Middlemarch Quote #3: Having the amiable vanity which knits us to those who are fond of us, and disinclines us to those who are indifferent, and also a good grateful nature, the mere idea that a woman had a kindness towards him spun little threads of tenderness from out his heart towards hers.
As reluctant as I am to admit (but as recent events continue to prove), this is TOTALLY ME. And before reading Middlemarch, I could never quite pinpoint or validate it. Reading this sentence feels as if George Eliot is jumping forward some 150 years in time, sitting next to me, taking my hand, and saying with an amused smile, "Trust me, dear...this is you."
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Remember
Christian or not, I think everyone would do well to remember this story. I know I would.
Early in the morning he [Jesus] came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?" This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him...as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." ...when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more."
John 8:2-11
In addition to the simple yet significant universal truth about humility, mercy, and compassion, there are two factors about this story that, as a Christian, blow my mind.
First, that when Jesus asks, "Has no one condemned you?" we ought to remember that there was one person that day who was free from sin and had every right to judge/accuse/sentence the adulterer, and that was Jesus himself. But instead of doing so, he lets her go; and you may ask, how is this fair? A legitimate religion and morality demands a certain balance between justice and mercy, and you may think: such an act is merciful, but is it just? It is just, because only shortly hereafter, the punishment is served, only in the most unexpected way--with Jesus lying on the cross being condemned in her/our place. So when we pray about our sins now, we ought not to plead for mercy, since we have already been graced with the most incredible mercy conceivable. Rather, we ought to plead for justice.
Which leads me to the second mind-blowing point, in the last sentence above: "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more." Notice the order in which Jesus phrases this. He doesn't say, "Stop sinning, and then I will forgive you." He declares first and foremost his compassion for the woman, regardless of what she has done, or what she may do in the future...her redemption and self-improvement stems from this, not the other way around.
In the same way, we worship and believe, not as an obligation or a task or a way to build ourselves up...but as a reciprocation of the love and life that has already been laid down for us.
Mind-blowing.
Early in the morning he [Jesus] came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?" This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him...as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." ...when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more."
John 8:2-11
In addition to the simple yet significant universal truth about humility, mercy, and compassion, there are two factors about this story that, as a Christian, blow my mind.
First, that when Jesus asks, "Has no one condemned you?" we ought to remember that there was one person that day who was free from sin and had every right to judge/accuse/sentence the adulterer, and that was Jesus himself. But instead of doing so, he lets her go; and you may ask, how is this fair? A legitimate religion and morality demands a certain balance between justice and mercy, and you may think: such an act is merciful, but is it just? It is just, because only shortly hereafter, the punishment is served, only in the most unexpected way--with Jesus lying on the cross being condemned in her/our place. So when we pray about our sins now, we ought not to plead for mercy, since we have already been graced with the most incredible mercy conceivable. Rather, we ought to plead for justice.
Which leads me to the second mind-blowing point, in the last sentence above: "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more." Notice the order in which Jesus phrases this. He doesn't say, "Stop sinning, and then I will forgive you." He declares first and foremost his compassion for the woman, regardless of what she has done, or what she may do in the future...her redemption and self-improvement stems from this, not the other way around.
In the same way, we worship and believe, not as an obligation or a task or a way to build ourselves up...but as a reciprocation of the love and life that has already been laid down for us.
Mind-blowing.
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