"Just actions stem from the humble soul." I took that quotation from one of my own blogs. I'm quoting myself, can you do that ? Yes, I guess you can. Recent events in the news brought that thought back to mind. The quote itself came from a blog I wrote called, Pride is not a Flag. That was written before the big Rebel flag controversy. It was posted the nineteenth of April of this year. In that blog I was talking about pride and its' effect upon society. Those are the actions I was talking about. When pride is misplaced and misrepresented bad things happen. It is my feeling that we have lost the true meaning of pride. "Pride is not a flag to be flown before the battle", another quote from that same posting. We must be fighting for a just cause and those causes stem from the humble soul. So we need to understand, humility.
Humility, the word brings to mind images we may not like. We think of being humiliated for example. And when we think of that, embarrassment creeps in. To be humble is not to be lower than, quite the contrary if you understand it. To be humble is to be gentle. To be humble is to put the feelings and needs of others before your own. The operative part of that sentence being " to put ": it is your own action, not something forced upon you. That force may come from social pressure or peer pressure. That is the effect misplaced or misrepresented pride can have. That is the flag I was talking about.
The Bible is full of scripture and verse concerning pride.The sermon on the mount contains several references alone, The most well known and repeated is " blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. " but the rest of sermon addressed being humble as well. The Bible is the basis for my moral code. That is separate from my ethics. Ethics involve what is acceptable behavior within a society. Ethics are often in conflict with morality. That is especially true for the Christian in America today. I believe that is the result of a lack of humility. Our leaders have become too arrogant and vain. They are not putting the needs of the people before their own. Pride cometh before the fall and we are stumbling. That is why the ethics of the politicians are being brought into question, more so now than at any other time in history. Their ethics are in conflict with the " moral " majority that is America. And that moral majority is Christians.
But wait you say, we have a separation of church and state. Yes, indeed we do, but that separation is not between ethics and morality it is between morality and government. Our government, a republic ( meaning the people ) shall not be dictated by the Bible or any other religious text. We are free to worship as we see fit. It doesn't mean we are free from moral and ethical behavior. Ethics are based in our morality. Ethics are a second tier consideration and should be dictated by morality and moral values. Our nation was made great by following this premise. The further we stray from it the more issues we face.
I say, " just actions stem from the humble soul " in response to those that would beat the drums and cry for justice. Justice is not achieved by force but by compassion and understanding. That does not mean agreeing with everything that is said ! It does not mean allowing immoral and unethical behaviors to persist in the name of " freedom. " When the path becomes difficult we should not abandon it. We must stay the course. Pride is not a flag, as I wrote earlier, but we should have pride in our flag. The flag is a symbol, what we stand for, not what we allow. Pride follows just actions, it does not lead. "Just actions stem from the humble soul. "
Humility, the word brings to mind images we may not like. We think of being humiliated for example. And when we think of that, embarrassment creeps in. To be humble is not to be lower than, quite the contrary if you understand it. To be humble is to be gentle. To be humble is to put the feelings and needs of others before your own. The operative part of that sentence being " to put ": it is your own action, not something forced upon you. That force may come from social pressure or peer pressure. That is the effect misplaced or misrepresented pride can have. That is the flag I was talking about.
The Bible is full of scripture and verse concerning pride.The sermon on the mount contains several references alone, The most well known and repeated is " blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. " but the rest of sermon addressed being humble as well. The Bible is the basis for my moral code. That is separate from my ethics. Ethics involve what is acceptable behavior within a society. Ethics are often in conflict with morality. That is especially true for the Christian in America today. I believe that is the result of a lack of humility. Our leaders have become too arrogant and vain. They are not putting the needs of the people before their own. Pride cometh before the fall and we are stumbling. That is why the ethics of the politicians are being brought into question, more so now than at any other time in history. Their ethics are in conflict with the " moral " majority that is America. And that moral majority is Christians.
But wait you say, we have a separation of church and state. Yes, indeed we do, but that separation is not between ethics and morality it is between morality and government. Our government, a republic ( meaning the people ) shall not be dictated by the Bible or any other religious text. We are free to worship as we see fit. It doesn't mean we are free from moral and ethical behavior. Ethics are based in our morality. Ethics are a second tier consideration and should be dictated by morality and moral values. Our nation was made great by following this premise. The further we stray from it the more issues we face.
I say, " just actions stem from the humble soul " in response to those that would beat the drums and cry for justice. Justice is not achieved by force but by compassion and understanding. That does not mean agreeing with everything that is said ! It does not mean allowing immoral and unethical behaviors to persist in the name of " freedom. " When the path becomes difficult we should not abandon it. We must stay the course. Pride is not a flag, as I wrote earlier, but we should have pride in our flag. The flag is a symbol, what we stand for, not what we allow. Pride follows just actions, it does not lead. "Just actions stem from the humble soul. "
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