This is http://www.essayz.com/a9812252.htm Previous-Essay <== This-Essay ==> Following-Essay Click HERE on this line to find essays via Your-Key-Words. {Most frequent wordstarts of each essay will be put here.} ========================================================== %LACK BALANCE HUMILITY MEEK CONFLICT RESOLUTION+981225 %LOVE GENTLENESS HOPE FORGIVENESS CHARITY PEACE 981225 Many people believe and act as if some one virtue, ideal, value, or principle is in and of itself of ultimate value. They exclude from consideration the value of complementary virtues such as: balance, humility, meekness, love, gentleness, forgiveness, charity, peace, and conflict resolution. There is no one virtue, ideal, value, principle, or commandment which is in and of itself of ultimate value. All revelations to humans are incomplete and all texts which record revelations to humans are incomplete; because all humans are incomplete, limited, finite, mortal; unable to understand and comprehend all what was, is, and may yet come to be. All human understandings of direct revelations to humans, and all human understandings of texts which record direct revelations to humans, are incomplete --- because all humans are incomplete, limited, finite, and mortal. All humans are incomplete because all humans fail to be incarnations of all complementary truths, virtues, ideals, values and principle; often because humans become exclusively preoccupied with some one or a few truths, virtues, ideals, values and/or principles --- as if their chosen few should be the exclusive focus of ultimate human concern; as if the chosen few were Gods. They are bound to their idolatry and to the natural consequences of their idolatry. Human idolatry leads to alienations, estrangements, misunderstandings, confusions, prejudices, arrogance, excommunications, self-righteousness --- and to all sorts of evils and sins which flow as bitter fruits thereof --- and engender disintegrative feed-back-loops for generation after generation. Efforts to control evil and sin engender more of the same in blinding ways which are common to addicts, their codependent supporters and all participants in collusive games of mutual self deception. Those entrapped within such prisons are not at peace, do not enjoy shalom, and are often terrified at the prospect of true conflict resolution and peace-making. They are ill-at-ease, dis-eased, preoccupied with conflict, and preoccupied with alienative controls. They cannot save themselves; but are constantly trying to save themselves and others. They seek to control what they cannot control --- and so are un-healthy and unable to tell the difference between true lovers and false prophets. They are more prone to believe and trust false prophets than they are to believe and trust true lovers who transcend conventional/traditional ways by being true to themselves and each other. Many religious leaders within many religious traditions have failed to give careful consideration to the partial truths to which these words point. As a result many exclusive religious leaders within particular religious traditions have been at war with each other within their own traditions and within intimately related traditions --- claiming that they themselves are "better"; "superior", and "purer" than all others. They often focus upon some one partial truth as if it were the whole truth. (c) 2005 by Paul A. Smith in (On Being Yourself, Whole and Healthy) ==========================================================