Willing to Forget Self

"My practice of the Rule regularly challenges me to be "humble."  I don't know about others, but it is difficult for me to give up my need for self-esteem and the esteem of others.  

During the Holiday season, when there is so much giving, and most of mine going to people I know and love, I am reminded that the season of being impoverished in our culture, of being hungry, of being homeless is sadly a year-round one.  And what must it be like for the poor to see all of the affluent going around to all of the wonderful stores of Williamsburg, buying last minute gifts when the poor are wondering where they will sleep tonight?  

I came across this poem recently and was moved by how relevant it is the Benedictine study we practice together.  What could we all accomplish in the world if we could just be "willing to forget your self?"

Tom Hale

The Good Son

by Jason Shinder

If God had come to me and said,
if you are willing to forget your self

you will find the cure for heart attacks and compose
the greatest symphonies,

I wouldn't have been sure of my answer.
Because there wouldn't have been enough

attention to my suffering. And that's unforgivable.
But I keep on forgiving myself

with God's love. And it's strange I should say this
because my mother died of a heart attack

after months in a hospital room full of a silence
that lodged itself like a stone in her throat.

And she thought I was wonderful

and would do anything for her.

"The Good Son" by Jason Shinder, from Stupid Hope. © Graywolf Press, 2009.