With us therefore worldly standards...
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"With us therefore worldly standards have ceased to count in our estimate of any man ..." (NEB) All the time we fight the battle to have that be so. And it is all the time because the standards of the culture are so pervasive -- exams, certifications, evaluations, norms -- and the list goes on and on.
All the more, then, we have to consciously buck that potent current. Therefore, not surprisingly, it is often the theological point of view that inspires us to that end. Comments like this one of Simone Weil make firm our minority stand, "Nothing among human beings has such power to keep our gaze fixed ever more intensely upon God, than friendship for the friends of God." That ultimately is how we see those around us -- "friends of God." Not super-achievers or average folk, not gifted or dull, not successful or unsuccessful as Wall Street defines that, but "friends of God."
All the more, then, we have to consciously buck that potent current. Therefore, not surprisingly, it is often the theological point of view that inspires us to that end. Comments like this one of Simone Weil make firm our minority stand, "Nothing among human beings has such power to keep our gaze fixed ever more intensely upon God, than friendship for the friends of God." That ultimately is how we see those around us -- "friends of God." Not super-achievers or average folk, not gifted or dull, not successful or unsuccessful as Wall Street defines that, but "friends of God."
