by Father Mark Goldasich
The devil made me do it!
Folks like me, with a “few years” on us, will no doubt remember that memorable line from the comedian Flip Wilson in the ’60s and ’70s. Although a funny schtick from his character Geraldine, it’s not really true: The devil can’t make us do anything; we always have a choice.
I often end wedding homilies with this instruction from the poet Ogden Nash: “To keep your marriage brimming / With love in the loving cup / Whenever you’re wrong, admit it / Whenever you’re right . . . shut up!”
That’s great advice not only for married couples but for everyone. We forget that we do have a choice in life: to have the humility to admit when we are wrong, and to not gloat — or say, “I told you so!” — when we’re right. Our choices, for good or bad, do form our heart and our attitude.
I recently came across a marvelous story told by Summer Grace Vanni about a taxi ride she had with a cabbie named Wasu. His car was spotless, he wore a shirt and tie, and even offered her reading material and coffee.
Vanni asked Wasu if he’d always served his customers in this way. He admitted that he hadn’t. In fact, he said he’d spent five years complaining all the time, like a lot of the other cabbies. Then, he said, he heard about the power of choice.
Wasu explained, “Power of choice is that you can be a duck or an eagle. If you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you’ll rarely disappoint yourself. Stop complaining! . . . Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle.”
Since then, his business has more than doubled, with repeat customers calling him personally. And he’s also happier than he was.
After meeting Wasu, Vanni said, “I hope we all decide to soar like an eagle and not quack like a duck.” (Story found in the Sept. 25 entry in The Christophers “Three Minutes a Day,” vol. 58.)
One of the choices I’m making is to change one little word as I go about the tasks of my day. I’ve replaced “have to” with “get to.” For example, rather than saying, “Gee, I have to write my Leaven column,” I now say, “Gee, I get to write my Leaven column.”
It’s amazing what that little change does to my brain and my motivation. Instead of treating it as a burden, I become grateful that I have this opportunity to share my thoughts with others, that I have fingers to type, that I have eyes to see, that I have a computer to work on, etc.
If you don’t believe me, try it yourself the next time you “have” to do something, like take the kids to yet another practice or game, do the laundry or clean the house, or just head off to work. The task will remain the same, but your attitude toward it will likely be transformed.
Perhaps St. Paul says it best when he encourages us to choose to live the “fruit of the Spirit”: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self- control (Eph 5:22-23).
Can you imagine what the church — or the world — would be like if we Christians did this consistently? If we chose to be an eagle not a duck?
I’d love to write much more, but now I have — I mean, get to — prepare my homily for this weekend!
