Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of America’s 32nd President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, has always been a role model for me. Generally shy, she nonetheless represents to me the idea of “First Lady” of the United States in a way no other woman has equaled. One of my favorite stories of her is what she did at 9 pm each night.
No matter what else she was doing—entertaining foreign dignitaries, traveling, or caring for her family—promptly at 9 pm Eleanor retired to her room with her secretary to answer the letters which had come to her that day. She gave personal answers through the years to thousands: to mothers worried about their sons on battlefields, to admirers and critics, to those who asked a favor of her or who asked her advice. Writing letters enabled her to express intentional caring to many, many people at a time when the US was under severe duress. Yet it was also a way that suited her personality and style. As wife of the President, she was a Very Important Person. She saw her role as a responsibility, rather than a privilege. She committed herself to the discipline of daily responding to the many letters she received, because she saw that caring action as a duty that came with the prestige and privilege of her position.
Dealing with Success
Eleanor and her letters came to mind as I read today’s readings. Both readings are about times of popularity and success.
In the first reading, Saul and David were Very Important People, much admired and appreciated for their military victories. As Wednesday’s first reading told, David had just killed Goliath. When the Philistines saw their leader dead, they fled. It was a golden moment. Saul, the king, and David, his right hand man, walked through the streets of the villages of Israelites. Women danced before them and sang. That is the setting for the first part of the selection. It concludes with the forewarning, “Saul was very angry and resentful of the song, for he thought: ‘They give David ten-thousands, but only thousands to me. All that remains for him is the kingship.’ And from that day on, Saul was jealous of David.”
There is important information before, between, and after today’s selection from 1 Samuel that puts Saul’s jealousy and anger in context. Soon after becoming king, Saul disobeyed God in his battle with the Amalekites. He lost favor with God. God forgave him, but took his blessing on Saul’s kingship away from him and gave it to David. Once Saul saw David’s success in battle, he surmised God had chosen him as the new king. But Saul did not accept this. Instead, as we see today, he began to plot against David—even with his own children.
It is an interesting thing, what having plenty and being successful does to us humans. We have—and so we don’t recognize that we depend on God for our success. We have—and we think the principles of obedience and submission of our wills to God are no longer necessary. We have—and so we want to keep. We have—and so we feel the need to protect ourselves. We have—and we see as enemies those who might displace us from our security. Even though we have plenty, we are jealous of anyone who has more—even as we ignore the fidelity to God which gives us our success.
Jesus Did It Differently
The picture in the Gospel today is very different. This is very early in Jesus ministry. He has gathered disciples and taught in the synagogues of Galilee. He has been fulfilling what he announced as his mission statement: He has brought glad tidings to the poor, proclaimed the liberty of the Kingdom of God, given sight to the blind, and delivered the oppressed from demons (Luke 4: 18-19) And there is great success! Everyone wants to be with him. People come from Galilee, Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, from Tyre and Sidon. It is a scene very similar to the scene with Saul and David.
But the response is different. When the Gospel of Matthew describes this point of Jesus ministry (Matthew 4:23-5:2), it simply says “When he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, he began to teach them, saying…” Mark, today, includes the information, “He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him.” Jesus coped with his popularity and took care of himself, but in ways that acknowledged the responsibility for care of others that his popularity gave him.
Working from A Sense of Responsibility
Let us return to Eleanor Roosevelt’s letters. Biographies of Eleanor describe her as very much an introverted person, one who liked solitude, to keep her own counsel, and who needed time to think through matters before she expressed herself. She was also shy, not known for her beauty or social wit.
But when her husband became President and she was much admired, she imitated Jesus, not Saul. While working with her personality, she gave herself willingly to the task of writing letters every night. She found a way to be caring and sharing that worked for her—and which met the needs and desires of her public, the people of the US oppressed by the Great Depression and by World War II.
Today’s readings speak much to me. As I settle into a new schedule and new work, I have a certain popularity with the elderly I visit. I love them and they love me. I write here, and readers say my writing is helpful. Semi-retirement gives me more time for friends and family, so there is more time to love them and be loved by them. All this feels like success.
Yet, I am chagrined to admit that I have had some possessive feelings about my new life and work. There is insecurity when things are new. I’m not yet where Jesus and Eleanor Roosevelt were: create a bit of a buffer to set some boundaries, then give up self to meet the needs of those who come. I don’t want to be like Saul–though jealous feelings have plagued me from time to time all my life. I want to be like Jesus and Eleanor: enjoy success, but focus on the needs of those who come to me. Be other oriented. Just move into a flow of the good God gives.
So, is there an area of your life where you are tempted to be like Saul, when Jesus gives you a different model? How would you apply the model?
Prayer:
Lord, keep me from jealousy, fear, anger, intrigue, and all the other temptations that plagued Saul. If I give in to temptation, send a Jonathan into my life to reason with me and call me to repentance. Heal me of any wounds that make it easy for temptations from insecurity to get a foothold in me. Lead me, guide me, Lord.
