Why Bother? I Say, “Fight Mediocrity”

One time, at work, I was rewarded for having perfect attendance. I even got that award for having perfect attendance when I was in elementary school one year. Both times, the response regarding this achievement from my peers was, “Well, you have nothing else to do, so you come to work and school.”

Mediocracy

I have been having trouble with my internet since I switched providers. I cannot count how many times I have called and complained. I had been transferred to so many agents I just canceled the service and found a new provider. These small events made me think about shoddy service, poor attitudes, and indifference that pervade our society daily. I meet it in so many places and situations I wonder how productive we are in our daily lives.

Emerging from the pandemic, I thought things would have changed in society but in fact, it only became worse. St. John Paul II said, “Do not be satisfied with mediocrity. Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”

Catch

I want to be present to the people around me. I would like to think I work very hard but maybe I am simply kidding myself. Living life intensely sometimes has its drawbacks. There is much professional jealousy out there and sometimes it is as if people do not want you to strive for success. How often does this transcend into our personal and spiritual lives? Even simple disciplines like abstaining from certain luxuries during Lent come with criticism such as, “Why bother?”

When we try to get to daily mass, it is a sacrifice. Time constraints sometimes make it a challenge, but it is the effort that is part of the sacrifice. Pope Francis said, “Do not be content with a mediocre Christian life: Walk with determination along the path to holiness.” How do we make this path to holiness? We are all called to holiness but that is a struggle. This is what Pope Francis has asked us to do but not only him, the Church has always asked us to live our lives intensely. It is a big challenge in the face of mediocrity that surrounds us at work, in our lives, and in our spiritual lives.

Overcoming Mediocrity

“Jealousy is the tribute which mediocrity pays to genius,” said Bishop Fulton J. Sheen. It is easy for us to reduce success in others to jealousy. We need to push ourselves towards greatness but that is not a path that we walk alone. We look at others sometimes with disdain when they do not meet our standards or if they are better than us or even ahead of us on the road. We place expectations on ourselves and others but sometimes we are completely satisfied with mediocrity.

Meeting the Challenge

People come and go into our lives. We never know what or who will come to us. If we read about the encounters with Zacchaeus, Bartimaeus, Mary Magdalene, or John and Andrew, we see how they were attracted to Christ. They met Him and they could not help but be stirred and attracted They did not know what was moving their hearts, but their hearts were on fire.

We need to have this gaze in everyone we meet.

It’s true he was a sinner. But don’t pass so final a judgment. Have pity in your heart and don’t forget that he may yet be another Augustine while you remain just another mediocrity (St. Jose Escriva).

Even when I taught RCIA classes at my parish, I would always wonder about each person’s motivation for entering the Catholic Church in a world that is so opposed to it. I certainly do not want to live a mediocrity. This reminds me of a quote from St. Jerome. “Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Till your good is better and your better is best” (St. Jerome).

I am always afraid of disappointing these catechumens. They are novices on the journey, and we need to witness a certainty, an intensity, and not simply an average existence. But, to live an intensity necessitates Christ. “He must increase, and I must decrease says John the Baptist. It is a humbling sentence to absorb. Who are we in front of this task?

It is such a daunting task but one that we accept with humility and grace knowing we are being led by someone greater. Christianity is lived in a companionship – an experience of meeting someone who met someone who met Christ. It is like a “good father tries to make the proposal to his son more agreeable as well-suited to him as possible” according to Peguy, the great writer. And, if we are satisfied with doing the bare minimum in our work and in our relationships, then it will only leave us empty.

It is a dark time in the world and whether we are affected by what is happening around us or not it cannot be ignored. It is easy to fall into the trap of asking ourselves, “Why bother?” or “Who cares?” or “So what?” We see the challenges in front of us and we allow our inadequacy to move us instead of our trust in the Infinite. It is Christ who moves us, and it is He who sustains us. It is easy to simply say that I just want to get by without much effort but that does not serve our Lord.

Conclusion

We need to be better at what we do – I certainly do. I do not want to be putting in the least amount of effort when whatever we do is for God’s glory. It was St. Teresa of Avila who told us,

Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours .

How often do we look at our work with the intensity of St. Teresa? Our work is for Him, even the banalest of tasks. Read about any saint who lived a simplicity for God’s greater glory. We need to be reminded that, “All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle (St Francis of Assisi).