Insight on life, from Men of the Cloth
Now that’s a strange title for one of my posts eh? I often wonder why I don’t listen to CBC Radio more often. When they’re not playing that grates my nerves; they’re either entertaining me with satire or educating me on the many facets of life. Last week I was listen to CBC whilst driving my car. A priest was talking about his vow of celibacy. I was intrigued by how he described it…
Since my memory is less than perfect, I’ll summarize:
- The vow is both material and “in spirit” “In-Spirit”, as in “In the spirit of the season, we shall sing carols”; not, “The holy spirit”
- The vow is conceptually against what the bible says to do. Go out, love and make babies.
- The vow is akin to a self-inflicted emotional/spiritual(yes, the other kind of spiritual) wound. You accept that you must give up one of the greatest gifts we have to be closer to God.
He said much more than that of course. There were stories to times where his faith was tested. He shared his philosophical experience with becoming a man of the cloth. What peaked my interest was how accepting the vows hurt. Not that I like to see people hurt, but it’s a common pattern for people to “willingly” put themselves in situations where they will hurt/will be hurt. The motivations for these people vary, and so do the outcomes.
What’s interesting is that if done with the right mind set and understanding… taking the vows and following them makes you a better person. He described that his pain helped him understand the unfortunate and lonely. Those are two human conditions that defiantly need some more understanding. It seems strange that you would inflect this sort of pain to yourself; but, it’s a form of sacrifice that many religions have.
Buddhist monks make similar vows as well. Perhaps there’s something to denying yourself something that is against your nature; That makes us stronger. Given the seriousness of the vows, it’s no wonder there are so few people who take them. To all those who do: May your struggle against human nature only make you stronger; so, you may better help the weak.
