QOTD: Change, or Be Changed?

Here's the Question of the Day for you. Correction... for me:

Am I spending my energies primarily in trying to change others, or in being changed/transformed myself?

Father Richard has been kicking my ass all over the place with his latest, The Naked Now:

"Within the Christian churches, how else can we explain the obvious avoidance of so many of Jesus' major teachings? Jesus' direct and clear teachings on issues such as nonviolence, a simple lifestyle, love of the poor, forgiveness, love of enemies, inclusivity, mercy, and not seeking status, power, perks, and possessions: throughout history, all have been overwhelmingly ignored by mainline Christian churches, even those who call themselves orthodox or biblical.

This avoidance defies explanation until we understand how dualistic thinking protects and pads the ego and its fear of change. Notice that the things we ignored above require actual change of our lifestyle, our security systems, or our dualistic thought patterns. The things we emphasized instead were usually intellectual beliefs or moral superiority stances that asked little of us: the divinity of Christ, the virgin birth, the atonement theory, and beliefs about reproduction and sex. After a while, you start to recognize the underlying bias. The ego diverts your attention from anything that would ask you to change, to righteous causes that invariably ask others to change." (p. 94)

Comments

[Wes Roberts]

..well...thanx for kickin' mine!!!

[idelette]

Yes. Yes. Yes.

[Brad]

"Be the change you wish to see in the world."- Gandhi.

[lynne]

Mike, what you said about the book, that's another way of putting it!