Losing Life to Find It
Charles M. Schwab was an American steel magnate. Under his leadership Bethlehem Steel became the second largest manufacturer of steel. One day Schwab found himself in court, where he won a nuisance law suit. He was seventy years old at the time.
Schwab asked the judge for permission to speak. He made the following statement: “I’d like to say here in a court of law and speaking as an old man, that nine-tenths of my troubles are traceable to my being kind to others. Look, you young people, if you want to steer away from trouble, be hard-boiled. Be quick with a good loud ‘No’ to anyone and everyone. If you follow this rule, you will seldom be bothered as you tread life’s pathways. Except you’ll have no friends, you’ll be lonely and you won’t have any fun.”
Schwab, from the world of business, made the same point in his own unique way as did Jesus in today’s gospel: Whoever wishes to save his life [holding on, grasping, thinking only of self] must lose it, but whoever loses his life [loving others, humbly serving, caring for the weak and less fortunate, not putting yourself at the center of the universe] for my sake will find it.”
Think about it! When have you felt most happy, most fulfilled, most hopeful? In my experience it has been when I tried my best to help others, even if I’m inconvenienced, even when I’m not feeling on top of the world, even if the other person (in my mind) doesn’t particularly deserve it. You can start the day feeling completely miserable; but as soon as you do something for someone who is worse off, everything changes! You feel like you have a purpose, that you’ve made a difference. And no one else in the world needs to know about it, because you feel that you and God are on the same page, in sync with each other, knowing that this is why you were created.
The great author C. S. Lewis had a dramatic way of putting it. He wrote, “To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket—safe, dark, motionless, airless—it will change. It will not be broken; it will be unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable…”
Or, again, as Jesus put it, “Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”