PEACE OR PERFORMANCE?
Performance is definitely the standard followed by the landowner. He did everything
possible to get a bumper crop: hedge, winepress, tower — the works. He
even leased it to people who would do the dirty work for him, and then
went away on a cruise!
But the tenants followed different ideals: force and violence. So while the cat was away, the mice did their own forays. While the landowner was away, the wily and manipulative tenants worked hard to assure that they get maximum profit from something they hardly deserved, with a little help from brute strength — beatings here, stonings and killings there.
In the final analysis, both landowner and tenants really followed the same principle our culture is all too familiar with: the performance principle. He
wanted profit overflowing, and he took the tenants to task. The tenants
wanted all profits and products for themselves. Both wanted the same
thing at all cost: “Sorry to hurt your feelings, but business is business.”
Product, performance, profit. Aren’t they the things that really matter at the
end of the day? A good life, a comfortable house, a lot of time for
leisure and a lot of feathers in one’s cap. Sex minus the guilt;
relationships minus the commitment; pleasure without responsibility;
quick money without really working hard for it. Aren’t these all species
of the same performance principle? What matters is the bottom line, which is “pera-pera lang yan!” (It’s all about money.)
Is there something else we could be missing? Yes, indeed. There is
another quite apart and quite distinct, but the products of which are
literally out of this world: the peace principle. That peace is no ally
of anxiety, but is closely associated with values that go beyond what
the world values most. Let us hear them one more time, with feelings: “Whatever is true, whatever is
honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,
whatever is gracious.” This is “the peace of God, that surpasses all
understanding.” Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB
REFLECTION QUESTION: What do you value most: performance and achievement, or a peaceful conscience?
Tame my worldly ambitions, Lord, that I may not be blinded by them. Help me to focus on what really matters in this life.
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