[vc_row el_class=”olive-branch-bg-c-r”][vc_column][vc_column_text]\u201cKnow thyself.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s ancient wisdom from the Greeks. In fact, a Greek traveler and geographer named Pausanias (how did that name go out of style?) wrote the phrase down. He claimed this aphorism was on the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. Apparently, there were two other phrases on the temple: \u201cNothing to excess\u201d and \u201csurety brings ruin.\u201d<\/p>\n

I wonder if the ancient Greeks were sure about that\u2026<\/p>\n

Know thyself is a great piece of ancient wisdom, but how does one know thyself? And can you ever be sure<\/em> that you know yourself? If you are sure, does that bring ruin to your life? Am I asking an excessive amount of questions?<\/p>\n

Okay. I\u2019ll stop.[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_empty_space height=”16px”][vc_column_text]We generally think that to \u201cknow thyself\u201d you have to look deep within your \u201cself\u201d and find the kernel of truth residing within you. Modern-day self-help books often take this route. I have nothing against that strategy. There is wisdom to be found, but there\u2019s often something missing.<\/p>\n

After all, we are inherently social creatures. Your \u201cself\u201d does not exist within a vacuum. In other words, your \u201cself\u201d is not isolated. Rather, your \u201cself\u201d is formed and molded by your culture, environment, and the individuals around you.<\/p>\n

Taking it further, Aristotle claimed in his Poetics chapter 4<\/a> that, \u201cThe instinct of imitation is implanted in [us] from childhood, one difference between [us] and other animals being that [we are] the most imitative of living creatures, and through imitation [we learn] our earliest lessons\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

We learn from our models. Our models are those around us who influence us to become who we are. So, in order to \u201cknow thyself\u201d you need to know thyself in relation to thy model.<\/p>\n

But there is a big problem \u2013 our ego.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”20911″ img_size=”full”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space height=”16px”][vc_column_text]Our ego can easily get in the way of knowing ourselves. Our ego desperately wants to think that \u201cI am who I am\u201d and that to know thyself is to know the isolated self inside me<\/em>. Our ego wants us to believe that I have achieved all of these things all by myself. I have worked really hard by pulling myself up by my own bootstraps and aren\u2019t I great! And so why can\u2019t others just pull themselves up by their own bootstraps?[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_section el_class=”post-quote”][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1566306295282{background-image: url(https:\/\/ravenfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/0c0caab3a0b06f49d1f4e4069f7acecc-e1562958862845.jpg?id=19638) !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text css_animation=”none” el_class=”quote”]… you will need to take a long look at your enemy’s face because in their face you will find your own.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”16px”][vc_column_text]This line of thinking by our ego negates the fact that we are radically social creatures. Our bootstraps are not our own.<\/p>\n

We are dependent upon others for our bootstraps. As Ren\u00e9 Girard claims, we are not isolated individuals. We exist in a community of selves that are always influencing one another. Instead of thinking about ourselves as individuals, Girard claims it’s more accurate to think of ourselves as\u00a0inter-<\/em>dividuals<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In other words, we are dependent upon our others, especially our models. Girard emphasizes the non-conscious aspect of this form of imitation. Sure, we might intentionally seek out an expert in our field and incorporate some of their skills into our lives, but what makes Girard different is that he claimed that we imitate others unintentionally, or non-consciously, too.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_section][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1566393555121{background-color: #f6ebdf !important;}” el_class=”optin”][vc_column][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”][\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_empty_space height=”16px”][vc_single_image image=”20913″ img_size=”1200×1500″ alignment=”center”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]Your model can be someone you love and admire, but here\u2019s the counter-intuitive point that Girard makes, your model can also be someone you loathe and detest. Your model can be your biggest rival. Even your biggest enemy.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what I mean \u2013 I think my opponents are hostile, angry, and a bunch of liars. If they are allowed to continue, they will destroy everything that I find good and true about my culture. And so I have to defeat those jerks! And I need to defeat them through any means necessary, including hostility and maybe even lying. After all, it\u2019s for a righteous cause.<\/p>\n

Notice how I can easily become the very thing I hate. In the words of Walt Kelley’s political satire<\/a>, “We have met the enemy and he is us.”<\/p>\n

I have felt that temptation many times, and I have fallen into it in the past. I will probably fall into it in the future. And here is the kicker: I fall into it even when I am not aware I am falling into it. It\u2019s like what the New Testament author stated<\/a>, \u201cFor I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_empty_space height=”16px”][vc_column_text]That\u2019s because my enemy has become my model. My enemy rage tweets, so I rage tweet back, only adding to the rage in the world. It\u2019s a nasty trap. When it gets to this point, in order to \u201cknow thyself\u201d you will need to take a long look at your enemy’s face because in their face you will find your own.<\/p>\n

But we don\u2019t have to be stuck in that trap. We can choose a different model. Christians have a model in Jesus, who struggled for justice and taught us to love our enemies as we love ourselves.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space height=”16px”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/4″][vc_column_text]Jesus says \u201cfollow me.\u201d Jesus invites us to follow him because he knew that we will follow someone. If we don’t intentionally follow someone, we are likely to unintentionally follow those we call our enemies into a trap of mutual hostility.<\/p>\n

We know our \u201cselves\u201d in relation to others. The key is to intentionally choose models who will lead us beyond rivalry and scapegoating and into love and inclusion.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3\/4″][vc_empty_space height=”12px”][vc_single_image image=”20914″ img_size=”full”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space height=”16px”][vc_single_image image=”20261″ alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pastor Adam Ericksen explains how, as social beings, we imitate others consciously and unconsciously, even our enemies. He offers a model that leads us into love and inclusion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":20912,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4295,4328,4294],"tags":[1660,620,2226,681,121,1106,798],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n