"If anyone wants to be first, he will be last of all and servant of all." (Mark 9:35)
A literal translation of Sunday’s Gospel offers a new perspective. Our lectionary gives "If anyone wants to be first, he must make himself last of all and servant of all", which implies two different decisions: the decision to be first and then the decision to be last – as an obligatory means to being first.
Sometimes our spiritual life can seem like that: we do acts of service as a means to an end, not for their intrinsic value. We do not really want to serve, but we do it despite ourselves.
