Reflection on Sunday's readings

My main theology professor would occasionally draw a vertical line on the board and write the word “God” on one side of the line and the words “Not God” on the other. For a considerable length of time, I couldn’t figure out what he was trying to say. It was probably my sense of grandiosity that blinded me from the profound truth made clear in this weekend’s first reading and Gospel. God’s ways and thoughts are not the way I act and think. Through the years I have grown in humility, meaning that I have been much more accepting of the truth about myself, God and all other people. While God might have given me the talents I have, I am in the end equal to everyone else in the eyes of God. I don’t need to feel cheated when someone else seems to have advantages or benefits that I don’t. And, I am more likely now to realize, with gratitude, that there are things I am good at that others might find more difficult and challenging.