human interaction
I am sure everyone knows that the past weekend was Easter. As I sat in church listening to the reading of the Passion, I could not help but think of Nietzsche's commentary on the clash that took place two thousand years ago between Jesus of Nazareth and Pontius Pilate. In simplified terms Nietzsche sets out to explain the interaction between those with power, masters, and those without, slaves. The masters are noble and believe in the strong and beautitul while the slaves are ignoble and believe in the weak and ugly. In his terms it was the slave morality of the Judeo-Christian ethical system that created the idea that only those who are weak, poor and marginalized are able to enter eternal paradise in heaven. This idea contradicted the master morality of the Roman Empire.
As many have probably guessed, Jesus became the pinnacle of the tension between the two opposed moral systems. It is in His meeting with Pilate that the drama reaches it height:
Jesus answered, "For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the
world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears
My voice." Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?"
-John 18:37-38
What we see here is a complete misunderstanding between Jesus and Pilate. Neither one of them understands what the other believes because they have been brought up in different cultures. Their truths are opposite and therefore, in a way, meaningless to one another. Truth, because here we are looking at human-created ethical truth, has become arbitrary. It is as if they were speaking different languages. I am not trying to assert that there is no such thing as absolute truth or that there is no way for people from different backgrounds to communicate with each other. I think that history has proven otherwise. This is simply an analysis of what seems to have happened during the meeting of Pilate and Jesus.
We know how the story ends. Jesus was crucified, but with the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity in the 4th century the Judeo-Christian tradition inserted itself into that of the Roman Empire and has asserted its influence ever since. What I am interested in is the drama between Pilate and Jesus and they stand face to face discussing what they believe. In a sense we have two opposed ethical systems, but they are simply ideals. In reality we see two men, in their backgrounds, peronalities, experiences, etc. humanly dealing with the disconnect that has formed between two divergent cultures. I love to think of the enormous weight that played itself out through two simple men, people like you and me.
And that brings us to what is present in my experience and in others' experiences who come to the Center. Everyone who comes through the door has a different story, background, personality, etc. Even more evident is that the people who serve often times have completely different truths than those they are serving. I know that I personally do not have much in common (in many ways) with the men who come into the Center. But this is not an excuse to that we can use when communication does not work or when conflicts arise. We must find a way to hold true to ourselves, to remember where we come from, to celebrate everything that makes us who we are while at the same time changing the things that hold us back and integrating helpful information that will allow us move forward in life. It is a tension that threads itselt through every part of our experience as human beings. When should we let go and when should we hold on (I suppose most evidently in a game of poker - Kenny Rogers has a song). Anyway, I do not think that our interactions ever reach the scale of Jesus and Pilate, with repercussions lasting thousands of years. But I do think it is important to remember the human, flesh and blood component of all our interactions. And that we should never give too much weight to our ideals and systems, because every time we deal with someone it is a particular situation that does not simply contain ideas and converging systems, but two souls.
As many have probably guessed, Jesus became the pinnacle of the tension between the two opposed moral systems. It is in His meeting with Pilate that the drama reaches it height:
Jesus answered, "For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the
world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears
My voice." Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?"
-John 18:37-38
What we see here is a complete misunderstanding between Jesus and Pilate. Neither one of them understands what the other believes because they have been brought up in different cultures. Their truths are opposite and therefore, in a way, meaningless to one another. Truth, because here we are looking at human-created ethical truth, has become arbitrary. It is as if they were speaking different languages. I am not trying to assert that there is no such thing as absolute truth or that there is no way for people from different backgrounds to communicate with each other. I think that history has proven otherwise. This is simply an analysis of what seems to have happened during the meeting of Pilate and Jesus.
We know how the story ends. Jesus was crucified, but with the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity in the 4th century the Judeo-Christian tradition inserted itself into that of the Roman Empire and has asserted its influence ever since. What I am interested in is the drama between Pilate and Jesus and they stand face to face discussing what they believe. In a sense we have two opposed ethical systems, but they are simply ideals. In reality we see two men, in their backgrounds, peronalities, experiences, etc. humanly dealing with the disconnect that has formed between two divergent cultures. I love to think of the enormous weight that played itself out through two simple men, people like you and me.
And that brings us to what is present in my experience and in others' experiences who come to the Center. Everyone who comes through the door has a different story, background, personality, etc. Even more evident is that the people who serve often times have completely different truths than those they are serving. I know that I personally do not have much in common (in many ways) with the men who come into the Center. But this is not an excuse to that we can use when communication does not work or when conflicts arise. We must find a way to hold true to ourselves, to remember where we come from, to celebrate everything that makes us who we are while at the same time changing the things that hold us back and integrating helpful information that will allow us move forward in life. It is a tension that threads itselt through every part of our experience as human beings. When should we let go and when should we hold on (I suppose most evidently in a game of poker - Kenny Rogers has a song). Anyway, I do not think that our interactions ever reach the scale of Jesus and Pilate, with repercussions lasting thousands of years. But I do think it is important to remember the human, flesh and blood component of all our interactions. And that we should never give too much weight to our ideals and systems, because every time we deal with someone it is a particular situation that does not simply contain ideas and converging systems, but two souls.
posted by Ryan at 10:22 AM
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