Resentment and our Civic Life

Needless to say, the inauguration of Barak Obama as the 44^th president of the United States has generated a good amount of interest in both in the US and overseas. Some of what has been said or written about President Obama has been laudatory, other things less so.

Reading through the different viewpoints about our new president, it is difficult for me to escape the sense that—whatever else people think about the new administration—much of what is said is fueled by a sense of resentment.

In the spiritual life, and our civic life as well, resentment is a dangerous emotion to which to give in. This is especially the case when there is some justice, some truth, to our resentment.

The danger of resentment is that it parodies repentance, of the sober self-examination that is at the heart of the spiritual life. When I give in to resentment I see the fault as wholly in you, but not in myself. Resentment is a subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) form of self-aggrandizement. Or, in a word, pride.

St Maximos the Confessor, whose memory the Orthodox Church celebrates today, warns us that whatever we might think, resentment reflects not my neighbor's failure, but my own. My neighbor's fault, he says, is what I use "to justify the evil hatred" that has taken hold of me. The saint continues and tells his monastic readers:

even if you are held by resentment, persist in your praises, and then you will easily return to the same salutary love. Do not, because of your hidden resentment, adulterate your usual praise of your brother in your conversations with the other brethren, surreptitiously intermingling your words with [references to his] shortcomings and condemnation. Instead, make use of unmixed praise and genuinely pray for him, as if you were praying for yourself, and thus you will quickly be delivered from this destructive hatred.

In the context of his own work, Maximos is dealing with gossip and back biting in a monastic community not the life of a citizen in a democracy, much less the increasingly complex world of national and international affairs. Taking his different context into consideration, however, I think that the psychology that underlies St Maximos's teaching is nevertheless applicable not only our spiritual lives, but also the civic realm as well.

Let me explain.

At its core, resentment is not the pain of caused by injustice. Rather, resentment is the unwillingness on my part to see you EXCEPT in terms of how you've hurt me. Not only that, whether the harm is great or small, real or imagined, resentment is also the unwillingness on my part to see myself in any terms other than in the lose I've suffered. The defining characteristic of resent then is the reduction of self and other to the harm done by a moral failure.

None of this is to say that the harm done me is (necessarily) insignificant or unreal. Nor do I mean to imply that the harm should simply be ignored or minimized. But to my resentful heart, the harm becomes if not the whole of the story, the one, indisputable and undeniable fact of my relation with my neighbor, with God and my self.

So what then shall we do? I will attempt an answer in my next post.

In Christ,

+Fr Gregory

Eastern Orthodox New Testament Reading Plan

Image via Wikipedia

This plan was prepared by Esteban Vázquez and is based on the rule for reading the New Testament in the kellia at the Optina Monastery, which prescribed a chapter of the Holy Gospel (89 in all) and two from the Acts, Epistles, and Revelation for every day, with only one chapter from Revelation on the last seven days in order to make up 89 readings.

Column I gives the chapters from the Gospels in succession.

Column II gives the continuous order of Apostolic readings as prescribed by the Optina rule, and according to the order of New Testament books found in the Slavonic Bible. However, this order
sometimes causes the reader to finish the last chapter of a book and then start on the first one of the next, which may confuse some readers acquainting themselves with the subject matter of the
New Testament.

For their benefit, Column III gives a revised order in which the reading of each Apostolic book is completely finished before starting on the next one; the sole exceptions to this are one-chapter
epistles (Jude, Philemon, etc.), which are combined with the last chapter of the previous book.

Column IV also gives this revised format, but according to the order of New Testament books usually found in our English Bibles.

This plan is under continuous revision, and any suggestions for improvement would be greatly appreciated by Esteban and Kevin P. Edgecomb.

h/t: Kevin P. Edgecomb

Day	I	II	III	IV
Day 1	St Matthew 1	Acts 1-2	Acts 1-2	Acts 1-2
Day 2	St Matthew 2	Acts 3-4	Acts 3-4	Acts 3-4
Day 3	St Matthew 3	Acts 5-6	Acts 5-6	Acts 5-6
Day 4	St Matthew 4	Acts 7-8	Acts 7-8	Acts 7-8
Day 5	St Matthew 5	Acts 9-10	Acts 9-10	Acts 9-10
Day 6	St Matthew 6	Acts 11-12	Acts 11-12	Acts 11-12
Day 7	St Matthew 7	Acts 13-14	Acts 13-14	Acts 13-14
Day 8	St Matthew 8	Acts 15-16	Acts 15-16	Acts 15-16
Day 9	St Matthew 9	Acts 17-18	Acts 17-18	Acts 17-18
Day 10	St Matthew 10	Acts 19-20	Acts 19-20	Acts 19-20
Day 11	St Matthew 11	Acts 21-22	Acts 21-22	Acts 21-22
Day 12	St Matthew 12	Acts 23-24	Acts 23-24	Acts 23-24
Day 13	St Matthew 13	Acts 25-26	Acts 25-26	Acts 25-26
Day 14	St Matthew 14	Acts 27-28	Acts 27-28	Acts 27-28
Day 15	St Matthew 15	James 1-2	James 1-2	Romans 1-2
Day 16	St Matthew 16	James 3-4	James 3-4	Romans 3-4
Day 17	St Matthew 17	James 5; I Peter 1	James 5	Romans 5-6
Day 18	St Matthew 18	I Peter 2-3	I Peter 1-2	Romans 7-8
Day 19	St Matthew 19	I Peter 4-5	I Peter 3-4	Romans 9-10
Day 20	St Matthew 20	II Peter 1-2	I Peter 5	Romans 11-12
Day 21	St Matthew 21	II Peter 3; I John 1	II Peter 1-2	Romans 13-14
Day 22	St Matthew 22	I John 2-3	II Peter 3	Romans 15-16
Day 23	St Matthew 23	I John 4-5	I John 1-2	I Corinthians 1-2
Day 24	St Matthew 24	II John; III John	I John 3-4	I Corinthians 3-4
Day 25	St Matthew 25	Jude; Romans 1	I John 5; II John	I Corinthians 5-6
Day 26	St Matthew 26	Romans 2-3	III John; Jude	I Corinthians 7-8
Day 27	St Matthew 27	Romans 4-5	Romans 1-2	I Corinthians 9-10
Day 28	St Matthew 28	Romans 6-7	Romans 3-4	I Corinthians 11-12
Day 29	St Mark 1	Romans 8-9	Romans 5-6	I Corinthians 13-14
Day 30	St Mark 2	Romans 10-11	Romans 7-8	I Corinthians 15-16
Day 31	St Mark 3	Romans 12-13	Romans 9-10	II Corinthians 1-2
Day 32	St Mark 4	Romans 14-15	Romans 11-12	II Corinthians 3-4
Day 33	St Mark 5	Rom. 16; I Cor. 1	Romans 13-14	II Corinthians 5-6
Day 34	St Mark 6	I Corinthians 2-3	Romans 15-16	II Corinthians 7-8
Day 35	St Mark 7	I Corinthians 4-5	I Corinthians 1-2	II Corinthians 9-10
Day 36	St Mark 8	I Corinthians 6-7	I Corinthians 3-4	II Corinthians 11-12
Day 37	St Mark 9	I Corinthians 8-9	I Corinthians 5-6	II Corinthians 13
Day 38	St Mark 10	I Corinthians 10-11	I Corinthians 7-8	Galatians 1-2
Day 39	St Mark 11	I Corinthians 12-13	I Corinthians 9-10	Galatians 3-4
Day 40	St Mark 12	I Corinthians 14-15	I Corinthians 11-12	Galatians 5-6
Day 41	St Mark 13	I Cor. 16; II Cor. 1	I Corinthians 13-14	Ephesians 1-2
Day 42	St Mark 14	II Corinthians 2-3	I Corinthians 15-16	Ephesians 3-4
Day 43	St Mark 15	II Corinthians 4-5	II Corinthians 1-2	Ephesians 5-6
Day 44	St Mark 16	II Corinthians 6-7	II Corinthians 3-4	Philippians 1-2
Day 45	St Luke 1	II Corinthians 8-9	II Corinthians 5-6	Philippians 3-4
Day 46	St Luke 2	II Corinthians 10-11	II Corinthians 7-8	Colossians 1-2
Day 47	St Luke 3	II Corinthians 12-13	II Corinthians 9-10	Colossians 3-4
Day 48	St Luke 4	Galatians 1-2	II Corinthians 11-12	I Thessalonians 1-2
Day 49	St Luke 5	Galatians 3-4	II Corinthians 13	I Thessalonians 3-4
Day 50	St Luke 6	Galatians 5-6	Galatians 1-2	I Thessalonians 5
Day 51	St Luke 7	Ephesians 1-2	Galatians 3-4	II Thessalonians 1-2
Day 52	St Luke 8	Ephesians 3-4	Galatians 5-6	II Thessalonians 3
Day 53	St Luke 9	Ephesians 5-6	Ephesians 1-2	I Timothy 1-2
Day 54	St Luke 10	Philippians 1-2	Ephesians 3-4	I Timothy 3-4
Day 55	St Luke 11	Philippians 3-4	Ephesians 5-6	I Timothy 5-6
Day 56	St Luke 12	Colossians 1-2	Philippians 1-2	II Timothy 1-2
Day 57	St Luke 13	Colossians 3-4	Philippians 3-4	II Timothy 3-4
Day 58	St Luke 14	I Thessalonians 1-2	Colossians 1-2	Titus 1-2
Day 59	St Luke 15	I Thessalonians 3-4	Colossians 3-4	Titus 3; Philemon
Day 60	St Luke 16	I Thes. 5; II Thes. 1	I Thessalonians 1-2	Hebrews 1-2
Day 61	St Luke 17	II Thessalonians 2-3	I Thessalonians 3-4	Hebrews 3-4
Day 62	St Luke 18	I Timothy 1-2	I Thessalonians 5	Hebrews 5-6
Day 63	St Luke 19	I Timothy 3-4	II Thessalonians 1-2	Hebrews 7-8
Day 64	St Luke 20	I Timothy 5-6	II Thessalonians 3	Hebrews 9-10
Day 65	St Luke 21	II Timothy 1-2	I Timothy 1-2	Hebrews 11-12
Day 66	St Luke 22	II Timothy 3-4	I Timothy 3-4	Hebrews 13
Day 67	St Luke 23	Titus 1-2	I Timothy 5-6	James 1-2
Day 68	St Luke 24	Titus 3; Philemon	II Timothy 1-2	James 3-4
Day 69	St John 1	Hebrews 1-2	II Timothy 3-4	James 5
Day 70	St John 2	Hebrews 3-4	Titus 1-2	I Peter 1-2
Day 71	St John 3	Hebrews 5-6	Titus 3; Philemon	I Peter 3-4
Day 72	St John 4	Hebrews 7-8	Hebrews 1-2	I Peter 5
Day 73	St John 5	Hebrews 9-10	Hebrews 3-4	II Peter 1-2
Day 74	St John 6	Hebrews 11-12	Hebrews 5-6	II Peter 3
Day 75	St John 7	Heb. 13; Rev. 1	Hebrews 7-8	I John 1-2
Day 76	St John 8	Revelation 2-3	Hebrews 9-10	I John 3-4
Day 77	St John 9	Revelation 4-5	Hebrews 11-12	I John 5; II John
Day 78	St John 10	Revelation 6-7	Hebrews 13	III John; Jude
Day 79	St John 11	Revelation 8-9	Revelation 1-2	Revelation 1-2
Day 80	St John 12	Revelation 10-11	Revelation 3-4	Revelation 3-4
Day 81	St John 13	Revelation 12-13	Revelation 5-6	Revelation 5-6
Day 82	St John 14	Revelation 14-15	Revelation 7-8	Revelation 7-8
Day 83	St John 15	Revelation 16	Revelation 9-10	Revelation 9-10
Day 84	St John 16	Revelation 17	Revelation 11-12	Revelation 11-12
Day 85	St John 17	Revelation 18	Revelation 13-14	Revelation 13-14
Day 86	St John 18	Revelation 19	Revelation 15-16	Revelation 15-16
Day 87	St John 19	Revelation 20	Revelation 17-18	Revelation 17-18
Day 88	St John 20	Revelation 21	Revelation 19-20	Revelation 19-20
Day 89	St John 21	Revelation 22	Revelation 21-22	Revelation 21-22

Last updated 17 January 2009