Periodically another scandal hits the headlines, sometimes dominating
the news for months or even years. Attention is riveted on Clinton's
sexual indiscretions, OJ's murderous violence, or Nixon's corrosive
insecurity. The larger and brighter the figure, the longer and darker
the shadow they cast.
These public people are usually exceptionally gifted individuals.
President Clinton, for instance, has an extraordinary love of people
and ability to engage them. But his strengths, like our own, have a
shadow side. The flip side of Clinton's gifts is an unrestrained
sexual appetite. Clinton, OJ, Nixon and so many others, failed to
acknowledge and deal with their personal weakness. As a result, their
flaws grew and became fatal for their careers, and in OJ's case, fatal
for Nicole Brown as well.
It would be a grave mistake for us to let the failings of others
distract us from our own weaknesses, from the personal issues that
each of us need to be facing and addressing. Those who point an
accusing finger at another's faults are left with three fingers
pointing back to themselves. Our flaws can also become fatal.
We may not be rich and famous, but each one of us has certain
strengths, and weaknesses. And strange though it may seems, if left
unchecked, our strengths are our weaknesses. Let me give an example.
Actors and actresses are gifted with special sensitivity that enables
them to portray a variety of roles. But if they loose control of their
sensitivity, it can ruin their personal lives, drag them through a
series of failed relationships. Instead of us managing our gifts, they
can build up their own momentum and control us. Our gifts can sweep us
away like an avalanche destroying everything in our path.
Those who might seem to be larger-than-life, be they presidents or
priests, are in special danger. They become too big for their own
britches. And no one dares to confront them with the truth. Everyone
joins in the denial game. In the face of the President's philandering,
or Father's alcoholism, no one deals with the naked truth that the
emperor has no clothes.
After he had left his wife battered and bruised, I remember a very
smooth and personable OJ reassuring an interviewer that he and Nicole
only had a little marital spat. After the police had been called to
protect Nicole from OJ's wrath nine times, the judge merely asked OJ
to get some counseling, by telephone, as his busy schedule would
allow. After all, this was superhuman OJ. OJ is not subject to human
foibles like the rest of us. The judge was deadly wrong.
None of us, prince or pauper, is exempt from human weakness. It may be
more difficult for those with fame and fortune, but each one of us
needs the humility
(1) to acknowledge our area of powerlessness and
(2) to seek the guidance and strength we are lacking.
May each scandal we encounter, whether it absorbs our nation or only
our neighborhood, serve as a sober warning to us. If we fail to deal
with our own weaknesses, our lives too can end up in tragedy. But,
with God's help, our flaws need not become fatal.
Boloji.com is owned and managed by
Boloji Media Inc Privacy Policy |
Disclaimer No part of this Internet site may
be reproduced without prior written permission of the copyright holder.
