Today’s Readings: Psalm 119:49-96; Genesis 11:1-9; Matthew 21:23-32; Romans 4:19-25
It would be easy to read today’s story about the tower of Babel and miss a key lesson in the story. Lots of folks, for instance, read the story and assume that it was the people’s desire to come together in unity that was the problem. I don’t think that’s exactly the point of the story. I find that the problem humanity manifested was in the second half of Genesis 11:4. In that verse, the author(s) tell us that in the midst of their actions, the people justified it by saying: “Let’s make ourselves famous…” (The Message). The New Revised Standard Version translates the same passage as “… let us make a name for ourselves.” So the problem, it would seem, wasn’t the peoples’ desire for unity; the problem was their egos and pride. It’s often difficult for me to wrap my mind fully around ego and pride as bad things. I suppose that’s because I was brought up in a faith tradition that didn’t take the time to explain why ego and pride could be bad things. I confused them with self-esteem, and thought for awhile that it was sinful to see oneself as a valuable child of God. It took me a while (and the insights of my friends who participate in 12 Step Groups) to see the difference between healthy self-esteem and ego and pride. Healthy self-esteem, I learned, is the thing that helps us see ourselves as the valued and loved being we are in God’s eyes and feel good about ourself. Ego and pride, on the other hand, are when those seeds of healthy esteem grow unchecked and start to take over the world – getting us to the point where we feel that our value exceeds that of all others (including God) and causes us to think and act as if we are the primary force in the universe. Today I invite you to sit with your own understanding and experience of self. Do you have healthy self-esteem, or do you have a sense of ego and/or pride that is unchecked? Just a little something to consider on this beautiful spring day. Til next time…
It would be easy to read today’s story about the tower of Babel and miss a key lesson in the story. Lots of folks, for instance, read the story and assume that it was the people’s desire to come together in unity that was the problem. I don’t think that’s exactly the point of the story. I find that the problem humanity manifested was in the second half of Genesis 11:4. In that verse, the author(s) tell us that in the midst of their actions, the people justified it by saying: “Let’s make ourselves famous…” (The Message). The New Revised Standard Version translates the same passage as “… let us make a name for ourselves.” So the problem, it would seem, wasn’t the peoples’ desire for unity; the problem was their egos and pride. It’s often difficult for me to wrap my mind fully around ego and pride as bad things. I suppose that’s because I was brought up in a faith tradition that didn’t take the time to explain why ego and pride could be bad things. I confused them with self-esteem, and thought for awhile that it was sinful to see oneself as a valuable child of God. It took me a while (and the insights of my friends who participate in 12 Step Groups) to see the difference between healthy self-esteem and ego and pride. Healthy self-esteem, I learned, is the thing that helps us see ourselves as the valued and loved being we are in God’s eyes and feel good about ourself. Ego and pride, on the other hand, are when those seeds of healthy esteem grow unchecked and start to take over the world – getting us to the point where we feel that our value exceeds that of all others (including God) and causes us to think and act as if we are the primary force in the universe. Today I invite you to sit with your own understanding and experience of self. Do you have healthy self-esteem, or do you have a sense of ego and/or pride that is unchecked? Just a little something to consider on this beautiful spring day. Til next time…
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