. . . You have not forgotten, I suppose, that those who
assume arrogant airs in bestowing their praise or blame on others are such as
they are at bed and at board?
And you have not forgotten what they do, and what they
avoid, and what they pursue, and how they steal and how they rob, not with
hands and feet, but with their most valuable part, by means of which there is
produced, when a man chooses, fidelity, modesty, truth, law, a good spirit of
happiness?
—Marcus
Aurelius, Meditations, Book 10.13 (tr
Long)
When another
does what is wrong, I should be very careful not to let it encourage me to do
what is wrong myself. When I see malice, or deception, or betrayal, let me meet
all of that hatred with love. I can know with certainty that it is wrong, I can
stand my ground firmly against it, but I never need to become it.
I remind myself
that the shallow posturings, all the illusions people try to cast, reflect
something far deeper about those who practice them. The conflicts in how they
behave in public will betray who they truly are in private, and I would be
foolish to expect that they are any different on the inside than they are on
the outside.
Why am I so
concerned about what a hater, a hypocrite, or a user might think of me? My only
calling is to respond by not being the same.
Look at what
people really want, and how they will cleverly go about getting what they want,
and it can all become quite clear. The problem is not simply the abuse of their
power, or fame, or wealth, but in the abuse of their very humanity.
We are not all
given the same circumstances in this life, but we all given the same tools for
living well within those circumstances. Some will squander those abilities, and
some will nourish them.
A man is
measured by the content of his inner character, not by the conditions of his
outer appearances. Understanding what happiness really is allows me to estimate
others rightly, and to choose for myself rightly.
I think of all
the times I was told that this was how the game was played, that one had to
break a few eggs to make an omelet, or that some had to lose so that I could
win.
I think of all
the people left behind so that others could get ahead. I think of all the pain
suffered by one for the pleasure of another. I think of all the bullies telling
all the victims they needed to get over it.
The evil wasn’t
just in what was said or done, but in
why it was said or done. It pointed
straight to the darkened hearts and minds of those who decided that this was
their way to live. They did not even grasp what “winning” and “losing” were to
begin with.
Now will I
permit my own heart and mind to be equally darkened? If I see another broken,
will I also break myself? I will do myself no greater harm than when I judge
myself by the same twisted standards they use to judge me.
Written in 1/2009
No comments:
Post a Comment