Power is fickle. When necessary, we are called to fight the power; when needed, we must embrace it.
Let's first start with fighting: there are many people out there with power who may be saying outrageous things in hopes they use their power to influence you. It is sometimes hard to ignore this power, lean critically to a certain ubiquity of absurdity -- but nonetheless, it can be hard to keep power in check. That's why, in government, we have a presumed balance of power -- so that no one man or woman can go totally off base with their influence.
Outside the U.S., I feel like we've observed another form of power, abused in the recent escape of El Chapo, who fled from a maximum security Mexican prison. Below him was an underground tunnel, built just for him, with a series of air vents, lighting and even a motorcycle to get him out even quicker. Who knows the exact details of how this elaborate plan happened, but it is power that made it possible.
Like money and many vices, power is a wonderful servant, but an awful master. You can run with it and lose yourself in its consumption. When it comes to power, it's hard not to look at Pope Francis, who seems to take his power and apply it to good, resisting many of the inherent trappings of power (i.e., note almost every article written about his papacy). Beyond Pope Francis, how about looking to Pope Francis's boss as a model, God? He's responsible for the entire universe, yet requires very little in return to be a good steward of it for us to be reasonable tenants on this leased space of ours (See Laudato Si) .
And so, whenever you get a big head -- and I say this now to the powerful people of the world, whether El Chapo, El Trumpo, or El Papa -- compared to God, we all should be humble and contrite, good neighbors, kind and in awe of the power that started this whole worldly symphony of ours.
Value power, but within reason; use it for good, but don't let it change you for the worse. To paraphrase my wife: "Humility, is very attractive." There aren't Forbes lists of the 20 most humble people in business or in the world, but maybe there should be.
Matt Weber is a Harvard humorist and appears bi-weekly as Host/Writer/Producer of "The Lens" on CatholicTV.