2012 NOV

Greetings to all on 10 NOV 2012

Word for the Day
Docent Sensitivity is the concept that a small amount of pollutant has catastrophic effects, a sensitivity to being near something that causes disgust. [1]

Quote for the Day

If you are seriously interested in the spiritual life, finding a spiritual director is no problem. Many are standing around waiting to be asked. However, sometimes we don't really want to get rid of our loneliness. There is something in us that wants to do it by ourselves. I constantly see this in my own life. A spiritual director is not a great guru who has it all together; it's just someone who shares his or her sinful struggles, and by doing so, reveals there is a Presence who is forgiving. – Henri J. M. Nouwen [2]

Thought for the Day

Have you ever thought about our seemingly natural abhorrence of “yucky” stuff? It turns out that there is a field of psychology that explains the underlying nature of our actions. If a small drop of urine was added to a bottle of wine, would you still drink it? I didn’t think so! Now reverse that and add a small drop of fine wine into a bottle of urine. Why wouldn’t the wine purify the urine in the same way that the urine contaminated the entire bottle of wine? Does the bad always dominate the good, even when the bad is dwarfed by the good?

From our natural view, the answer is yes; psychologists call this docent sensitivity, or in laymen’s terms: Purity Code. We teach our kids to stay away from evil influences. As adults, we tend to only socialize with those already like us. We are told, “One bad apple spoils the barrel,” “a little leaven leavens the whole lump” and “bad company corrupts good morals.” [1COR 15.33] Of course, there is some truth in each of these old adages; they sound like good advice.

But when we compare Jesus’ life to ours, we don’t see a parallel to our lifestyle. Instead, Jesus was frequently found with the sick, the sinner, the outcast and even the well-to-do folks. Jesus lived out a philosophy that a little good can overcome a lot of bad. It seems to me that he left us a legacy of how to live among the world. Our natural tendency is to only live among those already like us, those who will not contaminate us in any way.

When Barack Obama became president, it was an historical moment in history – our first black president. But wait, isn’t his mom white and his dad black? Why doesn’t being half-white make him white? This goes back to our Purity Code and also exposes our latent racism. Any “blackness” contaminates the pure white and renders the person as black.

We will never be able to reach most of our community until we break our adherence to the Purity Code and are willing to truly be the salt of the earth.  I recently spent the day at our local courthouse. While awaiting jury selection, I couldn’t help but observe several of the people on their way to hearings. One was single mom, maybe mid-30’s; she was filing papers regarding child support. Another was a teenage male, about 16, getting his probation papers; he was accompanied by his parents. These are the people who need a message of hope, but how can we ever reach these people? The curative salt must be sprinkled on the raw meat.

May God Bless
Mike Toole
Linda Wise, ed.

1.    Thanks to Richard Beck’s 2011 ACU Summit presentation “Unclean” for much of this material.

 

2.    Found at http://dailychristianquote.com/dcqnouwen.html