This thing about cheeks

How do I respond to and protect myself from the evil and corruption of others?

Ok, the standard 'christian' response is 'turn the other cheek', and forgive using the 7 times table for the calculation.

There is a God of vengence as well. Crushing, purging out, 9/11 ing it all out, traditional Noah style.

I have a problem with both views though. With the cheek turning method, I often get that 'coward of the county' feeling. Like I am selling myself out, selling myself short. Worse still, I may be, by not keeping my face perpendicular (no cheeks exposed), allowing the evil of the other person to propogate itself. Lesser evils, (rudeness to a customer, small dishonesties like the docking of a day's pay for the small mistakes of a trainee), feeding on the 'getting away' of this experience can grow into larger ones, harming much more people. Will it be a sin of omission for me to therefore let it go, unadressed/cheeked?

I am pretty much with Ghandhi all the way, don't spill blood, self sacrifice rather than hurt, seek the truth, but always keep humility as your closest companion. Stand up for justice, and if justice will not be given, be willing to die rather than accept injustices that hurt thousands of people. I am dead against blood and nuclear warheads. I would not even use one on George Bush, and that's going far.

The christian thing is also that revenge is God's. Ok, that feels right, it takes away my responsibility to address uncomfortable issues. Even with my sand-paper personality, I am pretty much a coward at heart, and this works out pretty well, as I really do hate that rock of rocking boats.

So, if I leave revenge to God, and do the cheek bit, and hold no grudge, that seems to do the trick. The problem with this is, it ends up in a slight contradiction. If I forgive someone, then I wish no evil or future consequence on that person. How can I do this though by then leaving revenge to God? I shouldn't want no vengeance in the first place, if I am balancing that account just right.

I know that my motivations are not pure enough to exact perfect vengeance. I don't know the heart of that person, and may not understand deeper reasons for that action. I don't want to be an instrument of someone's path to greater evil. I want to be generous and not extract my pound of flesh, in the hope that the goodness of the action may turn away that person from future evil.

Tough one, this. I am really perplexed.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sunday distractions at Colpetty Methodist Church

Thoughts of growing up days and church. My mother, ensured the family got its weekly share of church. For some reason, for a reason beyond me at that time, we always sat at the very back. Since it was a very big church (by Colombo standards), this meant we were very far away from the Reverend (that's what we called the preists in our church. Reverend. Hmm. Person who is reverential? Chief of revering? Interesting choice on noun for a preist. Very interesting, as compared to, father, boring, and also too family-like for us methodists. We wanted to make it very clear we were not related in any way At All. Also not, pastor. No, that was for only those neo-liberal low-churches. We, with our stip upper lips, and suede shoes, didn't need pastoring at all. We were not sheep. We were in the cat family, we chose to be reverent, or irreverant as we felt. In those days, we actually sang bona-fide hymns. No happy-clappy hand gestures and guitars for us. It was always pre-1900, and it was a...
Read more

What's happiness?

The balmy feeling on a very windy day, when it just might rain, but it just might not. The simple euphoria of being on the edge of crazy weather. Unexpected laughter that bursts from you, at what a colleague said, a colleague you thought so far was shy and quiet. A warm hug from a friend you haven't seen for a year, who hugs you though you are grubby and tired after a long hard day. That first taste, just as you bite into an almond, or a peice of feta cheese, when you come home raving hungry after a long day. The love that bubbles up like champagne when a dog you don't know, decides to like you and play with you. A funny you tube video, that shows talent, sheer fun, humor, art and love of life is not about contemporary notions of beauty and perfection. But the way human spirits shine as bright as the sun through all the imperfections. The relief at the end of a long period of self-doubt, when you come across a book, have a chance conversation, or hear something in a talk that g...
Read more

Enduring Word Commentary on Romans 1

These are extracts from the  Enduring Word Commentary on Romans 1 A bondservant… an apostle : Paul’s self-identification is important. He is   first   a   servant of Jesus Christ , and   second  called to be an apostle . There were several ancient Greek words used to designate a slave, but the idea behind the word for   servant   ( doulos ) is “ complete and utter devotion , not the abjectness which was the normal condition of the slave.” (Morris) “ A servant of Jesus Christ,   is a higher title than monarch of the world .” (Poole) The word “ God ” occurs 153 times in Romans; an average of once every 46 words – this is more frequently than any other New Testament book. In comparison, note the frequency of other words used in Romans:  law  (72),  Christ  (65),  sin  (48),  Lord  (43), and  faith  (40). Romans deals with many different themes but as much as a book can be, it is a book about...
Read more