Unclean hearts

Matthew 15:18-20 - But it is what proceeds from the mouth, from the heart that defiles a person. For out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander; these are what defile a person. But what goes into the mouth can never defile a person.

So, this seems obvious to me. Rather than talk to much about the mechanism, I want to take it further. Jesus says it is in our hearts that we are defiled. I would argue that for a great many of us, it is in our subconscious hearts. Most of us, and maybe I am giving a lot of credit, understand that racism is bad and yet we still sometimes say racist things or think racist thoughts. Even though our conscious minds are not racist. I think it is our unexamined thought that bring troubles. We like to think, like the Pharisees, that we have all the answers, that we have it all figured out. We even watch news tailored to how we have discerned our world. Yet, all of us have unexamined thoughts and feelings that give rise to defilement. I think the Jewish people understood this. We have all fallen short, we none of us can do the 10 commandments on our own. We need help.

This is what Jesus was saying about being blind - we are blind to our own faults. We need to listen to others and examine our lives in order to discover these hidden faults. Sometimes we are the hiders, we hid them and only we know where they are. It is part of maturing both in our faith and in our world. Without this examination, we remain functional children. This examination starts with being honest about the fact that we have bad impulses sometimes. It starts with that recognition that we are fallible and that is okay! That is what amends are for - when our fallibility rears its head.

Today I choose to keep an open mind about the direction I am being called toward and my faults, my fallibles, that keep me from going there joyfully and eagerly.
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