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Self
Destroying the Idols
It is told Mahmoud, who conquered a great portion of India hundreds of years ago, that he destroyed all the idols in every town to which he came. He laid siege to the great city of Guzurat. Forcing for himself an entrance into the costliest shrine of the Brahmans, there rose before him the figure of a gigantic idol fifteen feet high. He instantly ordered it to be destroyed. The Brahmans of the temple prostrated themselves at his feet and said: “Great Mahmoud, spare our god, for the fortunes of this city depend on him.”
Ransom vast of gold they offer, pearls of price and jewels rare,
Purchase of their idol’s safety, this their dearest will he spare.
And there wanted not who counseled that he should his hand withhold,
Should that single image suffer, and accept the proffered gold.
But Mahmoud, after a moment’s pause, said he would rather be known as the breaker than the seller of idols, and struck the image with his battle-ax. His soldiers followed, and in an instant the idol was broken to pieces. It proved to be hollow and had been used as a receptacle for thousands of precious gems which, as the image was shattered, fell at the conqueror’s feet.
From its shattered side, revealing pearls and diamonds, showers of gold;
More than all that proffered ransom, more than all a hundredfold.
Such an idol is self, pleading eloquently to be spared and offering in return pleasures and treasures untold. But when Paul, ignoring self’s plea, learned the secret of losing his life for Christ’s sake, he found true wealth and pleasure. The Christ against whom he had directed his rage and venom now possessed and energized his whole personality in such a way that he could only describe it as Christ living in him. What is the talisman enfolded in these simple words: “To me to live is Christ”?
J. Oswald Sanders, Cultivation of Christian Character, (Moody Press, Chicago, 1965), pp. 67-69.
Ego Trip
Renaissance Entertainment Inc. of Orlando is marketing “Ego Trip: A Ride About You.”
The ride, which Renaissance hopes to sell to a theme park or to operate at fairs, will use riders’ names, photos and voices to create a totally personalized experience.
As paparazzi snap away and adoring fans call their names, riders will attend their own movie premieres. They’ll visit an art museum where they’ll view paintings of themselves as done by Picasso, Warhol and van Gogh.
They’ll attend a political rally where they’ll be urged to run for president and a sporting event where they’ll be praised for their athletic prowess. Finally, they’ll enjoy a ticker-tape parade in their honor.
Afterward, ego-stroked riders will proceed to the gift shop—where they can buy all sorts of stuff emblazoned with their images.
“What’s everyone’s favorite subject? Themselves,” Renaissance President Jon Binkowski said, “This is taking that to the nth degree.”
Spokesman Review, November 30, 1997, p. A19
Age of Self
In this Age of Self, the language is filled with phrases that glorify personal choice above all other values: self-determination, self-knowledge, self-esteem, self-help even do-it-yourself. In this climate, no doctrine is safe, no dictate accepted without scrutiny....The touchstone of belief today is the individual, not the institution. Priests, like precinct captains, have lost authority. The same voters who talk back to their political leaders on call-in shows and town meetings are talking back to their religious leaders at parish council meetings and Communion breakfasts. While 85 percent of American Catholics look up to the pope as a moral leader, 4 out of 5 say they follow their own conscience, rather than papal authority, on moral questions...The phrase “cafeteria Catholics” describes those who pick and choose among church teachings. But in religion, as in politics, the more appropriate analogy for modern mores is to fast food rather than to cafeterias; as the slogan for one hamburger chain puts it: “Have it your way.”...How do leaders lead when followers don’t want to be led?
“Leading the Faithful in an Age of Dissent,” Steven V. Roberts, U.S. News and World Report, August 23, 1993, p. 6
Quote
- At age 20 we worry about what others think of us. At 40 we don’t care what they think of us. At 60 we discover they haven’t been thinking of us at all.
Ann Landers, via Context, quoted in Signs of the Times, March, 1993, p. 6
Sheila-ism
Another poll sheds light on this paradox of increased religiosity and decreased morality. According to sociologist Robert Bellah, 81 percent of the American people also say they agree that “an individual should arrive at his or her own religious belief independent of any church or synagogue.” Thus the key to the paradox is the fact that those who claim to be Christians are arriving at faith on their own terms—terms that make no demands on behavior. A woman named Sheila, interviewed for Bellah’s Habits of the Heart, embodies this attitude. “I believe in God,” she said. “I can’t remember the last time I went to church. But my faith has carried me a long way. It’s ‘Sheila-ism.’ Just my own little voice.”
Against the Night, Charles Colson, p. 98
Myself
God strengthen me to bear myself;
That heaviest weight of all to bear,
Inalienable weight of care.
All others are outside myself;
I lock my door and bar them out,
The turmoil, tedium, gad-about.
I lock my door upon myself,
And bar them out; but who shall wall
Self from myself, most loathed of all?
If I could once lay down myself,
And start self-purged upon the race
That all must run! Death runs apace.
If I could set aside myself,
And start with lightened heart upon
The road by all men overgone!
God harden my against myself,
This coward with pathetic voice
Who craves for ease, and rest, and joys:
Myself, arch-traitor to myself;
My hollowest friend, my deadliest foe,
My clog whatever road I go.
Yet One there is can curb myself,
Can roll the strangling load from me,
Break off the yoke and set me free.
Christina G. Rossetti
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