Daughters Liz and Kate, I’d like to make a gift to your children. Every day I see this commercial on TV: “Help your kids learn the truth about President Trump and celebrate America with this ‘free’ patriotic gift bundle!” What do you think? I don’t know if it talks about porn star Stormy Daniels, his countless lawsuits, or his claims to be the greatest president ever. Whatever. Should I get this for your kids?
Whom do we hold up as worthy of imitation? Politicians, TV celebrities, sports stars? In our cultural time of attention deficit, our wandering eyes and desires easily “follow” people who cleverly manage their media presence so that they look good. We do the same. Our own social media posts often present ourselves in the best light, but disappointment is inevitable. “Shoeless” Joe Jackson was one of the greatest baseball players of all time, but he got caught up in the 1919 Black Sox scandal. In the movie, “Eight Men Out,” a schoolboy looks up at Jackson and pleads, “Say it ain’t so, Joe!” Be it contrived images in media or you and I, disappointment is inevitable. We’re all deeply flawed sinners.
St. Paul, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). Paul wasn’t perfect, but he had this strong character trait of faith: He admitted his sin and weakness. He did that to point to Jesus. “We have this treasure (the Good News of Jesus) in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” (2 Corinthians 4:7). You and I should think of ourselves as role models, not by how we posture ourselves before others but because people see Jesus through our lives and words.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me. (St. Patrick)
Liz and Kate, now that I think about it, forget that “free patriotic gift bundle” up. My bad.