Let's See It All in Persepective

I saw this cartoon on Facebook and it just immediately grabbed me.  I love it and have to share it.  In its own way, it is so Buddhist as I understand Buddhism,saying so much in such a simple way.

Yes,we can take our world and its concerns and woes far too seriously.  This cartoon is a timely reminder in a world that can become too serious and too preoccupied with its own importance. 

I have a friend here who has a senior and important role in the Church.  He is a great guy and a great host.  He loves to talk and be with people.  He is a real people person, as they say.  A hardship he faces and shares so readily in conversation is his boss whom he finds so difficult as unlike my friend he lacks some of the finer things of life, like generosity and hospitality, and is all about work.  I find myself at times overcome by my friend's descriptions of what he experiences with his boss.  I recognize that I have to keep reminding myself not to get caught up in this negative trap about which I can do nothing.  So I tell myself - just stand back, listen and enjoy my friend's companionship.

In my life, I have ones - individuals and organizations - who seem to have an immense and generous appreciation of their role and importance in the world.  It would seem that the world, or their world, depends on them and what they do.  It would seem that their world is so important that it is more important than anyone else's.    

In Church, I believe we call this is a Messiah complex.  Truth is that we are already saved and that there is only one Saviour.  There is no need for anybody else to stand in and do the job.  In the business world, I think that this is covered by the slogan that no one is indispensable.  

We can be so driven, so overcome by a sense of importance in life that we miss out on the bigger picture.  No one, no organization is so important that the world rises or falls on their level of performance or contribution.  We are but here for a little while.  Organizations and powers come and go in history.  We all have our contribution to make but but it is better made in easy mode.  Let's just see it all in perspective and keep a realistic sense of who we are and what we are about on this earth.

As a good friend here says and as St Augustine reminds us, it is all about having a healthy dose of humility.