The Book Title That Changed My Life
Several years ago I came across a book title that had a more profound effect on my life than I could have imagined. For a long time, I didn't read the book; but I kept it in my office where I could see the cover. The title? How Come Every Time I Get Stabbed in the Back My Fingerprints Are on the Knife?
For me, that book title names the biggest obstacle to our continued spiritual growth: We have a well-developed habit of looking outside ourselves at the sins and transgressions of others. And we tend to think of God as being "out there" somewhere rather than being present in each person. In an attempt to avoid what we don't like or can't accept in ourselves, we look "out there" to find someone else we can blame. Psychologists named this phenomenon projection, but our spiritual forebears knew and recognized it for centuries.
Jesus used the "splinter in the other person's eye, plank in my eye" metaphor to name this fixation. This scapegoating seems to be rampant in our time and our society. It's those politicians or political activists who are to blame; it's the Muslims who are at the root of our troubles; it's all those illegal immigrants...; it's the bankers, and on and on.
What do you suppose would happen if everyone followed the example of our great saints--and our Savior--who wasted no time glaring at the sins of others?
Blessings for the week,
Bob
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