Complain less, trust more

The story is told about a man who was asked: “When you grow old. Would you rather have Parkinson’s disease or dementia?” After some thought he said: “I’d rather have Parkinson’s because with trembling hands, I still could have half a bottle of my beer; but with dementia, I wouldn’t know where I put my bottle of beer!”

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In today’s Gospel (Matthew 20:1-16), we hear how the hired laborers were so concerned and so calculating of their wages. They were so upset and filled with resentment that others received more, and others received less. Instead of focusing on what is missing, may we, too, focus on our blessings, not on what is missing.

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There are many things we do not, and cannot understand in this life. Why for instance, do the good suffer and the bad seem to prosper in this life? Whenever we encounter such enigmatic moments, let us take the road of trust rather than doubt. The road of doubt is the road that leads to nowhere. The road of trust leads to the conviction that God is all knowing, generous, loving, and fair.

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“Is God asleep?” How often have we asked this question in frustration, especially when we see so much corruption and injustice around us, real or imagined? We must not give up an God’s justice, goodness, and love. To do so is to give up on our goodness, too, and that is precisely what the evil one would want us to do. Through it all, we must believe and keep on believing that there is a God who is in control, that there is a plan, and that there is a God who sees it all.

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The “Desiderata” puts it beautifully: “If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or, bitter, for always there will be lesser or greater persons than yourself.” Do not fall into the trap of being eaten up by envy and its first cousin, jealousy. It is a messy, sticky, suffocating, and no-win mindset that leaves you exhausted, miserable, and unhappy. If you have fallen into the trap, ask the Lord, no, beg Him to extricate you from this prison, and set you free. You, too, must set yourself free by focusing not on what you don’t have, but on what you already have. Don’t go through life focused on the could-have-beens and the should-have-beens. Focus on your gifts, your blessings. If you look hard enough, you will see that there are more reasons to give thanks than to complain.

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Are you a complaining person? Pray for the grace to believe that God knows everything, and believe that God loves you no matter what. May the Holy Spirit change our complaining hearts to grateful hearts.

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Are you a comparing person? Instead of focusing on our blessings, we often envy the blessings of others, and forget to thank God. Pray for the grace to trust that God knows everything. Yes, may the Holy Spirit give us a more trusting heart.

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Are you a computing, a calculating person? Are you the auditor of God’s disbursements and allocations? Pray for a heart that knows how to surrender everything and everyone to God’s wisdom and love. May the Holy Spirit give us a heart that knows how to forward everything and everyone to God.

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I admire people who are very organized and who get things done by sheer hard work and talent. But I admire more those people who always leave room for the divine in their achievements and plans. As we work for the good of the earth, for social justice among peoples, and for the spread of the Gospel, let us not forget God the beginning, the sustenance, and the end of all these human endeavors. If we leave out the divine, we may become proud, and if we are proud, we may become discouraged by failures and delays, or worse, we may become angry, bitter, vain, and empty.

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If we were to put a color on the characters in today’s Gospel, we see that; yellow is the color of the little laborers; blue is the color of those who grumbled at the landowner’s manner of compensating them for their labor; red is the color of those who got angry at the landowner; green is the color of the envious laborers; and of course, gold is the color of the generous landowner. What is your color, as you go through life? And what is your true color as you encounter problems and issues in your journey?

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Reflect on this text message: “To belittle is to be little. To blame is to be lame. To be grateful is to be the great.” Amen!

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A moment with the Lord:

Lord, help us to complain, compare, and compute less; Help us to believe, trust, and surrender to You more. Amen.

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