THERE'S A LESSON HERE SOMEWHERE

From an email that I received today.


A mechanic was removing a cylinder-head from the motor of a Harley motorcycle when he spotted a well-known cardiologist in his shop. 
The cardiologist was there waiting for the service manager to come and take a look at his bike when the mechanic shouted across the garage. 
"Hey, Doc, want to take a look at this?" 
The cardiologist, a bit surprised, walked over to where the mechanic was working on the motorcycle.  The mechanic straightened up, wiped his hands on a rag and asked, "So Doc, look at this engine. I open its' heart, take the valves out, repair any damage, and then put them back in, and when I finish, it works just like new. So how come I make $39,675 a year and you get the really big bucks 
($1,695,759) when you and I are doing basically the same work?" 
The cardiologist paused, smiled and leaned over, then whispered to the 
mechanic..... 
"Try doing it with the engine running." 

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This is a downsized comparison that I first heard when I was in Rome during the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council.  A world renowned theologian had come to our residence and was giving us some idea of what the world's bishops were trying to do in their meetings.  He started by giving us his view of the world as he found it in the 20th century.  He said that one of the reasons why so many people are walking away from God and the Church is because so many people know so many things about realities that were mysteries to their mothers and fathers.  In fact, he said, that many of the students of our day know more about many things than those who are teaching them in the classroom.  One of the examples he used was precisely that of the mechanic.  The person who can take machines that are decrepit and out of service and make them like new again.  He used the example to show us that so many people have so many technical skills that it is easy for us humans to become arrogantly infatuated with the dominion that we have over creation.  With all this knowledge and power, who needs God?

I remembered this today when I received this little parable in my email.  In fact, a flood of ideas and thoughts have been running through my mind today because of this email.  It make me feel squeezed because I have 5,000 words in me about this, not a mere 500.  But one last comment.

The attitude of the mechanic is one that is widespread.  There is an attitude in the world that since we are all equal we should all be able to live at the same level.  Since everything that we do is important in some way to someone else in the community of man, then all jobs must be of equal value.  There is an attitude that brings all endeavors down to the lowest common denominator.  The supermarket helper who polishes apples and stacks oranges has a mind set that compares this work to that of the store manager who doesn't do anything but walk around all day with a pencil behind his ear.  The fruit polisher after all makes the merchandise attractive to the potential buyer.  In the mental and emotional scurrying that we do as humans, we want to be sure  within ourselves that what we do is as important and as valuable as what everyone else does.  Therefore we think that we should all get paid equally well so that our life styles can be in balance with everyone else's.

All I can say is, "Get over it."   We aren't God.  We never will be, not even in heaven.  As for me, if I get to heaven, I'll be so happy that I'll gladly live in the doghouse.  Don't worry about things you can't control.  Play the hand that you're given.  Drive on the road according to the conditions that it gives you.
Follow that advice and you won't want to cry at my funeral.