“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9
We like to think we’re pretty good people. Especially when we compare our actions to other people’s. However, take time to listen to the chatter in your mind. Then you will see some things that will surprise you.
I was grocery shopping one day and was people-watching. My eyes moved from person to person, taking in details.
Like the biracial guy with unique red kinky hair. I wondered which of his parents was the redhead and which one was black. It was a cool combo to see.
Later, there was a lady dancing beside her car in the parking lot. She’d move, stomp in a rhythm, and shout. I smiled, wondering what the occasion was.
In between that, I saw a woman stocking the shelves. I was shocked at the thoughts that exploded to the forefront of my mind. They were so mean.
I did not know her. There was no basis for them. If they had been spoken, it would have been hateful, shocking, and crushing.
If I had been a bystander watching someone say what I had just thought, I would have had to say something to the bully. I felt bad and wondered where the thoughts had come from.
“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it.”
The morning I wrote this, I got to this passage in Luke.
“To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Luke 18:9-14
The darkness inside us is always there. Even in a Christian. It’s slowly getting cleaned out, but until I die there will be some left. We’re all sick.
“There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Romans 3:22-24
A Ronin's Journey 