But I say to you, Do not resist an evil doer. But if anyone
strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also;
Matt 5:39 NRSV
Hmmm! I would almost
swear someone or something is doing whatever they can so that I do not publish
those words lol. They were the opening for yesterday’s blog that I put two
hours of time and limited energy into to only have the post disappear. And this morning there was one glitch after another,
both on site and in Microsoft document, leading to over thirty minutes just to
get that passage down. This is not going
to be a smooth writing experience.
But that’s okay because today I would like to write about “tolerance”. The Dalai Lama’s quote for today on my desk
top calendar reads: In the practice of tolerance,
one’s enemy is the best teacher. (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2018). Is it not fitting that I actually publish an
entry about turning the other cheek on the day I read that quote?
The enemy or “evil
doer”
So before I begin explaining what I think Jesus’s words,
thusly being echoed by the Dalai Lama’s words, mean….let’s understand what I believe
is meant by “enemy” or “evil doer.”
I much prefer “evil doer” to enemy or as described in many
other versions of the bible, “evil person”.
I hate labelling people by their actions…just because a person does what
we believe to be bad or evil…it doesn’t make them evil. I don’t believe there are evil people in the world,
just people who do nasty things. I see
these individuals as unconscious, un-evolved, lost in ego, and acting “insanely”
or “stupidly” at the time of their action…not evil. And enemy is only a concept…it
is a judgement we make based on circumstances…totally relative. What we may
refer to as an enemy, someone else is referring to as an ally…and we, without meaning
to are likely enemies to someone somewhere…right now.
Our egos tend to make “enemies” and “evil doers” out of
anyone or anything that threatens our sense of self. And I believe that is what the above bible
passage is actually reflecting. It teaches
metaphorically how we should respond when that sense of self (not just the flesh
on our cheek) is threatened.
What is this sense of
self?
This sense of self is who we believe we are in the body we
are in, the mind we are using and the persona we have worked so hard to create.
It is in reality nothing more than “idea”
we have of ourselves and an idea we want others to have of us. It is based on
thought and image…created by years of conditioning, attaining (or losing),
owning ( or not having),socially accepted success (or failure), conforming ( or
nonconforming), “fitting in” ( or social rejection) etc etc. It is a compilation of our learning or what
we have experienced or told we ‘should’ be in order to meet outer world
expectation. It is not who we really are!
Our sense of “little me” is a flimsy outer garment we wear
and that we have come to believe is us. Because of that it is fragile…easily
bruised and wounded. It hurts like the dickens
when it gets slapped around by circumstances or other egos.
How does the so
called “evil doer” threaten or damage this sense of self.
The passage, I believe, is not so much referring to what
happens when the body is being attacked and when our very
survival is threatened. Like many of
Christ’s teachings…it is more metaphorical than that. Life or another ego may
not give us what we were expecting or believed it should…we feel threatened, cheated,
and struck with an enemy’s blow. People
may attack our personal beliefs, or our fragile sense of belonging to a
collective belief system, which acts as the glue that keeps us together and it
feels like we received another rattling blow…we begin to come apart.
The “evil doer” (be
it another being or circumstance) may take away something we believe helps to
keep this idea we have of self intact…our
belongings, our jobs, our looks, our
reputation, or our physical health…another blow to the cheek that may actually
knock us down.
How do we respond?
Every time Life or the egos of others fail to give us what
we feel they “should” in order to keep this sense of self together…we make
enemies and “evil doers’ out of them because they are putting holes in our personas.
We fear we will be reduced to invisible nobodies without this “idea” of who we
are. We have a tendency then to do whatever we can to further affirm this idea
of “me”, to protect it, defend it and repair it whenever it is threatened or
damaged. We do that by creating borders
around self (both the individual and the collective), defending “self” and what
is considered “mine”, or “attacking” before or after we are attacked. In order to do that, we create distinct
borders between us and them. We need to
judge and label our enemies and determine what is “good” and what is “evil”. We, then,
put a large amount of our energy into “war” be it personal or worldly.
We do not often do…as Jesus teaches…turn the other cheek. We are seldom tolerant as the Dalia Lama
advises we should be. We are not at peace. We are not open to Life and what each moment
offers us…instead we are resistant to it and constantly on guard. We make what shows up in the moment...the enemy. Is that how we really want to live?
Jesus teaches us that what we are defending is not worth
defending or repairing. This little
egoic me is not who we are…we are so much more. Let it be slapped around by our
so called enemies. They are actually
doing us a favour by creating holes in something that is hiding who we are from
us. The cheek is nothing of value. The ego and idea we have of ourselves is
nothing of value.. Every time something that is valueless is taken away from
us, we are getting closer to what is valuable.
Nothing
real can be threatened,
Nothing
unreal exists
Herein lies the peace of God.(ACIM
Introduction)
I believe, He is teaching us to be so open to what life has
in store for us, be it “good” or be it “evil" , that we are willing to turn the
other cheek to it…knowing in our very core it cannot hurt who we really are. Our
enemies, be they life circumstance or other beings on this planet, are our
greatest teachers. They teach us
tolerance….and with tolerance we will find freedom in knowing who we truly are.
All is well!
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