Good Reads

Shrew as Serpents, Guileless as Doves

"Abel-dominant types see themselves as high-minded idealists, mystics, artists, and see the Cain types as crass, materialist philistines, as clever manipulators and game players who care nothing for truth and beauty, but only for a thing's cash value. The Cain types, who see themselves as worldly wise and sophisticated, see the Abel types as life's losers, naive hippies, rigid ideologues, easily manipulable fools with their heads in the clouds. William James in The Will to Believe talks about the same split in personality types in his description  as "hard-headed" realists and "soft-hearted" idealist psychological types. And so, Steinbeck suggests, the ideal is to be both--hard-headed serpents and soft-hearted doves."  

"The task for Cain types is to integrate the recessive part of them that is dove-like, and for Abel types to integrate the recessive part of them that is serpent like. Steinbeck's narrative suggests that the degree of our success or failure as moral beings depends on the degree to which each of us effects this integration...The fundamental moral task is not to surrender to one or the other side, but the struggle to live in the tension between them, and in doing so to effect their marriage."

Interesting reflection on the duality that exists within our own personas. Much of this rang true for me, being by nature more of an "Abel" type myself. Definitely worth a read.

Reflection

Upon returning to his senses and going home, the prodigal son asks to be treated as one of his father’s hired hands, effectively saying that he is no longer worthy to be called a “son.” The Father tells him that this is nonsense. He wants his son restored to “sonship,” with all the concomitant freedom, responsibility and dignity that comes with that office.

Do we not, even in returning to God, still seek to shirk the responsibility and weight of truly being “sons” or (daughters)? We want to be close, but not too close. We want goodness, but not transformation. The Father will have none of it. Returning home means reclaiming our place as sons - nothing less.

Be aware of that strong temptation to settle for too little. It masks itself in a false humility. True humility does not say “I am low,” but rather “Your Will be done.”

The Capital Vice

A recurring division makes itself apparent throughout the gospels. Humanity seems to be divided into those who recognize their guilt, and those who do not. The humble vs. the proud. This contrasts the vision we tend to have where humanity is divided into the learned and the stupid, the haves and the have-nots, or the blessed and the cursed. Christ turns many of our ideas (or maybe our illusions) on their heads, and this is one case.

Philosophers and seekers of religious truth often come upon great insights in their pursuit of the nobler things in life. They become wise – and they know it. There is a clear division between the learned and the ignorant. There is a distinction between the Pharisee and the lowly layman. The men who rise to these heights know they are in a certain sense better than the average person. They have achieved a position that most people do not ever achieve. They are right to pursue those noble truths and to spend their energy seeking God, but they make a critical error that blinds them to the most important truth of all.

It is possible to become intoxicated on a sense of superiority. Not only possible, but tremendously easy. We spend our lives making comparisons, ranking, judging. When we start to make real progress toward our goals, it does not take long before we subconsciously move ourselves up in rank against other men and women. When we make progress in the most important areas of life – the pursuit of wisdom, truth, and God – we rank ourselves highest of all. We know ourselves to be wise. Wiser than most men whom we think are simply too lazy, stupid or weak to achieve what we have.

Pride - the primordial sin. Evil seeps into even the greatest of our pursuits. According to the legend, pride is what caused us to fall. Pride keeps us fallen. Men who know themselves to be wise are above council. Men who are certain that they are better than most are not readily inclined to hear criticism. Their sense of self worth becomes tied up in their apparent moral perfection. The irony is that this mindset itself is an immense moral failing.

The proud man views humanity as being divided into the learned/wise/righteous on the one hand, and the ignorant/stupid/base on the other. He is isolated from common men. Not only this, but he disdains them. To hell with the mob, he thinks. They have created their own little hells - let them rot in them. I am above such a wasteful life as that, he thinks. Surely I will be rewarded for my greatness when all is said and done, even if the masses do not recognize it.

Yet Christ shatters this mindset to a thousand pieces. The most righteous man to ever walk this Earth - the Divine Himself – over an over again shows incredible mercy to lowly sinners. He dines with them, offers them forgiveness, and lays down his life for them. And the people who recognize his divinity and greatness are typically the common men and women despite their sinful lives and apparent ignorance. It is often the simple fisherman, the lowly harlot, and the hated tax collector who recognize Christ’s goodness first, and not the magistrates, religious authorities, and other powerful men of his day.

Humility is the common thread we see running through the character of each individual who accepts Christ. Pride is the common vice that keeps even the highly educated and the very wise from seeing the Truth they seek. Through Christ we are taught that the true dividing line between wisdom and righteousness on the one hand, and evil and vice on the other is not simply a matter of learning and religious observance (though these are an important part of a fully developed moral life) but more importantly the division between pride and humility.

Humility allows a man to see himself as a brother to those who are not as fortunate as he is. It allows him to feel pity and love for those who have not yet learned as much as he has, or who have not yet achieved the moral strength he has. More importantly, is allows him to see his own faults. No man is perfect, and no one achieves perfection in this life. We are forbidden to condemn any man as being beyond saving, because we do not know his heart, and we are not privy to his inner life. The only struggles we truly know are our own. Yet, while we may each struggle in our own way, we are all seeking the same goal. Every man labors in the pursuit of fulfillment. Every man hopes to someday find real happiness. Humility allows us to see others as partners in this pursuit, and not opponents. Through Christ, humanity becomes more like an extended family. Human brotherhood only truly exists under Divine Fatherhood.