Solzhenitsyn on Evil

As I consider the state of Canada, America, the Church, the Body Politic, and my own heart, I am reminded of these words by Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

“If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?

During the life of any heart this line keeps changing place; sometimes it is squeezed one way by exuberant evil and sometimes it shifts to allow enough space for good to flourish. One and the same human being is, at various ages, under various circumstances, a totally different human being. At times he is close to being a devil, at times to sainthood. But his name doesn't change, and to that name we ascribe the whole lot, good and evil.

Socrates taught us: 'Know thyself!”

― Alexander Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago

These words come from a man who spent approximately eight years in prison, and many more in exile, for speaking out against evil.

When I consider myself, I see that my own racism is simply another form of “me-ism.” I readily forgive myself for me-ism by saying that I need to look out for myself and my family. But should I? Did not Jesus tell me to “love my neighbor as I love myself”? Loving myself more than all others is no better than loving myself more than some others. Recognizing it is a first step, yet only a first step. The line dividing good and evil indeed runs through my heart, my body, my dreams, my bank accounts, and every aspect of my life. Lord Jesus, forgive me of every form of me-ism and give me the grace and power to root it out of myself.

DC Talk wrote a song and created a video that expressed their plea to end racism. Check it out with the link below.

We're colored people, and we live in a tainted place
We're colored people, and they call us the human race
We've got a history so full of mistakes
And we are colored people who depend on a Holy Grace

https://youtu.be/iM17qeIIIE4 

Conscience and Spirit

My conscience is broken. But then, so is yours. They are broken because our world is broken. When you grow up in a chicken coop you believe that a pecking order is natural. When you grow up in a world where Canadians are wealthy and Haitians are poor you believe that such a distribution of wealth is natural. Certainly, these situations are "natural" and a "natural" conscience sees them as normal and functions accordingly. We cannot trust our natural conscience, it has been influenced by our selfish desires. Paul, the Apostle, said, "My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me."1 Even his conscience was untrustworthy. Our consciences must be supernaturalized.

Those who live according to their selfish desire have their minds set on what their selfish desire wants; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit wants. The mind governed by selfish desire is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by selfish desire is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s will, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of selfish desire cannot please God. You, however, are not in the realm of selfish desire but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. (Romans 8:5-9a, personal translation incorporating concepts from both the New International Version and the New Living Translation)

If we listen to the Spirit of God rather than our own selfish desire, a revolution occurs. The distribution of wealth that seemed so natural before now becomes a situation that grieves us and one which we desire to change. If indeed the Spirit of God lives in us, we must learn to listen to the Spirit and let it govern our lives. We must let the Spirit revolutionize our conscience. This is the way to life and peace.


1 1 Corinthians 4:4 (NIV)

A Lady of Little Faith

I have been reading The Brother's Karamozov by Fyodor Dostoevsky.* It is a brilliant book that will generously reward any reader. You can expect to read a few blog entries dealing with insights from this book.

Dostoevsky demonstrates remarkable knowledge of the human psyche in the chapter entitled "A Lady of Little Faith." An elder in the church is probing into motivations and false humility with a woman who claims to love all of mankind and yet wonders if she has the perseverance to continue to love mankind in difficult circumstances.

"I heard the exact same thing, a long time ago to be sure, from a doctor," the elder remarked. "He was then an old man, and unquestionably intelligent. He spoke just as frankly as you, humorously, but with a sorrowful humor. 'I love mankind,' he said, 'but I am amazed at myself: the more I love mankind in general, the less I love people in particular, that is, individually, as separate persons. In my dreams,' he said, 'I often went so far as to think passionately of serving mankind, and, it may be, would really have gone to the cross for people if it were somehow suddenly necessary, and yet I am incapable of living in the same room with anyone even for two days, this I know from experience. As soon as someone is there, close to me, his personality oppresses my self-esteem and restricts my freedom. In twenty-four hours I can begin to hate even the best of men: one because he takes too long eating his dinner, another because he has a cold and keeps blowing his nose. I become the enemy of people the moment they touch me,' he said. 'On the other hand, it has always happened that the more I hate people individually, the more ardent becomes my love for humanity as a whole.'"

The elder goes on to say that,

. . . active love is a harsh and fearful thing compared with love in dreams. Love in dreams thirsts for immediate action, quickly performed, and with everyone watching. Indeed, it will go as far as the giving even of one's life, provided it does not take long but is soon over, as on a stage, and everyone is looking on and praising. Whereas active love is labor and perseverance, and for some people, perhaps, a whole science.#

Too well I see myself in these remarks. Could it be that I am just like that doctor or the woman of little faith?

*Note, there are multiple spellings of this Russian name owing to the fact that it has been translated from Фёдор Миха́йлович Достое́вский. The two most common spellings are Dostoevsky and Dostoyevsky.

#Dostoevsky, Fyodor. The Brothers Karamozov. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002 edition, p 56-58.

Self-doubt

A healthy understanding of who we are and how others see us is a blessing. Consider these two quotes:

"Self-doobt isna really so bad a thing, laddie," said Duncan with a chuckle. "'Tis what the Creator gives t' keep us humble. So long as it doesna cripple ye an' make ye so ye canna do a thing, a little self-doobt can du ye guid. 'Tis the seasoning o' a gracious soul to keep it from thinkin' highly o' itself."
". . . The Lord's tellin' a different tale w' each o' us. But the curse o' the human lot is either thinkin' too much or too little o'oorsel's. There's self-doobt and there's pride-an' everyone's got one or the other. Likely enough, everyone's got a heap o' both! But 'tis usually one or the other that's the inner cross o' character we each must bear till Lord's work in us is dune. Speakin' fer myself, I'd rather walk wi' the heavier dose o' the doobt than the pride. 'Tis perhaps a wee harder t' bear up under. But the one grows the fruit of Galatians Five in us if we let him have his way, but the other's a sure ruin o' character if we don't. . . "
"Dinna ye fret, laddie," said Duncan at length. "Ye're a man. An' ye're a man that's walkin' down the right road wi' yer face held t' the light. Ye're just a mite more openhearted than most aboot the struggles ye got inside. But all men'se got 'em. All the men in yer Parliament, an' yer prime minister-they're all fightin' the same battles. 'Tis jist that most never let anither see 'em. An' there's some that winna look them square in the eye themsel's. Ye're more a man, Andrew my lad, fer facin' yer doobts an' trying t' win through them, not less."
– Michael Phillips in Caledonia: Legend of the Celtic Stone, Bethany House Publishers, 1999, p. 396.

O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!
It wad frae mony a blunder free us,
An' foolish notion:
What airs in dress an' gait wad lea'e us,
An' ev'n devotion!
- Robert Burns in “To A Louse.”