To Thine Own Self Be False

The older I get, the more and more I am convinced that the human brain can convince itself of anything it wants. No matter how divorced our self-image is from actuality and how much the facts of our lives remain woefully incongruous with our interpretation of those facts, we still press on far too often in our largely self-imposed willfulness.

The heartless soul who feels their actions are simply the "way things have to be." The adulterous man sure that he's not doing anything wrong. The pastor secretly embezzling funds from the church certain that he deserves the money he's getting. You know the story.

Whenever the utter nonsense of these positions is revealed, the watching world immediately recoils, certain that those involved in such acts must be the most evil individuals this world has ever spewed into existence.

I'm not here to defend those people. I'm just here to point out that we all do similar things, endlessly convincing ourselves we're in the right. It doesn't happen to all of us all of the time...but it does happen. Matter of fact, its probably happening right now.

Why? Well, I guess it is a defensive mechanism deeply rooted somewhere in our psychology. A real unwillingness to ever admit our mistakes.

And the scary thing? Most of the time, we don't even know that we are doing it. That doesn't make us innocent, not in the least. But it does make me stop and think about a lot of the things I do and the lot of the positions I hold.

Because if I, like everyone else, have it within me to convince myself that utter evil is justifiable...what then?

It's a dark question, I know. But it is one worth remembering.

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:

And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 139:23-24