Inspired by Scholastica

 

Success or Failure?

I’m reading an interesting novel titled Patchwork Quilt by Anne Tyler. She is one of my favorite authors because of her unusual characters. The main character, Barnaby, works for a small company called Rent a Back. It caters to elderly people who need help doing small jobs that they can no longer do.

His family considers him a failure since he didn’t go to college, lives in a tiny apartment, and drives a run-down old truck. His parents are wealthy, and his brother works in his father’s trust company. Barnaby had been married and has a nine-year-old daughter that he tries to visit once a month, but his former wife is not very welcoming.

The people he helps think he is kind and trustworthy. Instead of having set hours, he adjusts his work hours to his clients’ wishes. He doesn’t seem to have any friends except the people he works with. He seems happy with his life and has no desire to change.

Is he a failure for his lifestyle and kind of work? Or is he a success because he likes helping people and being kind? I haven’t finished the book yet, but I find Barnaby very likable. He’s honest and real even though he never does anything noteworthy.  

Today when a college education seems necessary and living in a nice neighborhood is valued, Barnaby might look like a failure.  Yet he seems quite happy with the way he lives. People should do what they love even if others might not see them as following the American dream. Service to others and kindness ought to rate higher on the success scale. As John Lithgow once said, “Take care, be kind, be considerate of other people and other species, and be loving.”

 

Barbara Mayer, OSB