“The Priority of Being”
“The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” (Jesus, according to Luke 6:45, English Standard Version)
A twelve-step reading this morning pointed out that being is prior to doing. What we do, if it is to have any real and lasting impact for good, must come from our being.
Joyce Meyer says, “We are human beings, not human doings.” I agree.
And yet, the doings are so much easier to do, than the being is to be. Besides, doings are expected by others. Many of them don’t care about our being. They can’t access that.
On the other hand, to expect good actions from a human being who is corrupt in his/her very core is like expecting to use a microwave to mow your lawn.
So, how do I pay attention to being the best version of myself today, and thus preparing to be an even better human being tomorrow? I wish I knew, but I don’t. But I do have some suspicions.
Suspicion # 1: I can generally improve at most things whenever I pay attention. A good question to ask throughout the day is, “What am I really being right now?” It is a difficult question to ask, and even harder to answer. Most of the good questions are difficult to ask or to answer. That is one way to know that they are good questions.
Suspicion # 2: My being is closely related to whether I realize that I have the right and the responsibility to be on this planet. I will act in accordance with what I believe at this point. If I don’t have the right to be here—something I’ve struggled with since I was knee-high to a grasshopper—I will regard all my doings as irrelevant. A good affirmation for me or for you is this: Today I am believing that I have the right to be here.
Suspicion # 3: The best way for me to monitor my being (and to become a better human being) is to ask what is my motivation in this situation? Whence does this thought, word, feeling, action, attitude come? Again, I’ve learned from Andy Stanley to use the word “really.” What is my motivation, really?
Suspicion # 4: While being is more important than doing, and while being precedes doing, the two are mutually reinforcing. My being affects my doing, but the converse is also true. If I am doing good things, that can positively reinforce my being-ness. And, of course, if I am doing bad things, that is going to harm my very being. Like any married couple, you must distinguish between being and doing, but they do in fact have an effect on one another, for good or ill.
I am tempted at this point to quote (entirely out of context), the words from Jesus, “What God has joined together, may humans not cut in two!”
I wonder if it would hurt my being if I yielded to the temptation? I’m going to go for it!
“What God has joined together, may humans not cut in two!”
Recent Comments