bad off as my neighbor reminded me of how in marriage we can be quick to point out each others flaws and how I can let myself get so annoyed by his flaws and let that entitle me to lash out (because I am perfect, of course). It also reminded me of one of Jonathan Edwards resolutions (which he resolves to do by God's grace) which I read this morning. Here it is, # 46. "Resolved, to act in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I had committed the same sins, or had the same infirmities or failings, as others; and that I will let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself, and prove only an occasion of confessing my own sins and misery to God."
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