Mosaic

See no evil. Hear no evil. Speak no evil.

Modern living is simultaneously bestial and sterile - by consequence, it’s contradictory to the point of absurdity and insanity.

Take, for example, the secular humanist’s ideal man. Jekyll, Faust… Kane.

In the public eye, the upright citizen - the man of letters, the polymath, the tycoon - he maintains a strict persona of esteem, decorum, morality - or at least ethics - courtesy, and concern. He smiles when the situation is appropriate, dances when the crowd beckons, and always displays a degree of sympathetic indignation. He laments the plight of his fellow man - weeping and cheering and standing by his side, speaking of how things are and how things should be.

Despite these inclinations, and contradictions, something dark and primitive churns within him - it expresses itself in strange ways and at inconvenient times.

He stuffs it down, out of sight, and out of mind. He runs, he hides.

Sometimes, he feeds it, hoping that its satiation will offer a period of respite.

See no evil. Hear no evil. Speak no evil.

He seeks idols, ambitions, conflicts, sorrows, obsessions, pleasure, pain, hobbies, interests, achievements, enemies, objects, entertainment, organizations, institutions, buffers, and distractions.

Anything to take him away from himself.

Instant ice cream delivery, and shamanic retreats, and highway traffic at rush hour, and college degrees, and space races, and viral videos, and political conventions, and raves, and fierce arguments, and high fashion, and championships, and us, and them, and sports cars, and serious conversations, and puppies, and drunken stupors, and summer sabbaticals, and fine dining, and drone warfare.

Man, in his unregenerate condition, is insane.

I’m inclined to believe that, at a fundamental level, the intelligentsia’s current tech-obsession is another expression of the age-old attempt by man to distance himself from the Unknown within him. He can’t stand to look at the dark corners that populate his mind, and heart, and home - instead, he seeks salvation, or reprieve, in some sterile, secular, false-god of “progress.” He projects the darkness within himself into and onto the world - becoming a Technological Pharisee - rather than allowing it to be interiorly transmuted by the hand of God.

Artificial intelligence won’t stop a man from hating his neighbor and himself.

The commonality between all the Jekylls, and Fausts, and Kanes, is the inability or unwillingness to reconcile the dual-nature of man. Each of these characters, though fictional, represents the caustic component of the unrecognized, unredeemed aspects of man. They’re seemingly respectable, in their public-facing lives. They diligently conduct their affairs, they hold positions of power and prestige, and they (appear to) generally uphold the law of the land. We, as readers or viewers, know that each of these characters has something going on behind the scenes - their flaws and indiscretions are blatantly obvious to us. Yet, we often remain ignorant to this reality within ourselves, our leaders, and our civilizations.

We believe lies because it feels good and familiar.

There is a volcanic aspect to the human constitution. In public life, we see the grasslands, the prairies, and the groundcover- the pundits and politicians speak of meadows, while magma courses underneath. Every once in a while, the ground shakes. Obfuscate, obscure. Don’t think about it. Call truth lies and lies truth. Don’t look under the floorboards.

Some of this is symptomatic - effects of inhabiting a teetering world, beyond the balance and rhythm of natural order. We’ve become increasingly robotic and automatic, in an effort to cope with a “reality” that is profoundly unnatural. We blunt intuition with cold, calculating intellect - intellect developed through “education” rooted in fear and denial.

The furtive serpent at the depths of man, rather than being recognized and redeemed by wisdom-tempered love, is instead stuffed inside the drywall or squeezed into a freshly-pressed suit - or, perhaps, squeezed into a spaceship. It gnashes and flails and gnaws in the darkness, out of the public eye and the light of day. Every once in a while, it emerges from its lair - sometimes deliberately, sometimes accidentally.

See no evil. Hear no evil. Speak no evil.

The “leaders” of today are largely blind men - frantically grasping for power, satisfaction, or security, while drowning in the sands of time. They refuse to face the darkness squarely, instead electing to be consumed by it. To “follow” is a sure path toward oblivion.

Ultimately, we’re called to be our own leaders - illumined and emboldened by the Light of Christ. The man in the suit is lost, and scared, and confused.

Will I take this Light I’ve been given and plunge it into the depths of my being?

Will I recognize and reconcile the Janus-faced duality within myself, choosing integrity?

Will I penetrate beyond the Law of Moses, into the Law of Christ?