-Mohandas Gandhi
Our principles are a description of who we want to be. Our actions, however, describe who we are. Or do they? Believing I should treat others with kindness does not make me kind. Only by practicing kindness can I be kind. Every act of kindness that I exhibit pushes back the threshold of compromise to some degree, but unkind actions have an even greater affect on that threshold. When it comes to principle, there is nothing more damaging than hypocrisy. The word hypocrisy comes from two Latin words: hypo- "beneath" and krinein- "crisis." Essentially, it means a crisis within. The word is used to describe the phenomenon we witness when one's actions conflict what they believe. This word actually gives the benefit of the doubt to whoever bears its namesake. We usually call it hypocrisy when someone does not "practice what they preach," but the word implies more than disagreement between speech and action. It actually implies disagreement between belief and action. When we see incongruence between thought and action, we say "oh, they must not really believe in what they said." We are generally disappointed if not appalled to witness the disparity between word and deed, but what is even more astounding is the assumption that someone can actually believe in a principle, yet fail to practice it. Calling someone a hypocrite, it turns out, is more like calling them a schizophrenic than a liar. It is an incredible attribute humans have called "imperfection." The monitor doesn't always show what the computer is doing. Should we therefore conclude that principle is meaningless? I say not, because "we devise every moment limits of its compromise..." How? "In practice." Every time that we make a decision that aligns with our principles, we defy imperfection. Can we be perfect for a moment? Absolutely. Even if those moments are rare, they are the worth-while fruit of principle. Know what you believe, and practice it as often as you can.
-SteVe
No comments:
Post a Comment