Sometime in the 17th century, the poet Richard Baxter described a common experience when he wrote:
They want not friends that have thy love, And may converse and walk with thee,
And with thy saints here and above, With whom forever I must be.
His experience was that God first loved him, and invited him to deeper friendship with him. When he responded by trying to rid himself of every obstacle to God’s love, he discovered that not only was God his friend, but all the friends of God became his friends, both on earth and in heaven: “thy saints here and above”, he calls them. And as we heard from our retreat master this past week, when the friends of God come together, they form the basis of a community, in which one person can learn from the experience of the community, and the community can learn from the experience of the person.
“Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Psychologists say that a common symptom of depression is grandiosity. When we feel downcast, undervalued or diminished, we often develop an inflated persona, one which is proud, magnificent, garbed in flashy colors. And that is how the disciples approach Jesus today. Their question is so blatantly proud – “Lord, who among us is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” – that what lies underneath can only be the disciples huge lack of confidence, self-value and meaning in their lives. Because they felt so poor and empty, they built this self-image where they are worthy of the kingdom of heaven.