A PUBLIC servant, one evening, arrived home exhausted from all-day long public affairs such as appointments, paper works, and reports. As he sat on the couch, sipping his green tea, he began to reflect on the myriad things he went through the day.
First, he felt sorry for the security guard he scolded when he lit a cigarette in public square and thought of befriending him. Second, he was pleased when his superior approached him and commends him for his excellent report in their weekly meeting. Hence, he is resolute to involve himself on the skills training being offered by the department across their office to harness his skills though he is an old hand in public service. Third, to his astonishment, he realized that their 15th wedding anniversary with his wife is merely a couple of days away and he has no idea and preparation for it. At once, for fear that he might totally forget such a special occasion, he walked to the kitchen where his wife is, embraced her, and sweetly whispered his greetings and love.
Undeniably, self-reflection is an important part of our life, but by nature we prefer self-deception. We want to believe ourselves to be better, smarter, and more ethical than we really are. Lack of self-reflection or the absence of it would inevitably lead us nowhere but to haughtiness, incompetence, and disgrace.
The scripture states “Search me, oh God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way”. The author admits that he is not confident whether his actions and motives are right before God and man.
Thus, he invites the Lord, to reveal to him his mistakes and shortcoming as he pursues to become the better person God wanted him to be.
By the same token, Jesus Christ, when he was on earth 2,000 years ago, practiced self-reflection. At the end of his swamped day – teaching the crowd, healing the sick, raising the dead, feeding the hungry, and delivering demon-possessed persons he goes alone to a solitary place, especially in the mountains, to commune with his Heavenly Father, to prepare for the next day, and to replenish his mind and body. Such discipline had made him changed the world in a span of three years.
With this, Geneva College suggests, “perform a quick once-over of your activities, encounters, thoughts, feelings, and motives before retiring each night.” As such suggestion would help us become a better person and public servant as we pursue excellence in civil service. After all, “Everything in your life is a reflection of a choice you have made.
If you want a different result, make a different choice,” says author unknown.