Is Hypocrisy the Greatest Vice?

 

Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye;
and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
- Matthew 7:5

The only vice that cannot be forgiven is hypocrisy.
- William Hazlitt

The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

We are all hypocrites.
We cannot see ourselves or judge ourselves the way we see and judge others.
- José Emilio Pacheco

Judge not, that ye be not judged.
- Matthew 7:1

He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone at her.
- Jesus of Nazareth (John 8:7)

Further reading: The Essence of Jesus' Teaching

Grant That I May Radiate
      

We are Defined by Our Actions

 

Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren,
ye have done it unto me.
- Matthew 25:40

Before you speak to me about your religion,
   first show it to me in how you treat other people;
before you tell me how much you love your God,
   show me in how much you love all His children;
before you preach to me of your passion for your faith,
   teach me about it through your compassion for your neighbors.
In the end, I'm not as interested in what you have to tell or sell
   as in how you choose to live and give.
- Cory Booker

We do not need to proselytize
either by our speech or by our writing.
We can only do so really with our lives.
Let our lives be open books for all to study.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

A good example is the best sermon.
- Benjamin Franklin

No man stands so tall as when he stoops to help a child.
- Abraham Lincoln (attributed)

Your example is far more influential and inspiring
than any words of instruction, or threats,
or even words of encouragement.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

If your actions inspire others to dream more,
learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.
- John Quincy Adams

Further reading: God Calls Us To Help Others

Lead by Example

Hypocrisy, Perhaps the Greatest Sin

A Look at Religion
        

Visualize a Kinder World

 

Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.
- Jesus (Matthew 25:40)

Do to others as you would have them do to you.
- Luke 6:31 (the "Golden Rule")

Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded.
It's a relationship between equals.
Only when we know our own darkness well
can we be present with the darkness of others.
Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.
- Pema Chodron

Our opportunity is to visualize a kinder world.
To sing glad songs of tomorrow -
imagining a world of love -
of the whole world filled with love.
To offer our hand... often.
To breathe deeply and honor ourselves.
To pause and contemplate... just because.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

For me, an area of moral clarity is:
you're in front of someone who's suffering
and you have the tools at your disposal
to alleviate that suffering or even eradicate it,
and you act.
- Paul Farmer

Further reading: Feed the Hungry

Comfort, Rainbows, and Laughter

Accept Others

Compassion, Kindness, Humility
      

Compassion, Empathy and Service

 

Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of
the least of these brothers and sisters of mine,
you did for me.
- Jesus (Matthew 25:40)

There are moments when the heart is generous,
and then it knows that for better or worse our lives are woven together here,
one with one another and with the place and all the living things.
- Wendell Berry

Love your neighbor as yourself.
- Jesus (Mathew 22:39)

A person's religion is what they do and say all day, seven days a week -
not what they say and do at 10 am on Sunday.
Our religion is defined by how we choose to treat the Least of These.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Feed the Hungry

To Be a Faithful Follower of Jesus

We Belong to Each Other

What is Your Religion?
   

Hate Nobody, Love Everybody

Love people who hate you. Pray for people who have wronged you.
It won’t just change their life, it will change yours.
- Mandy Hale

You have heard that it was said,
"Love your neighbor and hate your enemy."
But I tell you: Love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you.
- Jesus (Matthew 5:43-44)

Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it.
Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it.
Hatred darkens life; love illumines it.
- Martin Luther King Jr.

Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?
- Abraham Lincoln

The practice of forgiveness is our most important
contribution to the healing of the world.
- Marianne Williamson

If you want to make peace with your enemy,
you have to work with your enemy.
Then he becomes your partner.
- Nelson Mandela

Further reading: Go and Do Likewise
 
Life is a Reflection

Fear and Love Categorizing People

On the Unworkability of Vengeance
         

Avoid Hypocrisy

Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye;
and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
- Matthew 7:5

The only vice that cannot be forgiven is hypocrisy.
- William Hazlitt

The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

We are all hypocrites.
We cannot see ourselves or judge ourselves the way we see and judge others.
- José Emilio Pacheco

Judge not, that ye be not judged.
- Matthew 7:1

He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone at her.
- Jesus of Nazareth (John 8:7)

Further reading: The Essence of Jesus' Teaching

Grant That I May Radiate
      

It is Our Actions that Define Us

Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren,
ye have done it unto me.
- Matthew 25:40

Before you speak to me about your religion,
   first show it to me in how you treat other people;
before you tell me how much you love your God,
   show me in how much you love all His children;
before you preach to me of your passion for your faith,
   teach me about it through your compassion for your neighbors.
In the end, I'm not as interested in what you have to tell or sell
   as in how you choose to live and give.
- Cory Booker

We do not need to proselytize
either by our speech or by our writing.
We can only do so really with our lives.
Let our lives be open books for all to study.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

A good example is the best sermon.
- Benjamin Franklin

No man stands so tall as when he stoops to help a child.
- Abraham Lincoln (attributed)

Your example is far more influential and inspiring
than any words of instruction, or threats,
or even words of encouragement.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

If your actions inspire others to dream more,
learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.
- John Quincy Adams

Further reading: God Calls Us To Help Others

Lead by Example

Hypocrisy, Perhaps the Greatest Sin

A Look at Religion
        

Recognize our shared humanity

Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.
- Jesus (Matthew 25:40)

Do to others as you would have them do to you.
- Luke 6:31 (the "Golden Rule")

Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded.
It's a relationship between equals.
Only when we know our own darkness well
can we be present with the darkness of others.
Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.
- Pema Chodron

Our opportunity is to visualize a kinder world.
To sing glad songs of tomorrow -
imagining a world of love -
of the whole world filled with love.
To offer our hand... often.
To breathe deeply and honor ourselves.
To pause and contemplate... just because.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

For me, an area of moral clarity is:
you're in front of someone who's suffering
and you have the tools at your disposal
to alleviate that suffering or even eradicate it,
and you act.
- Paul Farmer

Further reading: Feed the Hungry

Comfort, Rainbows, and Laughter

Accept Others

Compassion, Kindness, Humility
      

Empathy, Compassion and Service

Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of
the least of these brothers and sisters of mine,
you did for me.
- Jesus (Matthew 25:40)

There are moments when the heart is generous,
and then it knows that for better or worse our lives are woven together here,
one with one another and with the place and all the living things.
- Wendell Berry

Love your neighbor as yourself.
- Jesus (Mathew 22:39)

A person's religion is what they do and say all day, seven days a week -
not what they say and do at 10 am on Sunday.
Our religion is defined by how we choose to treat the Least of These.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Feed the Hungry

To Be a Faithful Follower of Jesus

We Belong to Each Other

What is Your Religion?
   

Hatred Paralyzes Life; Love Releases It - MLK

 

Love people who hate you. Pray for people who have wronged you.
It won’t just change their life, it will change yours.
- Mandy Hale

You have heard that it was said,
"Love your neighbor and hate your enemy."
But I tell you: Love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you.
- Jesus (Matthew 5:43-44)

Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it.
Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it.
Hatred darkens life; love illumines it.
- Martin Luther King Jr.

Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?
- Abraham Lincoln

The practice of forgiveness is our most important
contribution to the healing of the world.
- Marianne Williamson

If you want to make peace with your enemy,
you have to work with your enemy.
Then he becomes your partner.
- Nelson Mandela

Further reading: Go and Do Likewise
 
Life is a Reflection

Fear and Love Categorizing People

On the Unworkability of Vengeance
         

Avoid being a Hypocrite

 

Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye;
and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
- Matthew 7:5

The only vice that cannot be forgiven is hypocrisy.
- William Hazlitt

The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

We are all hypocrites.
We cannot see ourselves or judge ourselves the way we see and judge others.
- José Emilio Pacheco

Judge not, that ye be not judged.
- Matthew 7:1

He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone at her.
- Jesus of Nazareth (John 8:7)

Further reading: The Essence of Jesus' Teaching

Grant That I May Radiate
      

We are Defined by Our Actions, Not Our Words

 

Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren,
ye have done it unto me.
- Matthew 25:40

Before you speak to me about your religion,
   first show it to me in how you treat other people;
before you tell me how much you love your God,
   show me in how much you love all His children;
before you preach to me of your passion for your faith,
   teach me about it through your compassion for your neighbors.
In the end, I'm not as interested in what you have to tell or sell
   as in how you choose to live and give.
- Cory Booker

We do not need to proselytize
either by our speech or by our writing.
We can only do so really with our lives.
Let our lives be open books for all to study.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

A good example is the best sermon.
- Benjamin Franklin

No man stands so tall as when he stoops to help a child.
- Abraham Lincoln (attributed)

Your example is far more influential and inspiring
than any words of instruction, or threats,
or even words of encouragement.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

If your actions inspire others to dream more,
learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.
- John Quincy Adams

Further reading: God Calls Us To Help Others

Lead by Example

Hypocrisy, Perhaps the Greatest Sin

A Look at Religion
        

Visualize a Kinder World

 

Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.
- Jesus (Matthew 25:40)

Do to others as you would have them do to you.
- Luke 6:31 (the "Golden Rule")

Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded.
It's a relationship between equals.
Only when we know our own darkness well
can we be present with the darkness of others.
Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.
- Pema Chodron

Our opportunity is to visualize a kinder world.
To sing glad songs of tomorrow -
imagining a world of love -
of the whole world filled with love.
To offer our hand... often.
To breathe deeply and honor ourselves.
To pause and contemplate... just because.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

For me, an area of moral clarity is:
you're in front of someone who's suffering
and you have the tools at your disposal
to alleviate that suffering or even eradicate it,
and you act.
- Paul Farmer

Further reading: Feed the Hungry

Comfort, Rainbows, and Laughter

Accept Others

Compassion, Kindness, Humility
      

Jesus' Teaching of Compassion and Service

 

Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of
the least of these brothers and sisters of mine,
you did for me.
- Jesus (Matthew 25:40)

There are moments when the heart is generous,
and then it knows that for better or worse our lives are woven together here,
one with one another and with the place and all the living things.
- Wendell Berry

Love your neighbor as yourself.
- Jesus (Mathew 22:39)

A person's religion is what they do and say all day, seven days a week -
not what they say and do at 10 am on Sunday.
Our religion is defined by how we choose to treat the Least of These.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Feed the Hungry

To Be a Faithful Follower of Jesus

We Belong to Each Other

What is Your Religion?
   

Return Love for Hate

 

Love people who hate you. Pray for people who have wronged you.
It won’t just change their life, it will change yours.
- Mandy Hale

You have heard that it was said,
"Love your neighbor and hate your enemy."
But I tell you: Love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you.
- Jesus (Matthew 5:43-44)

Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it.
Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it.
Hatred darkens life; love illumines it.
- Martin Luther King Jr.

Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?
- Abraham Lincoln

The practice of forgiveness is our most important
contribution to the healing of the world.
- Marianne Williamson

If you want to make peace with your enemy,
you have to work with your enemy.
Then he becomes your partner.
- Nelson Mandela

Further reading: Go and Do Likewise
 
Life is a Reflection

Fear and Love Categorizing People

On the Unworkability of Vengeance
         

Hypocrisy

Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye;
and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
- Matthew 7:5

The only vice that cannot be forgiven is hypocrisy.
- William Hazlitt

The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

We are all hypocrites.
We cannot see ourselves or judge ourselves the way we see and judge others.
- José Emilio Pacheco

Judge not, that ye be not judged.
- Matthew 7:1

He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone at her.
- Jesus of Nazareth (John 8:7)

Further reading: The Essence of Jesus' Teaching

Grant That I May Radiate
      

Our Actions, Not Our Words, Define Us

 

Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren,
ye have done it unto me.
- Matthew 25:40

Before you speak to me about your religion,
   first show it to me in how you treat other people;
before you tell me how much you love your God,
   show me in how much you love all His children;
before you preach to me of your passion for your faith,
   teach me about it through your compassion for your neighbors.
In the end, I'm not as interested in what you have to tell or sell
   as in how you choose to live and give.
- Cory Booker

We do not need to proselytize
either by our speech or by our writing.
We can only do so really with our lives.
Let our lives be open books for all to study.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

A good example is the best sermon.
- Benjamin Franklin

No man stands so tall as when he stoops to help a child.
- Abraham Lincoln (attributed)

Your example is far more influential and inspiring
than any words of instruction, or threats,
or even words of encouragement.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

If your actions inspire others to dream more,
learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.
- John Quincy Adams

Further reading: God Calls Us To Help Others

Lead by Example

Hypocrisy, Perhaps the Greatest Sin

A Look at Religion
        

Have Compassion, Recognize Our Shared Humanity

Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.
- Jesus (Matthew 25:40)

Do to others as you would have them do to you.
- Luke 6:31 (the "Golden Rule")

Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded.
It's a relationship between equals.
Only when we know our own darkness well
can we be present with the darkness of others.
Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.
- Pema Chodron

Our opportunity is to visualize a kinder world.
To sing glad songs of tomorrow -
imagining a world of love -
of the whole world filled with love.
To offer our hand... often.
To breathe deeply and honor ourselves.
To pause and contemplate... just because.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

For me, an area of moral clarity is:
you're in front of someone who's suffering
and you have the tools at your disposal
to alleviate that suffering or even eradicate it,
and you act.
- Paul Farmer

Further reading: Feed the Hungry

Comfort, Rainbows, and Laughter

Accept Others

Compassion, Kindness, Humility
      

 

Don't Let Anger or Hatred Paralyze Your Life

 

Love people who hate you. Pray for people who have wronged you.
It won’t just change their life, it will change yours.
- Mandy Hale

You have heard that it was said,
"Love your neighbor and hate your enemy."
But I tell you: Love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you.
- Jesus (Matthew 5:43-44)

Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it.
Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it.
Hatred darkens life; love illumines it.
- Martin Luther King Jr.

Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?
- Abraham Lincoln

The practice of forgiveness is our most important
contribution to the healing of the world.
- Marianne Williamson

If you want to make peace with your enemy,
you have to work with your enemy.
Then he becomes your partner.
- Nelson Mandela

Further reading: Go and Do Likewise
 
Life is a Reflection

Fear and Love Categorizing People

On the Unworkability of Vengeance
         

Easter Sunday 2021

 

The great gift of Easter is hope -
Christian hope which makes us have that confidence in God,
in his ultimate triumph, and in his goodness and love,
which nothing can shake.
- Basil C. Hume

Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection,
not in books alone, but in every leaf in spring-time.
- Martin Luther

This is what the Lord asks of you: only this,
to act justly, to love tenderly,
and to walk humbly with your God.
- Micah 6:8

Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe.
- Voltaire

Guide our feet into the way of peace.
- Luke 1:79

Today, Easter, the most Holy day on the Christian calendar, is a day to celebrate our spiritual natures. We are not just bones and flesh, chemicals and electricity, we are beings of Spirit, one with each other and one with the eternity and infinity of Creation.

On this day, let us affirm the core values of unconditional love of all humans and an uncompromising commitment to caring for all who are sick, infirm, or troubled - as expressed in the biblical story of the Good Samaritan. (Read more on Loving your enemies, the Golden Rule, and the parable of The Good Samaritan)

Further reading: Love even those who hate you

Jesus own Words about Forgiveness and Unconditional Love