Take the miter off!

"I began to laugh, slowly, then uproariously, at myself for wearing my miter to the convention center."

Brennan Manning, "Reflections for Ragamuffins"

In this story, Brennan Manning is describing a situation where he had given a very powerful and well-received talk at the Indianapolis Convention Center. The crowd was on its feet, cheering him. As he basked in the glory of such approval, he suddenly was given the gift of a vision. He saw himself in his casket...he was dead. In that instant, none of the accolades mattered one bit. He remembered visiting the bedside of a dying bishop, who lay there in his miter. And what difference did his miter make at that point? I thought of all the times I wear my miter around town! How silly it is that I seek such approval and accolades! Whatever do they matter when all that really matters is how much God loves me? I am embarrassed to admit how much time I spend tending to the miter on my head, when it doesn't mean a thing in the Big Picture. Today, let's review again why we do what we do. Is it for approval? Is it for reward? Is it to make ourselves look good to others? Is it so that people can praise us at our funeral? If any of these are true for us, let's spend some time taking the miter off...we look silly. Love, heidi