Wednesday 17 December 2008

WWJD

WWJD

Some years ago, the acronym ‘WWJD’ (What Would Jesus Do?) used to be pretty popular. We’d wear wrist bands, caps, shirts; all with WWJD emblazoned, to remind us to give a moment’s thought to that question before we did anything. In some ways, it worked – while wearing the bands, I’d remember to ‘be good’ – perhaps in the same way the people of long ago wore crosses around their necks, so that every time they looked at them, they’d remember how their friend Jesus died, and themselves be influenced to live the way he did.

Anyway, I haven’t thought ‘WWJD’ for ages – it’s just that yesterday, I did something which is still bothering me now. Not ‘cos it’s a bad thing (in fact, if it was, I think I’d be bothered much less, which is ironic!) but more because it was probably too good that it was ‘silly of me’, as everyone has told me (three people, up to now).

I’m graduating next year, and we all have to write resumes to apply for the places where we want to work. 2 classmates of mine from the same town asked if they could borrow my resume. They’re a couple, boy and girl – I like the girl ‘cos she’s sweet, but the boy is arrogant and bossy (she said she loves him though, so I tolerate him for that reason). Anyway, we were all in the car, and the boy asked the question. I didn’t want to give my resume because it has my private details, so I said I’d send them the one my mom sent me (and even then, I was apologetic, afraid that they’d think I was snubbing them). So as soon as I got home, I emailed him the one my mom sent, which someone else had sent to her when applying for a job at her firm. It was a good resume, and she’d sent it to me as an example, and I had now sent it to them cos they said they needed an example too.

Then that night, I suddenly realized what I’d done. Although I’d sent them the sample and not mine, I’d copied from the sample, so now theirs would be exactly the same! It was such a good resume – I’d spent days on it, and now I’d given it away. And not even to ‘friends’, ‘cos they only take care of each other (which is normal, since they’re a couple), while I’m always all alone (good thing my parents have money, so I hardly need any favours from anyone – got a car, got stuff etc – but always wished I had someone here to watch out for me, ‘cos I still get pushed around, or served last when I order food). Now they’d all have good resumes and mine wouldn’t be special at all.

Called a close friend to moan, and he said not to do it (but I’d already done it, unthinking, and done it speedily too, ‘cos of that thing in Proverbs that says that if someone asks you for help and you can help them today, you should, and not say ‘come back tomorrow’!). Called my mom and she immediately said she had tons of other less perfect examples I could have sent them. It’s true. Told her it was already done, and she tried to make me feel better by saying that if you looked at it from my friend’s point of view, the world one – then you were cheating yourself and everyone would step all over you and then kick you off the ladder – but that if we looked at it from God’s point of view, it’d be very unchristian to give them a bad resume while I had a good one.

And then today I told my best friend about it, and she said the same (as in, that it was silly and that I shouldn’t go giving my resume out to people, especially since they lived in the same area and would want to work in the same place I do). And then right now, I was just wondering – ok then, what would Jesus do?

Well, from what I’ve read of him, I guess he’d give his all. Share all he had (which is how he died anyway; giving all he had of himself) – show his resume, and let them copy it if they liked. OR…. He’d do the cryptic thing he does with the parables, and write a set of guidelines for them on how to write a resume (since he doesn’t always spoonfeed people with knowledge). ;-)

And at the end of all this, I’m still not sure if I did right or wrong. It feels wrong, but maybe it’ll work out right if I still get the place I’m applying for. And anyway, if we talk about sharing the gospel about Jesus ‘cos it’s something good, I guess we shouldn’t be stingy about the other good things too, ‘cos God can make enough for all. And if God’s on my side, everything will work out for good, one way or another.

(Actually, I haven’t been reading my bible for days; maybe if I had, I'd have been wiser – there’s a story in 2 Kings 20 about that, where the King shows some guests all his treasures, and they attack him later on to get all these treasures. I think it’s about discretion – be kind, but you don’t have to give away everything! Oh no… I’m confused… no wonder the ‘middle way’ that others advocate is so popular – being good, but not too good. It makes for better survival ;-))

Ah well. Will end here for now. Not sure what the lesson is that is learnt, unless perhaps it’s prudence. Another unflattering proverb comes to mind, regarding me :- ( ‘A woman without discretion is like a gold ring in a pig’s snout’. I do hope I haven’t got myself into trouble very badly by sharing all I had……….. (and in fact, if we want to talk about sharing what we have, I'd be eating less, and some people wouldn't have to die of starvation. But we're greedy, and hoard stuff, even what we don't need.........)

(And in the midst of all the philosophical or political posts on this blog, this one is just everyday life, where one is often faced with the question, 'should we be charitable or practical' ........)

Still regretting, still unsure... ironic ;-)

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, I'm not a Christian, Crushed, but among my people there's the saying that a friend's good fortune is a blessing - and I would say that a stranger's good fortune is equally a blessing, given that we are all one. You gave away something good, from which people might benefit. That is to be admired.

Having hired many people in the past at various jobs, I can say definitively that all the things that books and people say about what the right resumé looks like are wrong. Yeah, I would notice if someone had bad grammar or a REALLY poorly formatted piece. But overall, most resumés are largely the same in terms of presentation, and that's what I learned to expect and want. The similarly good presentation told me that the person understood enough technology to at least get the format right, which got them past the "this person is not a moron" bar. (Which is important, because people self-separate into morons and non-morons, mostly.) What I was really concerned with were the experiential details - if someone had an AMAZING presentation, they still were on an equal level with everyone who had similar experience and qualifications.

Perhaps I'm wrong, and perhaps other people hire on the basis of visual detail. I doubt it. It would be hard to keep one's job that way.

Ultimately it all comes down to the interview, anyway. The paper qualifications get you to the point where you present yourself. If everyone has the same resumé, I'll interview them all - and I'll hire the one who has the best qualifications and personality to work in the group. By the time it comes to making that decision, that person's resumé is almost a long-forgotten footnote.

Anonymous said...

Well, even if they use the same form, it won't be quite the same resume. Subtle wordings, and experiences can certainly make a difference. I think you did a nice thing.

Anonymous said...

Eve, I figure this is basically a sort of a “prisoner’s dilemma” thingy. Game theory looks at behaviour/strategy in situations like that. Worth reading a bit about it maybe?

I guess Jesus would have thought there are so many Resumes/CVs out there they are almost standardised with the same sort of stuff in the same sort of places, no more than two pages etc., so it is probably good to stick to the form of what employers expect.

Too non standard, or too much bull and they will bin it or loose interest. So no real loss in passing on the example you used as you will have put some of your individual spin on it to be noticed.

Don't worry about it, you probably did yourself more of a favour than not.

Anonymous said...

You werent wrong and what is done is done I think.

Anonymous said...

Well Jesus was pretty human

changing water into wine? well who wouldn't if they could. Everybody likes to provide good wine at a party, and every host wants their guests to be merry. If all else fails resort to home-brew

Losing your temper with money lenders? Well everyone likes money for nothing, but who likes to pay interest (especially high interest)

But would Jesus be like Jim Morrison or any other pop idol or rock'n'roll star - in other words get laid as often as he could ...
well there is always the story of Jesus and the prostitute

But hell in biblical terms, I guess most if not all women in the 21st century are prostitutes

After all our mothers may come from a generation where our dad is the only man they've ever been to bed with ...
but I think that is more a rarety between women of your and mine generation

at least in the so called 'civilized' world or economically advanced first world. Not withstanding that rape and/or early widowhood is still very much commonhood in the troubled spots of the so called third world too.

But what would Jesus do?
Turning the other cheek
is and always been the hardest thing to do

Not following the desires of the flesh is and always has been the hardest thing to do

Aaaah Love - that thorny bush
the more intense the love, the more intense the hurt when it is lost. The more intense the pleasure the deeper the pain when the 'drug' is removed.

But inner stillness?
who can achieve that? Buddha?

Better to have loved and die, than never to have loved at all
Better to live and die, than never to have lived at all

And when there's nothing left to fight for, nothing left to die for
No belief or desire to sacrifice oneself for ...
then what is there left to live for

There is only one thing for sure - Death.
And anything we may imagine today we cannot live without, we can be sure one day we'll have to do without. Letting go can be so hard, yet even LOVE & LIFE or LOVE of LIFE we must one day let go of

Anonymous said...

Eve, I think why I like your take on Christianity is you do try interpret it and visualise Jesus the man, which I think we all should.

I think there is something to be said for being good, but not too good.

Or analysing what being good means.

I don't think it always neans what some say it is, 'vitue' is often very far from good.

Being good means being part of a world which operates in harmony.

I would never pretend to be virtuous in the traditional sense. I'm not. But I firmly believe I'm a good person. far more of a good person than many who claim to be virtuous.

Interviews are kind of a game, Eve. The CV is just to get your foot in the door. So giving someone a hand in that sense, isn't a bad thing. they do the rest themselves.

Anonymous said...

Eve I think you did the right thing.

You would have felt guilty if you had given them nothing and even more if you had given them a substandard one.

Besides maybe they will not use it at all or in a different way and if you spent a lot of time on it, making it your own, it will shoe. They probably won't go to that effort since they were trying to avoid work in the first place by asking for yours.

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure Jesus would be interested in giving someone a dynamite resume. He'd have the only realistic perspective - the global perspective. He'd know that going out of his way to help someone get the job would at the same time take the job away from the person who otherwise would have got it.

He'd be more into curing blindness and stuff assuming he wasn't forced to give the blindness to someone else!

As a matter of fact I do a lot of resumes for people I know and I always give it my best. But I'm not Jesus.

Anonymous said...

Wow, these are the best comments I've received ever! They help lots... ok, will now reply them one by one (sorry for the late reply - my laptop adaptor got spoilt, and only the big city has replacements, so I've to wait til I go home - am replying from the computer lab now, which opens only from sunday to thursday)...

8xyxxy8: Thank you, that was a very helpful explanation :-) The part that encourages me is that you WOULD interview them all, and hire the one with the best qualifications at the end of it (and not look back and compare whose resume or photo looked nicer ;-)).

Charles Gramlich: I thought so too - but the resume doesn't need many words anyway! It's just a list of results and qualifications... I'm glad you thought it was ok, though :-)

Moggs: Hmmmm.... the thing is that there ARE worse formats (my mom said she sent me the best of the ones she received)... but you're right, if mine WAS out of the norm, now at least there are others with the same thing (cos these friends then passed on the sample I gave them). :-) Thanks for putting that spin on it - guess there are so many ways to look at something! :-)

Mutley: Thanks for the support :- ) It’s been a week now – the effect is wearing off, but I do try not to think about it still ;-)

Quasar 9: Very well said. Yes, the lust for so many things affects us all. I often think I’d rather not love than love and lose, though. But good point! In the spectrum of eternity, all these are just miniscule problems… :- ) I should look at the big picture… :- )

Crushed: And even more so in our case, everyone is going to get interviewed anyway – they come straight to the university, so whether they write a cv or not won’t make a difference ;-) As for good… I know I’m not good. But occasionally I try. That’s why I’m ‘human’, lol ;-)

JMB: You’re right! I think they’re not taking it as seriously as I did. I feel better now, thank you :-)

FWG: ‘He'd know that going out of his way to help someone get the job would at the same time take the job away from the person who otherwise would have got it.'
Ooh that’s true! Hehe, my dad says God is on the side of those ppl who choose him though, so believing that, I guess he’d help the one who asked, and for the one who didn’t ask for his help, it’s his fault he was too proud to ask God for help? ;-) they do say that when we can use all the help we can get, no harm in praying ;-) But it's also true that there must be more important things than these... although I just like to win, and be the best... :-)

Anonymous said...

Oh hun, trust me, youhavent given all away, I'm sure you have oh-so-many-layers that would even leave urself suprised, lil' grasshopper.

But I do recognize myself, I have a tendency to give too much to, an dthen I regain "consioussness" and just panic over what I have done. But, remember, 2 wrongs dont make it right. Sometimes you help ut ppl who u might think doent deserve it, but then again, who are we to judge...

I dunno, I just think u should remian true to yourself and who you are, and not let yourself change for others or let others us u... only u know what is right for you.

Btw, so awesome to see u blogging again eve!

WWJD, never heard that one before. I've only heard WWBD in Supernatural... as in "What would Buffy (the vampire slayer) do" ;)

Anonymous said...

*chuckles*
that last made me laugh out loud (in the library now!), Crashie :-) WWBD...lol ;-)
A good reminder... I guess I HAVE changed in the past 5 years... and in so many ways I didn't like. Shouldn't have let it happen, but AM very 'teachable' (according to the mother of one of my ex-classmates), which can be good or bad, depending on who I'm listening to! ;-) It's good to blog... a release of sorts :-)

Anonymous said...

My apologies, Eve, for thinking that it was Crushed that wrote your post. I need to pay better attention to the "Posted by..." tag. At any rate, you're obviously fine. What's the worst that could happen? You don't get the job you wanted and end up following a new and unexpected adventure?