Many years ago, I was assigned briefly to a parish composed of an unusual collection of eccentric personalities.  I nick-named the parish the Island of Misfit Toys (from the 1966 stop-action children’s movie “Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer”).   

One of the more colorful characters at that parish was fond of saying, “Today, I’m having a Greta Garbo day.”  When asked about the meaning of the statement, the individual would lean against the nearest doorway and proclaim dramatically, “I want to be alone.” 

The quote was from the movie “Grand Hotel.”  In the movie, Greta Garbo played the role of a ballerina whose career had all but ended.  She pined for the attention she used to get on-stage as an elite dancer.  Due to her declining popularity and abilities, she was limited to seeking attention by coercing sympathy from strangers.   

At one of her many emotional low points she uttered the famous phrase above.  The has-been ballerina was torn between an insatiable appetite for attention and unwanted attempts by her sympathizers to alter her self-pitying behavior.  She could have made a better choice about coping skills, but she didn’t. 

Obviously, some coping strategies are better than others.  Not all coping strategies are as self-pitying as those of Garbo’s character in “Grand Hotel.”  You might be familiar with Pollyana’s “Glad Game” or Peter Pan’s “wonderful thoughts.”  These are mental exercises designed to shift one’s focus away from difficult realities and toward more pleasant aspects of life.  These aren’t destructive coping strategies, but they might be a little unrealistic. 

The Pharisees mentioned in today’s Gospel reading used hypocrisy as a coping strategy.  Hypocrisy might seem like an unlikely candidate for a coping skill, but it is more prevalent than one might think. 

Jesus’ condemnation of the Pharisees in today’s Gospel reading was the result of the Pharisees’ several failed attempts to discredit Jesus.  Jesus tried numerous times to get these religious leaders to look beyond the limits of their self-interests, but they refused.  Apparently, he abandoned the idea of eliciting change in them, and turned to the crowds to say, “Do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example.  For they preach but they do not practice.” (Mt 23:3) 

How many times have you heard the phrase, “Those people don’t practice what they preach”?  The familiarity of the phrase attests to the common usage of hypocrisy as a coping strategy.  One might wonder why anyone would embrace hypocrisy as a coping strategy.  The answer is simple: hypocrisy is easier to maintain than honesty.  

Honesty requires an objective valuation of the intractable limitations of the world and a compassionate acceptance of human frailty (particularly one’s own).  Some of the Pharisees from Jerusalem used their religious practices to justify living in denial about their human weaknesses.  They chose to project public reputations of moral perfection while condemning the imperfections of others. (Mt 15:1-2)  In Jesus’ opinion, judging harshly another person was a much more serious sin than falling short of exacting standards of piety. 

I don’t want to give the impression that it is possible to live without coping strategies; it isn’t.  It isn’t even possible to live without less than adequate coping strategies.  Jesus wasn’t disappointed that these few Pharisees relied on failed coping skills.  Rather, he was disappointed that they were incapable of admitting the inadequacy of their coping skills. 

Jesus didn’t expect moral perfection from these Pharisees; rather, he hoped they would be a little more honest about their personal failings.  That kind of honesty is one of the hallmarks of faithful religion.  Rather than pretending that the world is a more congenial place than it is or pretending that one is more virtuous than one really is, faithful religion helps one to be reconciled to the imperfections of God’s creation without blaming God, other people, or oneself. 

The author of the Gospel recorded this story not so that we would mock these Pharisees for their failings, but that we might be able to recognize the Pharisees’ attitudes in ourselves. 

Perhaps, you engage in attention-getting behavior like that of Garbo’s character in “Grand Hotel.”  Perhaps, you walk around with your head in the clouds like Pollyana or Peter Pan.  Perhaps, like those few Pharisees from Jerusalem, you tend to be very judgmental of individuals or groups who differ from you.  Regardless of the nature of the coping strategies you employ, those strategies are unavoidably less than adequate.  God does not expect perfection from you.  Rather, God expects you to acknowledge your imperfections, accept forgiveness, and grant the same forgiveness to others. 

Although Rudolf and his friends were labeled “misfits among misfits” on the Island of Misfit Toys, their merciful actions eventually caused the Abominable Snowman’s icy heart to thaw.  This, I think, is what God would have us do with our natural limitations.  Instead of allowing human differences to lead to conflict, we can allow those differences to inspire us to show mercy and to be reconciled with one another.