We are "those people"
I'm tired.
Tired of seeing folks sharing articles/blog posts/tweets/whatevs in which the authors oh-so-smugly climb atop mountains and sneeringly look down at those people.
Tired of hearing self-styled Group X'ers belittling Group Y'ers, chortling among themselves about how stupid/intolerant/petty/slothful/subpar those Group X/Y'ers are, and if they had any smackerel of sense, they'd do us all a favor and stop breathing. Or reproducing. Or at the very least, talking.
Tired of dealing with folks who scream "TOLERANCE!!!" ... but only for those whose worldviews/morals/nail polish sync up with what they deem tolerable. (See also, "Any color, as long as it's black".)
Tired of people claiming they're just being "straightforward" and "direct", when in reality, they're rude, insulting, and bristling with animosity.
Here's a thought.
Instead of indulging ourselves in those moments when we're tempted to feel ...
... morally superior ...
("I'm sooo much more compassionate and open-minded than those people. If they'd just STFU, we'd have a utopia.")
... spiritually superior ...
("I talk to God nonstop every day and can recite the entire Bible from memory and I know for sure that Jesus was a democrat/republican/cattle rancher/vegan, because how could he possibly be anything but one?")
... physically superior ...
("I bench pressed 75 lbs. today, ran 10 miles, and have an optimal BMI, whereas you're a gigumbous bowl of flab who can barely lift a forkful of slop without wheezing. And you're ugly.")
... intellectually superior ...
("I know soooo much more about Topic X than you do, you stupid rube. You don't have any clue what you're talking about. Let me enumerate the ways in which you're a living FAIL.")
...and emotionally superior ...
("I'm way more in tune with the emotions of everyone and everything around me, including plants, and I have more empathy in my left nostril than all of you Group Y'ers combined!")
... we stop, grab hold of those feelings of superiority, and bash 'em against the rocks until they're good 'n' pulverized.
And then we pray, "Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner."
Labels: reflections
posted by Lisa, ofs | Permalink 
5 Comments:
Amen. We need to pull the,log from our own eye.
Oh, yes! Thank you for this... and the Jesus Prayer really is the only one adequate to the job, isn't it?
@Mike: Hey, yer welcome! And I agree, it's really the only thing that fits the bill. :-)
O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, Jesus. (repeat after each line)
From the desire of being loved,
From the desire of being extolled,
From the desire of being honored,
From the desire of being praised,
From the desire of being preferred to others,
From the desire of being consulted,
From the desire of being approved,
From the fear of being humiliated,
From the fear of being despised,
From the fear of suffering rebukes,
From the fear of being calumniated,
From the fear of being forgotten,
From the fear of being ridiculed,
From the fear of being wronged,
From the fear of being suspected,
That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. (repeat after each line)
That others may be esteemed more than I ,
That, in the opinion of the world,
others may increase and I may decrease,
That others may be chosen and I set aside,
That others may be praised and I unnoticed,
That others may be preferred to me in everything,
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should,
@Mike: Exactly! This whole profusion of pride is one of the reasons why I was chattin' earlier (on G+) about adding a daily reminder to pray that litany! :-D
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