A tale of two lists
Dec 22nd, 2008 by spaceagesage
Spiritual people are not usually:
- Hypocritical
- Arrogant
- Self-absorbed
- Self-righteous
- Worried
- Hateful
- Petty
- Insincere
- Careless
- Malicious
- Rude
- Greedy
But, hey, we’re humans — I’m human — so we can’t remove these things from our lives overnight, no matter what spiritual path we follow. The idea is to move away from these listed items.
But most spiritual people would embrace being all of these:
- Kind
- Humble (not feeling superior to others)
- Generous
- Thankful
- Forgiving (not holding grudges)
- Authentic and honest (with self and others)
- Practice and stand for what you believe
- Respectful
- Cooperative
- Grounded and fearless
- Happy and fun-loving
When I look in the Bible, I see Jesus calling me out of the first list and into the second.
… the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law … Let us not be conceited, provoking one another, envious of one another.
Christ’s truth shows me that I need to take action to make this happen. As my husband says, “The truth makes you stand up and take action. A lie does not.”
Whether you follow Christ or not, you would think we could all agree on these two lists as opposite ends of the spectrum, one detracting from life and the other making life richer and more meaningful. Heck, even more fun.
And the most fun for me happens when I embrace authenticity.
My previous post, which included great comments and insight from my readers, made me want to find an example of authenticity for a post — perhaps even something raw, funny, poignant, emotional, or pointed. I found Pink.
Not the color, the rock star.
Why can’t we be as genuine, real, authentic, playful, and in touch with our emotions as Pink demonstrates in her videos I’ve linked to below? Whether you agree with her or not, whether you like her style or not, and whether you prefer less intense or not, you must admit, she is a person who understands authentic and who doesn’t fear her inner landscape or her passions. She understands and lives life with the genuineness of Shakespeare’s words: “To thine own self be true.”
Just so you know, some of the videos are not rated G!
Yeah, I know. Picking a rock star to explain authenticity — or healthy Christianity — might seem insane. There are aspects of Pink’s life and her videos I don’t agree with, but I’d pick her honesty over the hypocritical Pharisees of Jesus’ time or their counterparts today with their disingenuous appeals to the hearts and pocketbooks of Christians.
I agree a lot with Pink, who said, “My biggest pet peeve is uptight people.”
You see, being uptight goes with the first list, not the second.
—-
I think each of us has all of these characteristics inside of her. While we can’t get rid of the “bad list” because it’s part of human nature, we can certainly make a conscious effort – or a choice – each and every time to choose the second list over the first.
Hi Vered,
Humans are wired to make choices, that’s for sure.
Hi Lori,
I think that deep-down, these “good” characteristics exist in everyone. It is easy for them to get buried amongst all the noise, all the pressures, all the pains, all the desires we have. As a Christian, I hope I am striving toward the good and away from the bad. Some days, though, I have to wonder. Some days, I also have to wonder about those people I know – who I think I know their beliefs.
Pink is “in your face” authentic – that point comes through very clear in the videos. And, even if I’m not a fan of her music, I do very much appreciate her attitude.
Being real, being in touch with our emotions – an interesting questions Lori. Is it because we fear what other might say/think/do? It’s not the right answer, but I wonder if it’s the real answer? I’m not sure I know, even for myself…
Hi Lance,
I believe we all are born with great potential and wired to choose our actions. I think certain hypocritical thinking and negatives in our culture, society, or religion don’t always help us create the wisest choices. Clearing out the external messages to hear the saner side of life is tough. I will say this — I’m tired of any hypocrisy within myself. I think that’s why I’m really starting to deeply value authenticity and embrace it instead of just think of it as a Nice, but Unattainable Ideal.
Hi Lori. These “negative” behaviours are labels that we attach to actions or feelings that we don’t like, and seen through the eyes of the inner critic.
I’ve been curiously studying the inner critic in myself and a light turned on the other day. I’ve written a bit about this in my next post. What I’ve come to realize is that we give the inner critic too much credit. It is an illusion, so how can it create anything — that what I wonder?
Hi Davina,
I saw a “House” (a TV doctor) episode in which a man’s medically induced false memories changed who he was and his decisions. I agree somethings can be seen in a different light when viewed from different angles. I also believe, though, in the concept of evil and sin and how they destroy relationships. For me, what matters is the pattern of behavior, as in “every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good.” In other words, the inner self will be revealed sooner or later, as well as whether that self was for the betterment of the world or not.