The highest cannot stand without the lowest.
Cool saying right? Sounds all deep and philosophical. It's definitely one of those sayings that you can use while offering advice and almost be guaranteed that you'll get a "Mmmm, right" in return.
Frankly, this particular saying has struck me as good sense more than something mystical. It rings with similar practicality towards such classics as "The wise man builds his house on a rock" or "Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones."
I take the saying to mean that a good foundation or basis should be built before attempting any grander designs.
Don't take grunt work for granted. Put in the effort so that when you make something, you know it will also last as long as possible OR be easily fixable. Know how the foundations work so you know what parts effect other portions and how to best address them. Do the tedious and seminal tasks first so you do not have to tear apart something you love later.
Mind you, I have no idea if that's what this saying actually means, but it is how I understand it.
At any rate, a friend and I were talking about Manipulation and his close friend Guilt Trip. In her particular case, she reacting to having been told "Well, what if I died tomorrow? How would you feel then?"
*Knocks on wood*
"I feel like that is just so manipulative. I don't want what I do to be motivated by fear." "So I do think that was manipulation. That doesn't mean it's a bad question to ask or try to answer."
Our conversation went on to talk about what role Fear can have in a person's life and if it is always bad.
"It reminds me of a George MacDonald quote where he says that fear is a form of motivation, but the lowest form." "Hm, but the highest cannot stand without the lowest."
Since then I have been thinking of the role of Fear in a person's life. In the movie Inside Out, Anxiety/Fear is present almost immediately after Joy and Sadness, two of the main characters in the film. Fear's role is to keep Riley (the little girl) safe, and though each Emotion brings something grander to the table, they also constantly have to check back in with Fear.
In fact, when Joy and Sadness go missing in the course of the film, Fear is the one who offers the most sensible advice (we need to wait until everyone is back together).
This is not to say that our lives should be ruled or tyrannized by Fear (as Fear does pretty poorly in charge of Riley), but it is worthwhile to note some the ways it is unique and potentially instrumental.
Fear has an imaginative side and can create grand (if often exaggerated) pictures.
Fear demands that we consider things from multiple viewpoints.
Fear respects the world around us, maybe even too much.
I could say more here, but I'm reluctant to, because one of my fears is that I sound too much like the Batman villain Scarecrow or Green Lantern's arch-nemesis, Sinestro.
All this to say, it was interesting to consider just how seminal, instrumental, and potentially good Fear might be as a motivation. If we are to do service to the higher motivational values, such as familial love, hope, or compassion, perhaps we cannot properly consider them without first recognizing and experiencing Fear.
Because the highest cannot stand without the lowest.
Christ has rightly said "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."
As I write this, I understand both sides of the protests/riots in Baltimore would say "It was them, they cast the first stone." I also see the conflicted insides of me asking for justice and truth, wondering which side did cast the first stone.
Who is justified? Who is in the right? But I am struck by the fact that Christ did not say this statement to provide us with a tool to understanding the cause of injustice. He said this so we would look inward and examine our sin.
So I look inward and I know that, as a mixed race individual, I have a personal investment on both sides of the conflict yet find myself belonging to neither. Am I a White with tan skin? Am I Hispanic but sound White? Which side of my heritage am I a traitor to? Do I even belong to either? Would either side even have me?
It is times like this that I feel I am being told I need to choose, and that I am a coward if I don't.
I am not complaining though, and what is going on is more real than a search for identity. But if I have learned anything worth sharing from my own internal struggle it is that thinking of these matters in terms of sides and who is right makes us blind to our own injustices and inhumanities. We are quick to point the finger and (accurately) say "That is cruel", but we do not take the step that Christ has asked us to take, look inward, and say "I am cruel".
Any man who has not looked inward and said "I am cruel" is either self-deceived, a liar, or simply not introspected long enough.
But I know the response to this because I see the response in myself: "I may be cruel, but can't you see how they have been more cruel? Justice must be done!" And justice should be done. We are responsible for our own actions. But this justice looks different from the perspective of one who knows he is a sinner being asked to judge a fellow sinner.
Because really, how does anyone being more cruel than we are in any way justify our own cruelty.
"But you see them? They are not willing to answer for their crimes. They would place all the blame on us. We need to stand up for ourselves!" Absolutely, but let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
Those who abuse power should be held accountable, and cruelty should not be answered with cruelty. However, I say this knowing with full knowledge that I have sinned on both accounts and deserve justice too, and it is only by Christ's mercy that I can be redeemed.
Because once I have sinned, God has given me the mercy to atone for it.
So instead of asking which side I am on, I find myself asking these questions instead. How might I have stopped this? How, in my own life, have I contributed to the growth of cruelty and the abuse of power? How can this be healed, first in myself and second in my community?
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner.
Edit: I recognize that this blog itself might be my own attempt at throwing a stone, to lash out at both sides for demanding me to make a choice. I too am a sinner, and I can only apologize for my own self-righteousness and that, instead, we all look to the life of Christ.
