REPLACE OBEDIENCE WITH RESPECT –Don Hanley’s blog #82

Recently, I read that disobedience is NOT the cause of slavery and war—obedience is responsible for these two evils. I believe this is true, but I was taught to obey first my parents, then my teachers, then the priests, and then my bosses. It wasn't until I was well into adulthood that I realized this obedience had stunted my growth as a person—spiritually, educationally, emotionally, socially, and personally. With this in mind, I believe that my church and most religious organizations require some adherence to a set of norms, rules, ‘divine’ laws, and commandments. If we want to reach heaven, achieve promotions, or make more money, we must obey and conform to the dictates of the organizations we choose to belong to.

I was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1964 (and left in l970 - whew!). Although I did not formally take the vows of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience like those who belonged to religious orders, I was expected to follow the ‘spirit’ of these three vows. Reflecting on my life experiences and my understanding of ‘religious truth,’ I recall watching my first movie newsreel that featured a Nazi parade of soldiers and brownshirts. I wondered why thousands of young men were marching perfectly in sync, saluting a mustachioed individual named Hitler - and later after often doing horribly cruel actions, claimed "We were just following orders" - being obedient. I was well into adulthood; before I realized that I had often blindly followed the dictates that I despised in others and too often overlooked that I was doing the same thing.

I wanted to know from my friends in Nazareth in the first century CE if Jesus ever demanded obedience from his followers. I barely formulated my question when I sitting in Mary’s flower garden.  After our greetings, I asked about Jesus and his position on obedience and conformity. John immediately said, “First, Jesus never demanded anything, and he often said that we must respect our inner voices and thinking AND that of others. He said. "As you know, I respect all of you, my friends, and I learn from you, and I know I receive your respect in return. If you, John, think you must be like Peter or James or me, you will be going down the wrong path because you are different from them and me, and if you ignore that difference, you will lose at least some of your giftedness.”

Mary couldn’t wait; she insisted on saying, “Can you imagine what we and everyone would have lost if Joseph and I had demanded that Jesus say and do and think like we do! Thank Yahweh that we did not demand such a thing,” She paused and added, “From what you have said about the history of many of the so-called Christian believers, they have lost much of the true spirit and message of my Jesus. Is that not true?” I nodded and said that I had found that children of all ages (even old ones like me) would be respectful if we were respectful.

Then I was disappointed that I disappeared only a few moments after that, So …

Keep nurturing your giftedness, studying the menus, AND enjoying your pancakes.