See, hear, speak...

Everyone has seen the little monkeys which are sometimes referred to as the "mystic monkeys" or "wise monkeys".  You know...."see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil."  I have a creative variation in my elephant collection--my "mystic elephants"!   While there is disagreement as to the origin of the monkeys and the accompanying proverb, it is generally agreed that the origin lies in the Far East, most likely Japan.  There are some who believe the proverb itself may have come from ancient Chinese wisdom. According to Wikipedia (I love Wikipedia!) the proverb has meaning in many different contexts, among which is the belief that it is a reminder to “not be snoopy, nosy and gossipy.”

One of my most profound disappointments when I worked in a church setting, was the amount of gossip which took place among church staff, and parishioners….sometimes in the guise of “prayer concerns”. I had the naïve belief that those who worked in a holy place would concentrate on that which is holy.  Ha! I learned firsthand that , clergy and church staff--being human after all--are not immune from engaging in practices (such as gossip and meddling) especially when they (we) are not honest with ourselves about our true intentions.  I was also dismayed at how easily and quickly I became a participant in such.  These are the very things that cause nonbelievers to disregard Christianity.

Gossiping, spreading rumors, meddling, are common enough whenever 2 or 3 gather together.  Jesus says though, “whenever two or three gather together in my name, there I am with them.” (Matthew 18:20)  It’s clear that when 2 or 3 are gathered together to engage in rumor-mongering that they are not gathered in Jesus’ name. 

Is it any easier ouside of community, in solitude, so to speak?  Since I have “retired” from church work, when not  with my husband, I spend a lot of time in solitude.  I rather like it that way. I read, pray, cook, sew, go on long walks and write.  I probably would have been just fine as a monk in the middle ages!  But being in solitude does not keep one immune from “seeing evil, hearing evil, speaking evil”.  In fact, quite the opposite!  Thoughts can become a form of seeing evil, hearing evil, speaking evil.  I can see evil by desiring the wrong things; I hear evil when spending time listening to trash on the TV or radio; I “speak” evil when verbalizing even if only to myself those ugly things that I “wish I had said”.  And probably the most profound evil is lying to myself about my true intentions.  But there are times when honesty hits me right in my face! And then the frustration sets in…not unlike the apostle Paul, I imagine when he wrote, “I do not understand what I do.  For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate, I do.”  Romans 7:15.

So for me the only way to deal with it is to come clean before God and “turn my eyes upon Jesus.  There’s a praise song I particularly like that goes like this:

"Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face;

and the things of earth will grow strangely dim;

in the light of his glory and grace.”

Ironically, Paul gives us the answer to the dilemma in another great piece of his writing in Philippians 4:8 “ Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”  This is our challenge.

See beauty, hear excellence, speak praises! 

Okay, little elephants, at ease!