Welcome to “Athlos” a weekly blog which examines pillars of personal excellence and regularly brings together the worlds of Christian spirituality and sport.
Facing Fear
“…fear, hypocrisy and hatred, the three hounds of hell…need have no dominion”-Jesus and the Disinherited, Howard Thurman
Hypocrisy and Hatred
I only recently came across the above assertion that there are three things which are the fruit of evil. For Thurman to specify these concepts with such clarity suggests that there is sufficient evidence around us to back up his claims.
I have written about fear in previous blogs as I can relate to times of timidity and doubt in life, career and parenting. A few years ago, I sought wisdom from the Proverbs to understand how endemic hatred can be, even in the lives of those who have been blessed materially. Hypocrisy, the third hound, is one of those silent sleepers that is dangerous by virtue of its ability to creep up on you unannounced.
A hypocrite appears one way on the outside but is quite different on the inside. The interior and the exterior, therefore, are not the same. Perhaps we all have a bit of hypocrite in us and it is, typically, unintentional. But it’s there.
Especially because of my desire to practise a spirituality that is genuine and wholesome, I am an easy target for hypocrisy. Why? I can end up confusing religion with spirituality and so corrupt the purity of an intimate connection with the Divine that is centred on love and authenticity.
You see, religion is a foundational pillar of national life and yet it can become overshadowed by human traditions. When that happens, we miss the heart of spiritual living. Our loyalty becomes rooted to our well-established practices and we lose sight of justice and grace. People become statistics and projects, rather than fellow sojourners made in the image of God. Hypocrisy dwells here and is hard to dislodge. Be alert.
Living with Love
I invite you to see whether the trappings and pace of life have caused you to drift from the man or woman that you were created to be, a person with beauty and the potential for living a life of love.
If you were inspired by this blog, please consider sharing it with one other person today. To learn more about these and other related themes that promote the cultivation of an integrated inner self, read UNBEATABLE! which is available on Amazon in print and as an e-book.
This Post Has 4 Comments
The heart is deceitful and cannot be cured of its default to evil. So it needs to continually be treated with truth therapy.
You are so right when you say we miss the boat when we put process ahead of people.
Christians are most at risk for this as we osmose into system that we feel keeps us safe. Once we follow the rules we think and act like the outcome can be predicted and we become gate keepers of the system. So, if someone steps out and tries something different it’s condemned either silently or depending on the degree of hubris of those who are offended, it will bring confrontation from those most embedded in the system.
Some of us have become adept at weaponizing kindness; we gently put pressure for people to loosen their boundaries or shame them. We make subtle remarks that sow doubt about the spirituality of our brothers or sisters who are acting “differently.”
Instead, Jesus put people at the center, so he didn’t condemn the woman at the well or the one caught in adultery or even the thief on the cross.
How open are we to others who don’t follow our unspoken rules?
How do we put people at the center and not the system?
Are we practicing weaponized kindness?
Pat, I truly appreciate the depth and insight in your feedback. There are deep seated issues in institutional religion that have influenced well-meaning worshippers in negative ways. What we find is that good people get caught in a broken system so as you said, let us put people at the centre, as Christ did, so we can restore the purity of his way of life and message. I have been a part of the problem, so I equally want to be a part of the solution.
Me too, let’s start with this level of honesty and transparency, we endorsed the system of rules( one way to evangelize, one prototype of spirituality, top down leadership , religious cliquism, “sharpness”,”openess” masked as gossip to name a few)that no longer serve us, Now we also see how destructive the system has become so we have to try through our example to live as true servants.People first. May God show us mercy!
People first. It really all comes down to love, as the song goes. Thanks, Pat.