Creative Self-destruction
That's my term for what Oswald Sobrino calls the "silver lining" of people being their own worst enemy. He gives some examples of the evidence:
- The bartender who can't help aggressively intruding on your private conversation;
- The rude manners that get someone no slack or sympathy from a restaurant server;
- The insecure who bore you with their clay pillars of self-esteem to the point that you don't want to hear any more about their school, their exercise regimen, their ancestry, or their possessions and investments;
- The sexually promiscuous who expect to be accorded the honor of a virtuous Roman matron or a biblical Joseph;
- The patronizing Christian who consistently mimics a Pharisee;
- The pedant who expects people to want to interact with him;
- The panhandler who thinks bullying will get him a donation.
It seems to me as though the good Mr. Sobrino may have run into all these profiles recently within a short period of time and had some time to reflect on them.
I guess I would just add as a corollary to number three that some people talk about all their problems which are all the fault of others. That's probably a sign of insecurity also.
# 3 struck me, too. There is a FB meme: "Shut Up About Your Perfect Kid." I know someone to whom I would like to say this very thing (but I'm too woossy).
ReplyDeleteAnd you're right -- the constant complainers and blame deflectors are just as bad.
OK, now I'm being a baaad, judgmental pharisee. :o
We're all flawed; that's a fact. But what keeps us from self-destructing? Probably routine examination of conscience, provided it is done well.
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