How much does the responsibility of a position weigh?

        Many people look forward to nominations and eagerly compete for positions that will give them authority over others.

        However, once they take such positions, it seems like they forget their real objective and start acting only on their own benefit.

        This reminds us of a story about a man who was nominated mandarin, a kind of advisor in China.

        Full of vanity due to his new position, he desired to get some new clothes made, as he would now be an important man.

        A friend of him recommended an old wiseman, a special tailor who knew how to give every customer the perfect touch.

        The tailor took all the new mandarin’s measures, and then politely asked how long had he been holding such position.That was an important piece of information, in order to give a perfect cut to the new garment.

        Well, what does it have to do with the measurement of my mantel?

        The tailor explained patiently: It is a precious piece of information. A newly nominated mandarin gets so enthusiastic about his position that he walks with his nose and head up high. In this case, I need to make the front part of the garment longer than the back one.

        After some years, he gets very busy with the work and upheavals of his experience, he becomes more sensible and looks ahead for what comes in his direction and what he needs to do next. For this mandarin, I make a mantel that has the same measures at the front and at the back.

        Later on, with the burden of the years, his body starts bending to the front, mainly due to age and from the exhaustive works he has done, not to mention all the humbleness acquired with his life of efforts. That is when I make the mantel with a longer back. Therefore, I need to know for how long you have been in this position so that the clothes will fit you perfectly.

        The man got out of the tailor shop thinking more about the reasons that took his friend to tell him about that wise tailor, than about the mantel he ordered itself.

* * *

        Positions and functions are always responsibilities offered to us by Divinity for our own development. There is no reason for vanity, believing ourselves better or superior than others.

        When Pilate assured Jesus he had the power of life or death, and that he had His destiny into his hands, The Master said: Prosecutor, the authority you now exercise is not your own, it was given to you and it can be taken away from you.

        If fact, that is what actually happened.

        Just a few years after Jesus’ death, Rome took all the power away from Judea’s prosecutor, Pontius Pilate. He lost his position, his prestige, and everything else he believed eternal.

* * *

        Every authority, in order to be real, must be centred in love and exemplar life.

        Authority should never go against justice.

        When performing our duties, let us remember that only one authority is sovereign: God’s one, because it is unique and legitimate.

Spiritist Moment Team, based on the article from
Revista Brasil Rotário, June 1998, number 913.
January 24 2008.