tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33598850.post5176492893139371553..comments2023-04-24T02:57:34.415-07:00Comments on A Friend in Need: Virtue on the BiasHeather Madronehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14822864657970530172noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33598850.post-32877743515006852512007-08-29T06:26:00.000-07:002007-08-29T06:26:00.000-07:00All the great spiritual traditions, not just Chris...All the great spiritual traditions, not just Christianity but Hinduism and Buddhism as well, emphasize that our mind plays tricks on us. We identify a fault like pride and think we have defeated it but it morphs into a different form and then we no longer recognize it. The games that people play in social interaction often just feed the folly. Much casual banter among people takes the form of bragging (my kids are smarter, more athletic, etc. than your kids) but if the bragging is too crude that's not good either. So the real key is to brag more subtly and less directly than other people. So some vices just change their shape while remaining essentially the same.<BR/><BR/>But sometimes a different dynamic is at work. Sometimes a vice when confronted morphs into a different vice. Suppose pride is what makes me work hard and I recognize the pride and takes steps to eliminate it. Since I have taken pride in my work what might happen is that pride morphs into sloth. The old, bad worldly motive for work being eliminated, I fail to find a right motive and instead just get lazy. <BR/><BR/>These spiritual wobbles come about because we naturally rely too much on our own will and wisdom. The wisdom of the Quaker path is that it reminds us to just take the time to be quiet and listen. It has faith that listening to God is a kind of natural gyroscope which will naturally smooth out our wobbles and bring us into gospel order if we just stop trying so hard.<BR/><BR/>Am I making any sense here?RichardMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08564152237574253857noreply@blogger.com