Bandology

No person crosses the same river twice. This is also true for literature that we read. New thoughts seem to appear from the same words. Maybe, our new set of experiences makes us see the same words in a different light. After my resignation, I found time to reread my books. I divide my books in two generations, the one I purchased when I was a student and the ones after graduation. The ones purchased during my college years were from my meager stipend as a UP Presidential Leadership scholar. Those books are usually from thrift shops. The ones I purchased after graduation are from the more expensive bookstores. Between buying clothes and buying books, I prefer books. Books are portals to vast galaxies of information and experience.
The book of Swindoll remarkably moved me when I reread it. I quoted the poems he used to drive his points on humility and anonymous service.

I wonder
If you asked me to wash
The calloused feet
Of a bent and wrinkled
Old woman
Day after day
Month after month
In a room where nobody saw
And nobody knew

It is a candid examination of the driving factors in one’s action. Dag also posed the scenario with a more direct statement. For the glory of God, or for the glory of yourself. For the good of others, or for your own good. The answer will determine your actions.

I am like James and John
Lord, I size up other people
In terms of what they can do for me
How they can further my program
Feed my ego
Satisfy my needs
Give me strategic advantage
I exploit people
Ostensibly for your sake
But really for my own sake
Lord, I turn to you
To get the inside track
And obtain special favors
Your direction for my schemes
Your sanction for my ambition
Your blank check for all my wants
Change me, Lord
Make me a person
Who asks of You and others,
How can I serve you?