Living in the Power of the Spirit (Contd) :
Living for Empowering those we come in Contact with (The Way of Action - Karma Marg) (Contd):
Inherent Dangers: In our attempts to empower ourselves and others, we should be conscious of a possible danger that could derail all our efforts at self-control. Those five forces of evil mentioned in the last Post do not come straight at us in the avowed forms, but may take many shapes and colors thereby diverting our attention from the real task at hand. For example, if we are ready to attack by self-control our lust in sexual relationship, our lust for power may raise its ugly head in various forms. Lust for power may be instrumental in degrading others and dehumanizing them and in the process, demonizing the wielders of power themselves. Our success in controlling lust for sex overshadows our failure in controlling the lust for power! Similarly, we may think of other vices such as anger as against hard-hardheartedness, attachment as against gluttony, greed as against sloth and ego as against envy. Being weak and unstable, we may slip up any time as we try to fight those evil forces.
The Remedy: What is the way out in this our peculiar situation? Jesus has prescribed the effective medicine that is the only solution to our problem. We read in Matthew 26: 41 as follows: "Stay awake, and pray that you may be spared the test. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." The purpose of staying awake is to watch out as a watchman is expected to do as part of his duty. Otherwise, when the master returns at an hour least expected by the watchman, he may be found wanting. Who is the master here? It depends on under whose rule we have placed ourselves. If we are under the rule of terror exerted by the vices mentioned earlier, we would be least prepared to resist those masters when they knock at our doors. We would succumb immediately to their demands, if we do not watch and pray. As long as we live here in this world these masters visit us often and we should be ready to give them a befitting reply. Then at the end our own master who has placed us in this garden of the world to tend it would be pleased on his visit to us at whatever hour he comes. Watching is against our own evil tendencies and praying is to be spared from the final test that would be launched against us by Satan himself. Our victory or failure at that vehement test depends on our success or failure in the day-to-day temptations we face in our lives. Gradually but surely with the help of the Holy Spirit, we should fortify ourselves and help build a temple for God in our heart that would be completed by God Himself at the end of time.
Self-Delusion: We must beware of self-delusion in empowering ourselves as well as others. Self-delusion consists in thinking that we empower ourselves and others when in fact it is not so. It is equivalent to deceiving God, if that were possible. For, we in our folly secretly believe that God cannot see our innermost thoughts and intentions and that feigning and dissimulation will pass muster before God. It is true that we go on living in good faith without an express intention to be hypocrites. However, our impure and selfish intentions vitiate the nature of the actions we perform that stand in the way of really empowering ourselves and others whom we want to empower. The only antidote to this dilemma is to be real servants in the manner in which Jesus has set an example. If we do so, we would be really detached servants who would be able to rule everyone and everything we encounter.
Servanthood, not Servility: A common difficulty that might be raised here is about the nature of service we are expected to render. Those who are better educated and with resources the people don't have should be in a position to educate them and influence their behavior so much so that we cannot just follow their orders if we should help them. The confusion here is about the difference between being a servant and being a slave. A slave has no rights and is expected to live and die for his or her master or mistress. Not so a servant who is expected to empower his or her master or mistress in a responsible manner. They should be thoroughly equipped and skilled in order to fulfill their duty. Here servanthood consists in one's capacity to empower whomever one serves. In order to empower one has to give one's own self by denying it for which there will be plenty of occasions in one's service. A slave is merely an instrument at the beck and call of the master or mistress to be used for one's selfish ends. That is servility where neither the slave nor the master is empowered. The only exception is when we become slaves to the Word of God that truly liberates and makes us free men and women.
Disempowerment: The empowerment envisaged here occurs with our own disempowerment by checking all the vices mentioned earlier. We gain our real self by denying the fake self represented by lust, anger, attachment, greed, ego, pride,envy, sloth, gluttony, drunkenness, hardheartedness, hunger for power and fame, etc. This is the meaning of the words of Jesus about gaining life by losing it and entering the Kingdom of heaven by force as well as about entering by the narrow gate (See Luke, 9: 24; 13: 24; 16: 16). What the world considers as empowerment in in fact the ticket to our self-destruction. Thus God confounds the wisdom of the humans with His own Wisdom What builds us up or destroys us is deposited within ourselves, the former by God and the latter by ourselves in our nature. Growth as well as destruction emanate from within the innermost recesses of our heart, understood as the core of our personality. That is why ultimately we are ourselves responsible for our own happiness or unhappiness. Jesus said the Kingdom Of God is within us (See Luke, 17: 21) and that is what we have to seek and develop into an all-encompassing reality.
Practical Tips: How do we practice this kind of empowerment by means of servanthood in our daily life? Let us start with our family where everyone should be a servant to others in the family. Thus we have a servant-father, servant-mother, servant-husband, servant-wife, and servant children. Here we practice the servanthood that empowers each and every one of us in a family. So equipped, we are ready fir empowering others in other close-knit communities like the Church, neighborhood communities, social organizations and so on. This kind of empowerment will emanate from the real spirit of service where our self is denied for the sake of the Kingdom whereby we become eunuchs for the sake of the Kingdom of God. Only the sovereignty of God is acknowledged, while all of us are brothers and sisters, whereby God Himself is glorified. There will be no exploitation of others, no sham actions emanating from conspiracies and confabulations and we shall be transparent in everything before God and the humans. Thus we give space for God to act when we become weak and foolish for His sake and acknowledge His omnipotence. It is no lip service, but real faith and hope manifested through our daily lives culminating in acts of charity. This kind of life is worth more than any sacrifices and burnt offerings made to God through rituals bereft of their real content. Our self-giving is their real content. (We shall proceed in the next Posts with the 'Content of Gospel Proclamation).
Living for Empowering those we come in Contact with (The Way of Action - Karma Marg) (Contd):
Inherent Dangers: In our attempts to empower ourselves and others, we should be conscious of a possible danger that could derail all our efforts at self-control. Those five forces of evil mentioned in the last Post do not come straight at us in the avowed forms, but may take many shapes and colors thereby diverting our attention from the real task at hand. For example, if we are ready to attack by self-control our lust in sexual relationship, our lust for power may raise its ugly head in various forms. Lust for power may be instrumental in degrading others and dehumanizing them and in the process, demonizing the wielders of power themselves. Our success in controlling lust for sex overshadows our failure in controlling the lust for power! Similarly, we may think of other vices such as anger as against hard-hardheartedness, attachment as against gluttony, greed as against sloth and ego as against envy. Being weak and unstable, we may slip up any time as we try to fight those evil forces.
The Remedy: What is the way out in this our peculiar situation? Jesus has prescribed the effective medicine that is the only solution to our problem. We read in Matthew 26: 41 as follows: "Stay awake, and pray that you may be spared the test. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." The purpose of staying awake is to watch out as a watchman is expected to do as part of his duty. Otherwise, when the master returns at an hour least expected by the watchman, he may be found wanting. Who is the master here? It depends on under whose rule we have placed ourselves. If we are under the rule of terror exerted by the vices mentioned earlier, we would be least prepared to resist those masters when they knock at our doors. We would succumb immediately to their demands, if we do not watch and pray. As long as we live here in this world these masters visit us often and we should be ready to give them a befitting reply. Then at the end our own master who has placed us in this garden of the world to tend it would be pleased on his visit to us at whatever hour he comes. Watching is against our own evil tendencies and praying is to be spared from the final test that would be launched against us by Satan himself. Our victory or failure at that vehement test depends on our success or failure in the day-to-day temptations we face in our lives. Gradually but surely with the help of the Holy Spirit, we should fortify ourselves and help build a temple for God in our heart that would be completed by God Himself at the end of time.
Self-Delusion: We must beware of self-delusion in empowering ourselves as well as others. Self-delusion consists in thinking that we empower ourselves and others when in fact it is not so. It is equivalent to deceiving God, if that were possible. For, we in our folly secretly believe that God cannot see our innermost thoughts and intentions and that feigning and dissimulation will pass muster before God. It is true that we go on living in good faith without an express intention to be hypocrites. However, our impure and selfish intentions vitiate the nature of the actions we perform that stand in the way of really empowering ourselves and others whom we want to empower. The only antidote to this dilemma is to be real servants in the manner in which Jesus has set an example. If we do so, we would be really detached servants who would be able to rule everyone and everything we encounter.
Servanthood, not Servility: A common difficulty that might be raised here is about the nature of service we are expected to render. Those who are better educated and with resources the people don't have should be in a position to educate them and influence their behavior so much so that we cannot just follow their orders if we should help them. The confusion here is about the difference between being a servant and being a slave. A slave has no rights and is expected to live and die for his or her master or mistress. Not so a servant who is expected to empower his or her master or mistress in a responsible manner. They should be thoroughly equipped and skilled in order to fulfill their duty. Here servanthood consists in one's capacity to empower whomever one serves. In order to empower one has to give one's own self by denying it for which there will be plenty of occasions in one's service. A slave is merely an instrument at the beck and call of the master or mistress to be used for one's selfish ends. That is servility where neither the slave nor the master is empowered. The only exception is when we become slaves to the Word of God that truly liberates and makes us free men and women.
Disempowerment: The empowerment envisaged here occurs with our own disempowerment by checking all the vices mentioned earlier. We gain our real self by denying the fake self represented by lust, anger, attachment, greed, ego, pride,envy, sloth, gluttony, drunkenness, hardheartedness, hunger for power and fame, etc. This is the meaning of the words of Jesus about gaining life by losing it and entering the Kingdom of heaven by force as well as about entering by the narrow gate (See Luke, 9: 24; 13: 24; 16: 16). What the world considers as empowerment in in fact the ticket to our self-destruction. Thus God confounds the wisdom of the humans with His own Wisdom What builds us up or destroys us is deposited within ourselves, the former by God and the latter by ourselves in our nature. Growth as well as destruction emanate from within the innermost recesses of our heart, understood as the core of our personality. That is why ultimately we are ourselves responsible for our own happiness or unhappiness. Jesus said the Kingdom Of God is within us (See Luke, 17: 21) and that is what we have to seek and develop into an all-encompassing reality.
Practical Tips: How do we practice this kind of empowerment by means of servanthood in our daily life? Let us start with our family where everyone should be a servant to others in the family. Thus we have a servant-father, servant-mother, servant-husband, servant-wife, and servant children. Here we practice the servanthood that empowers each and every one of us in a family. So equipped, we are ready fir empowering others in other close-knit communities like the Church, neighborhood communities, social organizations and so on. This kind of empowerment will emanate from the real spirit of service where our self is denied for the sake of the Kingdom whereby we become eunuchs for the sake of the Kingdom of God. Only the sovereignty of God is acknowledged, while all of us are brothers and sisters, whereby God Himself is glorified. There will be no exploitation of others, no sham actions emanating from conspiracies and confabulations and we shall be transparent in everything before God and the humans. Thus we give space for God to act when we become weak and foolish for His sake and acknowledge His omnipotence. It is no lip service, but real faith and hope manifested through our daily lives culminating in acts of charity. This kind of life is worth more than any sacrifices and burnt offerings made to God through rituals bereft of their real content. Our self-giving is their real content. (We shall proceed in the next Posts with the 'Content of Gospel Proclamation).
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