Readings for the Day:
Sermon:
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Recently I was reading George Saunders’ A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, which is basically a master class in writing from 19th Century Russian authors. This is by no means my own favorite group of writers in literature, but I highly recommend the book as it will change the way you look at writing and criticism.
The final story Saunders covers in the book is Leo Tolstoy’s “Alyosha the Pot”. It’s the story of a servant boy, Alyosha, whose father lends him out to a local family. Alyosha does everything well and always with a smile, so naturally one would think that the family thanks him and cherishes him. Instead, they don’t thank him at all and continue to dump more and more work on him. Alyosha doesn’t seem to mind. In fact, he just keeps on smiling.
Alyosha continues to try to be a good son and servant. He gets worried only about things that might upset his father, like when he needs new boots since his constant working (and growing) wears out his old ones. The cost of the boots gets removed from his wages, all of which go to his father, hence his concern.
Then one day Alyosha finds someone who loves him just to love him, not out anything she might gain from him. This person is Ustinya the cook, and they talk of getting married. The mistress of the house, however, does not approve of this match. After all, if they get married, then Alyosha will get the cook pregnant and then what will she do? She tries to get Alyosha’s father to dissuade his son from the match, and Alyosha’s father yells at him, calling Ustinya all kinds of vile names as she listens from the opposite side of the door. Alyosha tells her that this is it then, they can’t get married like they wanted. Alyosha tries to carry on like before, but when the mistress of the house brings the matter up, he burst into tears.
Shortly after, Alyosha is asked to clean snow off the roof. He trips, falls, and is badly injured to the point of death. He tells Ustinya it all worked out for the best that they didn’t get married since he wouldn’t have lived long anyways. Before his death, he spends time in prayer with the priest. We are told he looks around amazed at something in his last hours before something seems to startle him and he dies.
Saunders points out a number of things in the story that dissatisfy us as readers, from a moral, not a critical, basis. Why didn’t Alyosha stand up to his father? Why didn’t he stand up to anyone? Why couldn’t he have gotten some happiness in his life for all the good he did for everyone?
It’s something that troubles many of us from time to time. Why do bad things happen to those who are clearly trying to do good? Our readings from Jeremiah and the Psalms (as many psalms do) look at those who cause harm and evil to those who serve the Lord and hope that hard times will befall them.
It is telling that in the midst of these readings that Jesus once again discusses His own pending death. He will suffer, and He will do so at the hands of others. But nothing is said about what will happen to those that kill Him. Jesus doesn’t go out of His way to wish any harm on them.
If bad things happened to Jesus, then they can happen to anyone. That is the truth of life: that sometimes bad things happen to good people. It is not wrong to wish that things had happened differently. It is not even wrong to wonder why these things happen. After all, as Saunders points out, we even see Tolstoy create his story in such a way that we are left uncertain, uneasy, and questioning.
All we really can do is follow what Jesus says. In the Gospel, He reminds us that anyone who wants to be first must be last and must be a servant of all. We are called to greet the child, the most vulnerable, the meek, the seemingly weakest in our midst as we would Jesus Himself. If we can do that, then in the midst of this world that doesn’t always make sense, we can do some good. Maybe if we can love even the smallest among us, then we can start to make this a world where the good don’t have to suffer. Maybe if we go out as servants and not as conquerors, then we can create a world where no one has to suffer.
I’m not saying by trying to be good, by accepting that we might have to suffer out of love for others like Jesus, that the world will change. The truth is I don’t know. I do believe we owe it to our Lord to try. I don’t know how our story will end, or even if we will end up as another Alyosha in this world, but I do know that if we can take on the heart of a servant, then we will at least be doing God’s work in the world.