Fake Spirituality

Fake Spirituality

Another aspect of Apartheid is the division between what I teach/preach and how I live. I distinctly remember my father preaching about the evils of smoking – While he was smoking. He didn’t see any incongruence between his behavior and his words. He truly believed it was OK for him, but not for me. I turned right around and justified my smoking by judging him as a fraud. “At least I wasn’t preaching about not smoking!” More separation on my side, saying I loved my father, while acting rebelliously. (NB I quit smoking almost as soon as I moved into my own apartment. Go figure!)

Then there was this one church that I attended for awhile. At first it seemed like a wonderful place to be, people smiling, hugging, looking all spiffed up in their Sunday best. Everyone committed to loving God and country and apple pie … yes! The more involved I got, the more I ran into power struggles, malicious insinuations, and bitterness. Wowzer! I had no idea. Sunday morning church service was a deceptive cover for the way people actually ran the church.

The opposite of apartheid? Unity! Which on a personal note, requires a unity of my words and behavior and feelings – what I say, what I do, and how I feel are all congruent. If even one of those is apart from the others, I’m faking it.