The Résumé

Topsy-Turvy

The Résumé

It’s no wonder that the words resume and résumé are basically the same. I know after working on a résumé I feel as if I’d like to resume my latest sport of Ding-Dong eating.  The whole résumé thing is exhausting and stressful.  It also feels a little dirty.  I’ve noticed the rules for writing a successful résumé also apply to Playboy bunnies.  1.  Flaunt and exaggerate profitable qualities.  2.  Cover up any signs of imperfection.  3.  Be seductive.   If you follow these rules you should have no problem concealing your true self and therefore find that you are highly marketable.  Just pretend you’re Mr. Hefner.  He simply masks exploited, desperate women as competent, sex-craving Bratz dolls.  If you translate this art of spin to a résumé, you should be able to disguise your desperate, out-of-work self as Super-Man without the wussy tendencies of Clark Kent.

I should have known this whole résumé thing would be hard for us.  For the past ten years the basic message we’ve been trying to proclaim comes from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  His rules for success are a little different.  1.  Blessed are the poor in spirit.  2.  Blessed are those that mourn.  3.  Blessed are the meek.  You get my drift. It makes me wonder what Jesus would do if he were in this ordeal.  I can just imagine him in an interview: “We tried to touch base with some of your references but had a hard time getting in touch with Mary, The Hooker and Zacheus, The Cheat.”

Luckily, Jeff and I have faithful, long suffering friends who have been trying to work with our petulant idealism. In an attempt to offer encouragement they say things like “The résumé is just a way of putting a new frame on your skill set” or “Think of it as a self-advertisement.”  Hmm.  That’s precisely the problem. If I were going to “frame” or “advertise” myself as myself, no one would have me.  Or I should say, there’s only one that would have me.  The one who says “Poor in Spirit—I pick you!  Suffering– You’re qualified!  Meek—Come on!  Desperate—You’re my favorite!    I’m coming to understand why the brilliant and talented apostle Paul considered his most gleaming qualities as filth. He recognized that his very best stuff was powerless in fulfilling God’s only request, to love.  This can make you smile and feel warm until you actually try loving your neighbor as yourself…….or your spouse……or your kids.  It’s in this quest that the need for something much bigger than our own, flimsy talents and virtues quickly surfaces.  Paul came face to face with his need despite his highbrow pedigree and accomplishments.  All it took was one encounter with Real Love to expose his true self:  an arrogant, murderous sinner.  But real Love didn’t stop there. It lifted Paul onto his feet with the promise and hope of radical transformation, for him and the world around him.  I wonder how his résumé would read after his Damascus Road encounter?

I keep thinking about that impoverished widow whose cash flow consisted of two pennies. I imagine her shining those coins on her sleeve before dropping them into the basket, Jesus smiling all the while.  She knew freedom’s secret, whether she had much to give or little didn’t matter in God’s economy.  What mattered was that she offered all she had.  Somehow this image inspires me to put down the Ding-Dong and resume the work of writing my résumé.