Musonius Rufus, Lectures 5.3

Again Musonius said, "Take the case of two musicians. One knows the theory of music and discourses on it most convincingly, but is unable to sing or play the harp or the lyre; the other is inferior in theory, but is proficient in playing the harp and the lyre and in singing as well. To which one would you give a position as musician, or which one would you like to have as teacher for a child who does not know music?" The man answered that he would choose the one who was skilled in practice. 

You may choose any field in the broad range of human endeavors, and you will find countless instances of this contrast between those who merely pontificate and those who actually carry the weight.

I still recall the conductors who would either lecture us like mathematicians on complex musical structures, or wax eloquently like poets on how the tone of a single note needed to express the deep despair of an unrequited love during a cold winter. I was always confused, and ready to throw in the towel.

Then there were the performers, many of whom had been in the pit for years, who showed me how to play the actual music. It was a bit of a pause with the bow here, or a different position on the fingerboard there.

There were so many of my peers who went on to study at prestigious law schools, and within a few years they all considered themselves experts in jurisprudence, taking every opportunity to tell anyone what the Constitution really meant, or why the world needed them to understand the real difference between right and wrong.

Then I met some lawyers of a very different breed, who were actually interested in helping their clients. It was law in the service of people, instead of people in the service of law.

There were the directors, and the deans, and the provosts, who had not even studied how to teach, but had rather studied how to tell other people how to teach. They organized seminars, and workshops, and conferences, where we all had to wear little nametags, and we watched endless PowerPoint presentations on the latest concepts in education.

Then there were the folks who had been doing the teaching all along, who already understood all the tricks of inspiring curiosity, of making ideas relevant, of helping people along the path of thinking for themselves.

There were certain types of priests and bishops, followed by an endless stream of lay ministers with their theology degrees, who loudly insisted they knew exactly how to light the fire of faith in the people, and revive the Church for the next century. They had many slogans, banners, t-shirts, and catchy songs to go along with it.

Then there were those who quietly took the Sacrament to the housebound, or fed the hungry, or got housing and jobs for the poor, or found support for the addicts, or personally sat and prayed for hours with someone who was in abject despair.

Whatever path of life you have followed, you will see the difference between the players and the makers. Perhaps you are discouraged by the preening and the posturing of the experts, but let them have their reward. Find encouragement instead in the example of those who take what they know, however simple it may be, and put it to work.

Yes, you might think that emptying a bedpan is not as dignified as standing at a podium, but you would be mistaken. The real dignity, the one that leads to fulfillment instead of mere gratification, is in action, in the giving of oneself. It is only wisdom when it expresses itself in love. 

Written in 7/1999