The Unclad Soul

From the Desiderata by poet Max Ehrmann – A line a day for the remaining Christmas/Holiday season: “If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.”

If your religion helps you manage your addictions; if it creates a safer home environment for you and your loved ones; if it enables you to treat others with respect and worth; if it guides you into responsible life choices; if it enriches your inner self and leads you into a deeper understanding of the human condition; if it nurtures your sense of compassion and causes you to lift up the fallen and the hurting and the damaged and the left out; if it encourages you to embrace all people whatever their race, beliefs, social status, or sexual orientation; if it celebrates the earth and asks you to take care of it; if it ultimately provides you a healthier human spirit, then your religious beliefs and practices serve a useful purpose. But if your religion gives you permission to hate or mistreat other people; if it makes you feel superior to all other religious beliefs; if it says you will always be better than those who don’t believe; if it promises you rewards at no cost to you at...

Here in this happy season of enraged shoppers and rude store clerks and Target’s phenomenal credit card security system, there is the real spirit of Christmas. It goes something like this. Work with other nations? Why do we need them? We have no need of them. They’re all primitive countries with terrorists and taxes and people of other colors and strange cultures who don’t even observe Christmas. Who can understand a thing they say anyway. Other countries are useless. God bless America. Obamacare? Good Lord no. We don’t need that. If people are stupid enough to get sick then let them figure out how to get well on their own. I don’t want my tax dollars helping other people. The Bible says help yourself, or something like that. Stop war. Are you kidding? Wars are great. Some of the best movies ever made in this country are war movies. John Wayne is still a hero here. Did you not ever see “The Longest Day” for God’s sake? And besides, who gives a flip about the Germans, ...

There are, it seems to me, five types of Christian groups these days. The first are those who are progressive, open-minded, grace oriented. This group is not bound to tiresome traditions that are irrelevant and exclusive. They long to grow emotionally, spiritually. These Christians welcome gays, actively care about the poor, and are not political except to work for justice in their communities, state, nation, and the world by supporting causes and agencies that reach out to hurting people in desperate circumstances. They are humble, human, and loving, but they are not afraid to break out of the mold, to ask hard questions, to challenge the status quo, and to embrace people of all faiths, races, and lifestyles. They are not into “getting people saved,” but are rather dedicated to discovering how to make the world a better place for everyone. Once a powerhouse for change and renewal this is a diminishing group within the Christian community.  A second group are those who are...

There is an etching by the 18 th century artist Francisco de Goya that I find haunting and relevant. The picture shows an artist, perhaps a painter or writer, slumped over his desk. His pen and sketching paper are there. His face is buried in his arms that are resting over his head. We cannot see his face in sleep. We can only see his thick black hair tousled around his head. Behind him in the darkness are flying creatures that look like fierce bats and sneering owls. Next to him reclining on the floor is a large cat with big eyes with its head erect. It looks startled. The title of the drawing is, “The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters.” Goya’s amazing pieces, there were 80 in all, were attempts to confront the political and religious institutions of his day, institutions that had turned cruel and oppressive and brutalized the common defenseless people of that era. His etchings were also wake up calls to fellow artists to use their talents to expose the intolerance, criminal...