Setting standards

There is the anecdote of two friends travelling through a forest when they hear a lion behind them.  As they plan their escape strategy, one of them says that he is going to run. The other asks him if they really can outrun the lion.  The first one responds, "I do not need to outrun the lion, I just to run faster than you!"

Now what's worse than having no standards or levels of excellence set by oneself?  Lowering them to the level of the last of the group!

In the movie Annapolis, there is nice dialogue between two plebe's (fresh navy recruits) - who are also good friends:

People who live in Arkansas, you know what their favourite state is?
No.
Mississippi. 'Cos, Mississippi is the only thing that keeps Arkansas from being the worst state in the whole country.

We can very well settle for standards far below our capacity or potency, settle for something purely in comparison to the most 'weakest' in the group. Surely there is neither merit nor courage in achieving that set goal or aim!

Not yet home...

Another Lenten anecdote I came across these days...

A famous actress came back from a two-week visit to China. When the ship landed there was an enthusiastic crowd to welcome her.  On the same ship there was a missionary who had spent his whole life in China and nobody was there to welcome him.  "I do not understand," the missionary prayed, "the difference is too great." "Wait," God answered, "you are not yet home."

Merit beyond the word 'Christian'

The grueling exercise of sitting through the admission process for the school children is an experience of a totally different kind... something I've never had before. While for most of it, it is a smooth sail for I had been doling out instructions clear and strong right since the beginning. I've also not minced words in stating facts or withheld information of anything pertaining to the progress of the school and related matters. However, the worst part of this exercise is sitting with Catholic parents, specially our own Parishoners. In practically all the instances that I had to sweat it out, they are like the cat sitting on the fence: just waiting to see which side is favourable. While they wish to enroll their child in the school (for they are well aware of the quality education children receive at Don Bosco), they would like to save the most. Of course, saving on the financial front is everyone's effort (after all, it is their hard earned money) but demanding that they are entitled to a concession purely on the basis that they are Catholics is very nauseating. Worst still, those demanding are hardly seen in the Church on Sundays!

I've kept a simple principle: no concession for whomsoever... of course, the request for concession could be looked into after a couple of years of the child being in the school and that too on the basis of their overall performance (besides their economic background). Parents - and children - need to earn their merit not demand it, purely because they have the tag 'Christian'.