The
Bogus
Sometimes
we are socked to hear of apparently good people - public figures or
church personalities - who are discovered to be leading double lives.
These are the present day Pharisees that Jesus condemns in today's
Gospel. "Do what they tell you and listen to what they say,"
he says, "but do not be guided by what they do." As the
Pharisee stories are passed down to us by St. Matthew they are probably
caricatures of men who were generally decent. But as Matthew and his
friends were having difficulties with them they used the words of
Jesus to give them a bad press. So, was the Church of the time of
St. Matthew a bit pharisaical itself? Was it twisting the truth for
its own purpose?
We
are always shocked when we discover good people that are bogus, phony,
and plastic - Pharisees. But then one day we tumble to the bogus in
ourselves! We discover how pharisaical we, ourselves, are!
Perhaps
one of the greatest burdens that we have to carry in life is the image
people have of us. It creates expectations and if we are not careful,
we can become slaves of these expectations. One of the most dangerous
"images" is that of "being holy." We can be forced
to live out of that image, that holiness, and become a slave to it.
That is why religion that is too much on the surface is seldom deep.
People who have a reputation for holiness and who appeal too easily
to discernment and the "will of God" as a reason for their
actions can be escaping the relationship with God found in everyday
life and in human situations. They can be bogus.
The
world may be divided into two classes of people - the bad bad people
and the good bad people. The bad, bad people would be those like the
younger son in the story of the forgiving father (Luke 15). He knew
he was bad and had no problem admitting it. The good bad people would
be similar to the older son, obedient and respectful, but resentful
and lacking in compassion; a bogus person. Here are two big surprises:
First, the Lord had much more time and compassion for the bad bads
than for the good bads. Second, the people who come to prayer or meditation
groups are much more likely to be good bad people rather than bad
bad people!
I
know from personal experience that a lot of the depression experienced
by religious people springs from jealousy. Jealousy is an insidious
vice that is very hard to admit, especially by one who is known to
be holy or in a state of holiness. I remember a teacher telling me
once that he taught many people how to play the guitar, but none of
them excelled. This was because he always kept something back because
he feared to have a rival to his prowess as the best player in the
establishment.
The
Enneagram shows that each of us has some quality that we seek compulsively
- being right, helpful, successful, special, wise, loyal, fun loving,
strong or calm. If my self- esteem depends on my being wise or right
or successful - or holy-I have a vested interest in your being dumb
or wrong or a failure - or being sinful. As we grow up we learn that
it is not socially acceptable to show ourselves for what we are in
the raw, so we do it subtly. We often do or say one thing when our
meaning or purpose may be quite contrary. We become Pharisees.
The
mantra is the great diagnostician and the great cure for the Pharisee
within us. As we say the mantra we are learning to sit at our own
center where Christ is. He is the Spirit of truth, the truth that
sets us free. In his light the dishonest and insincere very quickly
stand out. At first it makes us very uncomfortable. We want to stop
meditation and to run away from truth and the light. But if we stick
with the mantra, the ego is gradually unhooked and we can ace the
truth about ourselves and the truth will set us free.
As
we meditate we will more and more discover the bogus in ourselves:
The venality, the dishonesty and the lustfulness that we are still
capable of in spite of the holy image that we project before others.
As we say the mantra we will become freer to accept the darker side
of ourselves and once we have accepted it, it looses control over
us. We become more integrated and less bogus.
Taken
from Sundays
into Silence - A Pathway to Life. Copyright © 1998 by Claretian
Publications
