Letting Go

31st Week in Ordinary Time - Monday (5 November 2018)

Philippians 2:1-4

Luke 14:12-14

“Do not invite those who might be able to invite you back.”

We might have heard of the popular doctrine of “nishkama karma” from the Bhagavad Gita, also part of the great epic Mahabharata. When Arjun is filled with a strange sympathy during the battle of Kurukshetra, and not wanting to continue the fight, his charioteer Lord Krishna exhorts Arjun to act for the sake of his duty, without any thought to the consequences. Krishna believes that the moral worth of an action lies in a person's motive rather than in the consequences of the action. He says, “Be intent on the action, not on the fruits of action.” Nishkama karma is selfless or desireless action, it is an action performed without any attachment to fruits or results. It is a letting go of all rewards.

In a similar tone today's gospel tells us, “Do not invite those who might be able to invite you back.” It reminds us of what Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount about loving those who love us. “Even the pagans do that.” Sharing meals with friends and loved ones is a lovely thing but the point that Jesus is making is that our mutual entertainment should not be at the expense of those who do not have enough to eat. It will be a real act of love; and will not be a form of self-seeking or ego-enhancement in a never-ending entertainment circus.

We might say that there is no such thing as pure altruism, that is, an action that is done purely for others with absolutely nothing for self. Everything we do, we do ultimately for ourselves. We have no choice but to seek our own good; to act otherwise would be quite silly and even wrong. This is true. But it is possible to do something without expecting any great favours. It is possible that we can do something without using, manipulating or exploiting the circumstances (or persons) for our selfish ends.

Today Lord Jesus is asking us to use our energies for the good of others. In doing so, there will be a feeling of satisfaction in doing the right thing. We do, of course, have to seek our own interests. But are we doing that at the expense of others? Or like Jesus do we realise that it is by a life of sharing that we become enriched in a very special way?

Mature spirituality is about letting go. A letting go of one's own plans and agendas; a letting go of one's own ego, one's false self; a letting go of one's own comfort zones. It is also a letting go of one's own hurts and fears, and one's own limited self-image. Haven't we noticed in ourselves the movement from one entertainment to another, from one ego achievement to another, from one excitement to another? Isn't this mere escapism? An avoidance of what we are at the deepest? Instead of trying to deal with myself, or changing myself, I change the programmes and events around me. Move from one event to another, and thus avoid dealing with my own shadows and growth!

As Jesus says we should go out of our way to invite beggars, the crippled, the lame, the blind—and be happy that these people can do nothing by way of repayment. But many of us first have to learn to embrace the leper within us before we can embrace the leper outside. In the final analysis it's the same act of compassion. And it's not a compassion that we produce, but a compassion that's given to us. If we learn to acknowledge and love the poor man and the poor woman in our soul, we'll understand the truth that is hidden in the poor man and the poor woman whom we find outside ourselves.