“Men are so quick to blame the gods: they say
that we devise their misery. But they
themselves- in their depravity- design
grief greater than the griefs that fate assigns.”
Homer, The Odyssey
“The depravity of man is at once the most empirically
verifiable reality but at the same time the most intellectually resisted fact.”
Malcolm Muggeridge
______________________________
Thank you, Facebook, for your memes, posts, and reels
(and YouTube and Twitter too)
without you I might have failed to perceive
how bad it is
how bad we are
how full of ego, hate, fear
racism
how empty of compassion and generosity
how incapable we are of joy
empathy
even a simple celebration of something good
it matters not what the topic is
it might be something political
or religious
it might be about sports
basketball, football, or soccer
but it really doesn’t matter
it can be a story about kindness
it might show kittens or dogs
incurably cute
no matter
in they come
the toxic males (and sometimes females)
who have to prove how
tough/athletic/smart (add your own word) they are
commenting, judging, correcting, minimizing
marginalizing
no hit is too brutal (players today are weak)
the rules (that keep players from brain damage) are silly
(when I played, we played real football)
The people who could
of course, do it better, even if they can’t do it at all
those who have to prove their knowledge
(but are often wrong)
the second guessers
the judgers
the haters
the racists and fascists
“if the right people had won the war, England would be a lot whiter”
they are like piranhas
feeding off of each other
stripping the bones of their victims
invective piled on invective
hate piled on hate
until all decency is gone
thank you
for the reminder that we are a mess
that we have lost touch with our original blessing
that sin is real
and depravity is a thing
thank you because it reminds me
how much hurt there is
how much fear pain, and insecurity exists
how much we despise ourselves
(and project that on others)
thank you for helping me to look at myself honestly
for reminding me how much our world needs understanding
and love
thank you for reminding me
that there is so much work to do
the hard work
of reconciliation
be kind and compassionate Paul tells us
Yours is a ministry of reconciliation
OK
I’ll try
Sometimes all I can do is silence
or avoidance
and sometimes the best I can do
is prayer
for them, for me, for all of us
for behind all that “depravity”
is a child of God
waiting to be set free
