Tough
Mind/Soft Heart
“It
is pretty difficult to imagine a single person having,
simultaneously, the characteristics of the serpent and the dove, but
this is what Jesus expects. We must combine the toughness of the
serpent, and the softness of the dove, a tough mind and a tender
heart.”
Martin
Luther King, Jr. (Strength to Love)
“Be
ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” (Matt.
10:16) Jesus sent his disciples out into the world penniless, knowing
that they would be 'sheep among wolves'. He knew the world of his
time, just as we know ours, and what he saw was harsh.
The
way that Martin Luther King, Jr. describes a tough mind is: “sharp,
and penetrating...astute and discerning...firm of purpose...solid of
commitment...” He believed that the ability to see things as they
are, to sort out truth from fiction, is the greater part of valor.
Not for the purpose of gathering power to exercise over others, but
in order to make good, solid decisions and act on them justly.
Soft
minded people, King described as gullible, willing to accept spin and
hype as truth, and unable to discern half-truths, prejudices, and
false facts. False propaganda was (is) a plague of the times. He
extended soft-mindedness into religion, saying, “This is why
religion sometimes rejected new truth with dogmatic passion,”
rather than support a truth-seeker. It is a lazy, soft mind that will
not dig through the dumpster of zealot swill that passes for “God's
truth” today, in order to find that one pearl of great price.
Our
world is filled with spin-doctors, hype-spewers, and snake charmers,
all willing to do whatever it takes to turn people toward their
particular 'doctrine of truth'. Most of it is based in, and designed
for, gaining power and profit, monetary or otherwise, for themselves.
There is only one place to look for honesty and truth—to our own
hearts—to our own gentle hearts, and ask the simple question, 'what
is right'?
In
King's eloquent words, “Tough-mindedness without tenderheartedness
is cold and detached, leaving one's life in a perpetual winter devoid
of the warmth of spring and the gentle heat of summer.” Strength
with compassion; that is what we need. And we need it not only from
our leaders, but from every single human sharing this planet.
In
the spirit,
Jane
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