The Throne of the Heart and the Rise of Pseudo-Religion Part 4 of 4-part series: Spiritual Dimensions of the COVID-19 Pandemic By Mark Kutolowski AUDIO version of this post and CONVERSATION is available on our website. One of the scribes...asked Jesus “Which is the first of all the commandments?” Jesus replied, “The first is this: ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” - Mark 12:28-31
Thanks Mark. Lots to think about! Your first few paragraphs reminded me of David Foster Wallace in his 2005 Kenyon Commencement Speech: “In the day-to-day trenches of adult life . . . there is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And the compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of god or spiritual-type thing to worship… is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough, never feel you have enough. It's the truth. Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly. And when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally grieve you. … Worship power, you will end up feeling weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to numb you to your own fear. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart, you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out.”
Here's a comment on this essay received on our blog:
I found this article extremely insightful when speaking to the manifestations of idolatry in modern society. When I examine my own choices and expressions, I try to pull back from judgement. This is difficult to do. For instance, my family and I chose to do everything we could to not only protect our son (he cannot productively cough) but also because we felt any help, whether masks or vaccines, was an expression of love towards our neighbor. The danger comes into play when my ego says that this path is the only path. Or when I feel hurt that others don’t care enough to do the same. In fact, I have had this reoccurring thought that ego is what keeps us separated from God. The trust in our own intellect and thought becomes God —and there’s that idolatry. I pray that I may learn to let go of my thoughts and grab on to God’s thoughts. His will be done. Oooh that is so hard! -Maria Lara
Thank you Maria Lara, these are insightful reflections. I think you wrote clearly about the essence - the danger of the ego stepping in and corrupting our loving intentions and actions with the thought 'my way is the only way'.
I do agree that the ego - or rather, identification with the ego - is perhaps the primary source of our experience of separation from God. The ego is probably good and necessary for navigating practical decisions and details of daily life. But while it's a useful servant, it's a disaster when we confuse the ego for who 'I am'. That seems to be the essence of pride - the primal idolatry, I suppose.
I love both God and science since God gave us science as a tool. I believe the vaccines are a gift from God, developed in record time by dedicated scientists. Of course they are not perfect and that there are vaccine absolutists who treat others with no compassion. But, the vast majority of those dying now from Covid are unvaccinated. Good science helps us see this. I do not believe the Federal government is leftist in many respects, especially in its embrace of militarism. I think the left-right dualistic way of thinking leads us astray. Millions of servants have labored ag the cost of their health and sometimes of their lives, many of them Christians. There is a lot of love on display. I love the words: “truth forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne, yet that scaffold sways the future and behind the dim unknown standeth God within the shadows keeping watch upon his own.” I rest in that thought. Thanks for the provocative words.
Hello Dick, Thank you for your thoughtful comment. Do you know the source/author of that beautiful quote?
I agree with you that the left-right dualism often leads us astray - and I'd add that I think it is fast becoming outdated as a model to understand what's unfolding in our world. I had hesitated to bring up those terms in the post....
I agree, too, that good science - done with genuine curiosity and an effort to understand objective truth - can help reveal many insights. And yes, many have labored with great love and sacrifice for others in this time, and there are many things to celebrate. Yet, even if one perceives that the benefits of the current vaccine treatments far outweigh the drawbacks, I see it as a blow to objective science that it's considered socially unacceptable for a doctor or a scientist to voice a critical view.
I think it's fine for a private individual like you or me to thank God for a vaccine or other medical treatment they receive, and to see it as a gift from God. But when the vaccines are categorized as a divine gift in the public sphere, I believe it obscures rather than clarifies, and has the potential to make it more difficult for there to be genuine listening, mutual love and respect between the vaccine advocates and the roughly 1/3 of the people in the US who have chosen not to receive these treatments. Can we learn to listen to each other with love and compassion in this new landscape?
Thank you, Mark, for this further clarification of thought. Your explication of the toxicity in our conversation, the hardening against respect for one another, is helpful. Humility is missing. Lack of nuance and the absolutizing of opinion make this a dangerous time.
The words come from an old hymn I grew up with “Once to Every Man and Nation” which now is, sad to say, antiquated. James Russell Lowell wrote the words (https://hymnary.org/text/once_to_every_man_and_nation) and they are echoed in his poem, The Present Crisis. The crisis is still present.
The rest of the hymn is helpful, too. “New occasions teach new duties. Time makes ancient good uncouth.”
Thanks Mark. Lots to think about! Your first few paragraphs reminded me of David Foster Wallace in his 2005 Kenyon Commencement Speech: “In the day-to-day trenches of adult life . . . there is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And the compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of god or spiritual-type thing to worship… is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough, never feel you have enough. It's the truth. Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly. And when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally grieve you. … Worship power, you will end up feeling weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to numb you to your own fear. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart, you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out.”
Here's a comment on this essay received on our blog:
I found this article extremely insightful when speaking to the manifestations of idolatry in modern society. When I examine my own choices and expressions, I try to pull back from judgement. This is difficult to do. For instance, my family and I chose to do everything we could to not only protect our son (he cannot productively cough) but also because we felt any help, whether masks or vaccines, was an expression of love towards our neighbor. The danger comes into play when my ego says that this path is the only path. Or when I feel hurt that others don’t care enough to do the same. In fact, I have had this reoccurring thought that ego is what keeps us separated from God. The trust in our own intellect and thought becomes God —and there’s that idolatry. I pray that I may learn to let go of my thoughts and grab on to God’s thoughts. His will be done. Oooh that is so hard! -Maria Lara
Thank you Maria Lara, these are insightful reflections. I think you wrote clearly about the essence - the danger of the ego stepping in and corrupting our loving intentions and actions with the thought 'my way is the only way'.
I do agree that the ego - or rather, identification with the ego - is perhaps the primary source of our experience of separation from God. The ego is probably good and necessary for navigating practical decisions and details of daily life. But while it's a useful servant, it's a disaster when we confuse the ego for who 'I am'. That seems to be the essence of pride - the primal idolatry, I suppose.
I love both God and science since God gave us science as a tool. I believe the vaccines are a gift from God, developed in record time by dedicated scientists. Of course they are not perfect and that there are vaccine absolutists who treat others with no compassion. But, the vast majority of those dying now from Covid are unvaccinated. Good science helps us see this. I do not believe the Federal government is leftist in many respects, especially in its embrace of militarism. I think the left-right dualistic way of thinking leads us astray. Millions of servants have labored ag the cost of their health and sometimes of their lives, many of them Christians. There is a lot of love on display. I love the words: “truth forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne, yet that scaffold sways the future and behind the dim unknown standeth God within the shadows keeping watch upon his own.” I rest in that thought. Thanks for the provocative words.
Hello Dick, Thank you for your thoughtful comment. Do you know the source/author of that beautiful quote?
I agree with you that the left-right dualism often leads us astray - and I'd add that I think it is fast becoming outdated as a model to understand what's unfolding in our world. I had hesitated to bring up those terms in the post....
I agree, too, that good science - done with genuine curiosity and an effort to understand objective truth - can help reveal many insights. And yes, many have labored with great love and sacrifice for others in this time, and there are many things to celebrate. Yet, even if one perceives that the benefits of the current vaccine treatments far outweigh the drawbacks, I see it as a blow to objective science that it's considered socially unacceptable for a doctor or a scientist to voice a critical view.
I think it's fine for a private individual like you or me to thank God for a vaccine or other medical treatment they receive, and to see it as a gift from God. But when the vaccines are categorized as a divine gift in the public sphere, I believe it obscures rather than clarifies, and has the potential to make it more difficult for there to be genuine listening, mutual love and respect between the vaccine advocates and the roughly 1/3 of the people in the US who have chosen not to receive these treatments. Can we learn to listen to each other with love and compassion in this new landscape?
Thank you, Mark, for this further clarification of thought. Your explication of the toxicity in our conversation, the hardening against respect for one another, is helpful. Humility is missing. Lack of nuance and the absolutizing of opinion make this a dangerous time.
The words come from an old hymn I grew up with “Once to Every Man and Nation” which now is, sad to say, antiquated. James Russell Lowell wrote the words (https://hymnary.org/text/once_to_every_man_and_nation) and they are echoed in his poem, The Present Crisis. The crisis is still present.
The rest of the hymn is helpful, too. “New occasions teach new duties. Time makes ancient good uncouth.”
Love to you all,
Dick