How Advent Reminds Us We're Really Not All That Great
I'm really not that great. And, sorry to say it, neither are you.
Sure, we don't like to hear this. It sounds kind of negative, doesn't it? And no one wants to be caught being negative these days.
In fact, we're all kind of obsessed with being positive. You know, building up "self-esteem" and all that.
You especially find this in lots work places. It's the whole "positive" thing: positive thinking, positive motivation, positive reinforcement, etc. Some of it's sincere, but a lot is just mindless cheer-leading.
Not that you don't want positive people on your team. Who wants some negative person always talking about why something's a problem, or why something can't get done? We want people who understand the objective and figure out how to accomplish it. Nothing wrong with that.
There's a practical reason for us to look for the positive at work. There's also a practical reason to build up our team members to that they have the confidence to work effectively towards whatever goals and objectives they need to accomplish that advances the business.
So all this "positive thinking" can make sense - in the right context.
Hey, I don't know about you, but I've worked for bosses who "motivated" you by intimidation, who jumped all over you the minute they thought you made any kind of mistake - whether you did or not. So I've got no objections to focusing on the positive when you're at work trying to get things done. I think you're more productive in a positive work environment.
But you can carry the "positive thinking" and "self-esteem" stuff too far. Where it gets hairy is when we start convincing ourselves we're so great - and forget the whole thing about how we've got a fallen nature. And I think that Advent's a good time to remind ourselves of that.
I mean the whole idea of Advent being a penitential season doesn't make any sense unless you understand that we're all basically sinners. Why would we need to perform any sort of penance unless we were sinners? Isn't that obvious? Of course it is.
Still, obvious or not, most of us really don't live with this awareness. We kind of float through the day thinking we're not all that bad. You know the drill: I haven't killed anyone, or stolen anything, or lied or cheated - at least not about anything "big."
So Advent's here to remind us that maybe us Catholics really need to get a good grip on ourselves and face the reality of who we really are.
Sure, we're God's creatures. And He made us in His image and likeness. And we're good because He made us. And He loves us and wants us to spend eternity with Him in Heaven.
But let's not forget Adam and Eve. Let's not forget Original Sin - and the fact that our human nature is fallen.
And I'm not talking about just "intellectually" recognizing this fact.
After all, I realize that we're not like those Catholics who don't even want to talk about mortal sin or damnation or hell - you know all that stuff that priests used to talk about in their sermons in the "old days." We're "real" Catholics.
But there's a real temptation to recognize our fallen human nature "in theory" and forget about it "in fact." And so, when you get down to it, even some of us "real" Catholics live like we really are great guys and gals.
I came across this from Cardinal Newman recently. He wrote it around 150 years ago:
Sure, we don't like to hear this. It sounds kind of negative, doesn't it? And no one wants to be caught being negative these days.
In fact, we're all kind of obsessed with being positive. You know, building up "self-esteem" and all that.
You especially find this in lots work places. It's the whole "positive" thing: positive thinking, positive motivation, positive reinforcement, etc. Some of it's sincere, but a lot is just mindless cheer-leading.
Not that you don't want positive people on your team. Who wants some negative person always talking about why something's a problem, or why something can't get done? We want people who understand the objective and figure out how to accomplish it. Nothing wrong with that.
There's a practical reason for us to look for the positive at work. There's also a practical reason to build up our team members to that they have the confidence to work effectively towards whatever goals and objectives they need to accomplish that advances the business.
So all this "positive thinking" can make sense - in the right context.
Hey, I don't know about you, but I've worked for bosses who "motivated" you by intimidation, who jumped all over you the minute they thought you made any kind of mistake - whether you did or not. So I've got no objections to focusing on the positive when you're at work trying to get things done. I think you're more productive in a positive work environment.
But you can carry the "positive thinking" and "self-esteem" stuff too far. Where it gets hairy is when we start convincing ourselves we're so great - and forget the whole thing about how we've got a fallen nature. And I think that Advent's a good time to remind ourselves of that.
I mean the whole idea of Advent being a penitential season doesn't make any sense unless you understand that we're all basically sinners. Why would we need to perform any sort of penance unless we were sinners? Isn't that obvious? Of course it is.
Still, obvious or not, most of us really don't live with this awareness. We kind of float through the day thinking we're not all that bad. You know the drill: I haven't killed anyone, or stolen anything, or lied or cheated - at least not about anything "big."
So Advent's here to remind us that maybe us Catholics really need to get a good grip on ourselves and face the reality of who we really are.
Sure, we're God's creatures. And He made us in His image and likeness. And we're good because He made us. And He loves us and wants us to spend eternity with Him in Heaven.
But let's not forget Adam and Eve. Let's not forget Original Sin - and the fact that our human nature is fallen.
And I'm not talking about just "intellectually" recognizing this fact.
After all, I realize that we're not like those Catholics who don't even want to talk about mortal sin or damnation or hell - you know all that stuff that priests used to talk about in their sermons in the "old days." We're "real" Catholics.
But there's a real temptation to recognize our fallen human nature "in theory" and forget about it "in fact." And so, when you get down to it, even some of us "real" Catholics live like we really are great guys and gals.
I came across this from Cardinal Newman recently. He wrote it around 150 years ago:
We live in an educated age. The false gloss of a mere worldly refinement makes us decent and amiable. We all know and profess. We think ourselves wise; we flatter each other; we make excuses for ourselves when we are conscious we sin, and thus we gradually lose the consciousness that we are sinning. We think our own times superior to all others.
It seems like even back in the "old days" you had Catholics forgetting that harsh reality of fallen human nature. When you think about it, it's really perfectly natural. But that's not an excuse.
So now that Advent's here, maybe one of the things we can remember is that we're really not all that great. Nah, the really Great One is the one we're preparing our hearts for during Advent.
Divine Infant of Bethlehem, come and take birth in our hearts.
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