I have been an optimist most of my adult life, but I would not call myself naïve. No matter how bad things may have been seen by others, I have always tried to see the glass as half-full rather than half-empty. Lately, however, I am beginning to lose confidence in my own optimism. It appears that the world I have known seems to be sinking into a morass of confusion, chaos and anger in the last few years. Worst of all, there doesn’t seem to be much I can do about it no matter how much preaching I do, no matter how much writing I do, no matter how many social change organizations I join or how much positivity I try to project!
I have been praying about what I can do personally to survive without giving into that pull and being corrupted by it! That’s why my eyes landed on our second reading today and its message about the importance of personal discipline, rather than organizational change.
Wow! As I reflected on those words, I kept coming back to an old expression that I came across several years back. It goes like this! “It is easier to put on slippers than it is to carpet the world!” The more I thought about these words, the more I understood that it might not only be easier to put on slippers than it would be to carpet the world, but it might even be a more effective way to survive what I cannot control.
For the first time, I finally understood clearly my path forward in the years I have left. I now understand that I need to change myself and resist the pull into the chaos developing around me. You might say, I finally realized clearly that “if I can’t beat them, at least I don’t have to join them!” Yes, I have come to the conclusion that it is not only “easier to put on slippers than it is to carpet the world,” it is actually a more effective way to survive in a world I am powerless to change! I will, no doubt, continue to teach and preach and do what I can to inspire others, but I have learned at almost 82 years of age that I can be more effective in helping others if my main focus is on changing myself and teaching others to do the same by modeling good behavior rather than becoming a rabid crusader in the latest political or ecclesiastical “movement.”
In a world that had strayed from the way of Jesus, in his Letter to the Ephesians, Paul identified three things that a Christian needed to “put away” through "personal discipline:" (a) the normalization of wrong doing, (b) a lust for pleasure and (c) insatiable greed.
These
behaviors are exactly the sins of our world today as more people lose their connection
to “the way of Christ” and take on “the way of the world!” Paul tells the
people of Ephesus to “put away” their old behaviors so as to “put on” the new behaviors
as followers of Jesus! Let me point out some pertinent examples of the old behaviors
we need to “put away” and why they can only be corrected by personal discipline,
as today’s second reading puts it, rather than institutional changes.
(1)
The Normalization of Doing Wrong. “Following the herd” and “doing what
everybody else is doing” is the most obvious way I can think of to “normalize
wrong doing!” The normalization of wrong doing is insidiously subtle since once
you start down that path, it gets easier and easier to “up your game” and “feel
better about” more and more wrong doing! It can be as small as acquiring and misusing
handicapped parking stickers to something as dangerous as regularly speeding, running
redlights and cutting corners on everything one sets out to do; from something
as small as “taking a little something from work” and petty theft to something
as serious as engaging in marital infidelity; something as small as gossiping
on Facebook to something as serious as accusing someone falsely of sexual abuse
as personal revenge. Since it is so subtle at its beginning, normalizing wrong
doing is an insidious down-hill slide with no end in sight! God knows that fewer and fewer people are
stopped simply because Scripture says that it is a sin! It requires the personal
discipline to say “no!”
(2)
The Lust for More and More Pleasure. The drive to
experience more and more pleasure and avoid as much “growth pain” as possible is
obvious in our ever-expanding use of recreational drugs, our national overeating
problem and our constant obsession with recreation. Without self- discipline,
in face of these trends, all decency and shame evaporates and people end up not
caring what they do or who sees them doing it.
(3) An Insatiable Greediness. I have noticed a steady decline in service professions and a growth in a cut-throat love of possessing in particular and hoarding in general. If you don’t believe me. Count the TV shows that glorify the extravagant homes of the rich and famous, as well as shows about hoarding among the poor. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. There are now over 735 billionaires in the United States, there are beggars in more and more intersections while credit card debt and scamming are out of control. There is even a whole TV show called “American Greed.”
The solution, I believe, begins with an intense resistance to giving into “what everybody else is doing.” Let me repeat that for emphasis. The solution begins with an intense resistance to giving into “what everybody else is doing.” These behaviors can only be eradicated one person at a time through self-discipline! They cannot be eradicated by legislation from church or state.
In
short, I challenge you today to join the minority! Do not be guided by “what
everybody else is doing” Choose what is “right” and choose “truth,” no matter
who around you may think you are stupid, crazy and out-of-touch with reality
for doing so! The bad behaviors that are infecting the world can only be
eradicated one person at a time! Be that next person to resist! Be that next
person to choose differently! No matter what everybody else is doing, put away
your “old self” and choose to become a “new self.” If you do, you will be
helping change the world for the better – one person at a time through self-discipline – the only way
it can be changed!
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