February 25: Inherited the Earth, Luck or Grace, God's Love Number Eight

On another day, while heading downtown to get in a little shopping and to meet his friend Father Tom, he could not help but wonder how life could go so badly for some, and so splendidly for others.  "Who inherited the earth?" had become a question he often asked himself; who deserved to prosper, who deserved to suffer?  On the train coming down he had counted seven beggars, who came in through the cars asking for money, one of them, a large black man, his lumberjack shirt open, with purple splotches all over his body, black-and-blue marks on his arms, and with a piece of filthy catheter jammed into his stomach just above his navel.  Ives gave something to every single one of them.

Ives is pondering a question that almost every human being ponders at some point.  Boiling it down, Ives is wondering why bad things happen to good people.  His son, Robert, was planning to enter the priesthood.  Ives attended church, prayed, supported his family, loved his wife and kids.  Ives is better than Ozzie Nelson or Mike Brady.  Yet, Ives suffers.  Horribly.  He is a modern-day Job, right down to the sores that break out on his body.


I often feel envy.  Of friends who teach at the university full-time.  Of family members who don't ever seem to financially struggle.  Of acquaintances who publish books and win awards.  I wonder what all of these people have done to deserve their good fortune.  Me?  I don't buy Diet Mountain Dew in the morning because I'm not sure we can afford it.  I use Amazon gift cards I receive for my birthday to buy birthday and Christmas presents for other people.  In November, I bought a new toilet seat with an Amazon card because I didn't have enough money to buy it at a local store.

A friend of mine flew out to California this morning to give a reading near Sacramento from his new book.  When I spoke with him yesterday, he complained how tired he was, how all he wanted to do was stay home and sleep.  I understood his feelings.  He works hard and has had a really difficult semester of teaching.  But, he's being paid to travel to California.  They're going to take him out to eat.  Put him up at a hotel.  Show up to listen to him read from his book.  In my estimation, that would be a pretty awesome couple of days for me.

I'm not sure if it's luck or grace when good things happen to bad people or vice versa.  As a Christian, I have to say grace.  My friend has been graced with talent and a strong work ethic.  He's in California right now, eating Mexican food.  I have been graced with a talent for writing (I think) and a strong work ethic.  Tomorrow morning, I'll be dragging my ass out of bed at 5:45 to get to work on time, and I will be teaching until 10 p.m.

I am grateful that I teach.  Being in a classroom, talking about movies and poetry, and getting paid for it.  There's nothing better.  That's God's Love Number Eight.  I get to do something that brings me great joy.  I'm certainly not inheriting the earth.  I'm barely inheriting a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner.

 But Saint Marty is prospering this evening.

I wouldn't mind inheriting this...