Thursday, December 2, 2010

spiritual pretending




















confession time.
i take advantage of darkness to do something i would never think of doing in the light.

in those times when i wake up early in the dark, before the sun comes up even, and am immediately aware of something having gone dreadfully funkified in the kitchen garbage, i will run that garbage out to the dumpster wearing only the boxers and t-shirt that i've been sleeping in... i won't even put on shoes. i do so because i know that no one will see me in the dark.

interesting how taking the garbage out under cover of the darkness perpetuates the illusion of having created no garbage.

'those people are so clean. so... NOT wasteful'

I saw some good intentions at leadership conventions
But intrinsic motivations lead egocentric nations
Someone cried 'over here' and where the mud had cleared
Were names and dates all written- drowned like unwanted kittens

Don't stray from the rhythm
Don't fall out of tune
The good book says that dead flies
Taint the richest perfume

darkness is something that people have used since the beginning of time to cloak their actions- particularly the less-than-honourable ones. those who hold public office or who are otherwise always under the character scrutiny of the public eye often find the pressure of living up to the expectations implied in their callings burdensome and suffocating. over time, many fall into self-justified 'reward' behaviours which are not only unbecoming, but inappropriate and self-destructive. the whole 'holiness by day and hedonism by night' inconsistency has created many a charicatured non-example of how to live life inspiring to man or glorifying to God because this kind of thing always seems to surface. no matter how carefully the esteemed leader, pious preacher or public servant has been at hiding the evidence of his or her folly, eventually garbage day comes, the full dumpster is emptied and the truth is known.

spiritual pretending is one of the things that drove Jesus crazy.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree, I think we all have some of this in us. It needs to be tempered and dealt with from time to time. Spiritual beings is what we are though, encumbered by the passions for this life and thrown into the ring with choice.

Spirituality, in its essence, should exist to call ourselves into question as compared with our actions...the 'who are we' questions.

jollybeggar said...

a 'who are we?' question in some cases can lead to a 'what have we become?' question...

that's the doorway to repentance and a new day.