Choose Wisely

Psalm 87, 90 • Psalm 136
Joel 3:9-17 • James 2:1-13 • Luke 16:10-17(18)

Alas, this morning’s reflection will be published after the election. Its message would have been even more apropos before: “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much” (Luke 16:10).

This not about the amount of education, training, or the years of experience you must have before you qualify for an important job; it is about how important your sense of right and wrong is on any job you do.

If you feel important because you have shown yourself to be the most clever woman and man in the room by duping those less clever than you, others who similarly gain advantage will be happy to acknowledge, perhaps flamboyantly, your superiority in “the art of the deal.” If, on the other hand, you practice fairness because it has become second nature over the course of your life, people will quietly trust you and you, them.

You get to pick your point of reference on what constitutes your reputation and a life well lived. Choose wisely.

Written by Tony Stankus

Tony Stankus, now 69, is the first librarian at the U of A to be promoted to the rank of Distinguished Professor. He became an Episcopalian at age 66 because he could no longer resist the transcendent liturgies at St. Paul’s nor the warmth of its priests and people.