why church is good for you.

Today's gospel was, I believe, a perfect example of why I think attending church on a regular basis can be really good for you. If I could sum it up in a catch phrase, it would be "it's not about you."

To totally paraphrase today's lesson: two guys go to pray at the temple. One is a community leader, wears the right clothes, contributes regularly, and when he prays, talks to God nonstop about how he is so happy that he's not a thief, a beggar, or that sketchy-looking tax collector who is sitting uncomfortably close to him. He spends his prayer saying all the right things, but barely giving God a chance to get a word in! The tax collector, meanwhile, knows that people hate him. He knows he's done bad things (overcharging and keeping the extra cash for himself). He asks God for forgiveness, implores God to help him lead a better life and thanks God for the opportunity to do so. Instead of talking about himself all the time, like the other guy, he is silent and lets God speak to him. He leaves the temple feeling like a new man and God is clearly pleased with him.

I think God is really saying in today's gospel, it's really, really not all about you. I wish more people would listen to that idea. I think I need to get reminded of it myself, as I'm clearly not perfect either.

It is so very easy to get caught up in the drama of our every day problems. A long-term boyfriend breaks up with a friend, and all she can think about his how to get him back, or how her life is so terrible. A neighbor complains that their job is so difficult and so trying, it hardly seems worth the effort. A star athlete complains that they are treated unfairly by the press.

Really, people, can we just get over ourselves for a little bit and see what's really important?

Yes, it is awful when your heart is broken. Sometimes our workplaces can be difficult and stressful. And yes, sometimes tabloid press coverage can be unfair. Maybe it's my eternally optimistic mother (and immigrants are nothing if not optimistic), that always stressed looking at the flip side of the coin. Yes, your heart was broken, but you did experience love and hopefully you DID learn something from it. Yes, your job is tough, but hey, at last you have a job! So many people do not! Be thankful for the blessing of work! yes, the tabloid may have you splashed on its cover, but presumably you are getting paid for what you love to do, and isn't that a HUGE blessing in itself? For goodness sake, stop whining!

Even if my children don't grow up to regular church-going Episcopalians, I hope and pray that this experience in their youth will help them to see that the world is more than their comparativelytiny, tiny trials and tribulations. We are all truly blessed to be born in an industrialized nation, with roofs over our heads, clean drinking water and food on the table. We are blessed to have world-class educations, especially when less than 1% of the world's population has college degrees. Most of the time we are blessed with good health and access (however expensive that access may be) to first class health care. We are blessed with a democratic government that (for the most part) respects our human rights and allows us the opportunity to fulfill our dreams and to provide a better future for our children. We have families and communities that nurture us and give us strength when the waters are rough.

Of course there are important, critical issues that we need to think about and address: global warming, our dependence on foreign oil, sustainable food, budget deficits, unemployment, etc.

However, I do feel every once in awhile we need to stop and think about all the blessings we do have in our lives. We need to stop whining, to stop wallowing in our own problems and be thankful (to God, Allah, or in the case of my friend Jake, to "Cher") for what we do have in our lives. In Sunday School today, the children were asked to write three simple sentence "prayers" to God. the key words were "Please," "thank you" and "I'm sorry." Taking a cue from my 7 year-old, I'd like to say the following: "Please" God/Allah/Cher, help me to think of others who are less fortunate than myself. "Thank you" God/Allah/Cher for all of the many blessings in my life. Finally, "I'm sorry" that I haven't been a better person this week, that I've been wallowing in my own problems and not seeing the forest for the trees. I'll try to do better, with your help.

You don't have to believe in God to agree that we all need, sometimes, to take ourselves a little less seriously. We need to stop, get off the egocentric (affluenza?) train and take stock of what really matters in our lives. It's not all about our problems. It's not all about us. It's really not. Make an honest assessment of your life and see what you can do better. Then tomorrow is a new day and a new opportunity to do better.