In Us All

The papers and the news media carry another story about a public figure who has this wonderful prefect image who has been caught doing unacceptable things. This time it is a Congressman from New York who is married, with a young son, who was the picture of a very moral and upright citizens who sent a nude picture of his upper half to some woman he met on a Craig List personal ad.

Of course, everybody is shocked, disappointed, frustrated and a bit angry at him. He has ruined another role model for goodness and virtue. "Why can't we all be like him?" was the word around his community. He is such a wonderful representative of our community and our values. And now this.

Here is but another piece of evidence in the debate about whether human beings are basically good or whether we are all flawed and have in us an element of evil. The Christian Theology claims that we were created good and have fallen and we are all tainted by evil. That is why we can baptize babies. Being human, born into the human community, we all have an element of darkness and selfishness in us from the beginning. That there is always a dimension of evil in all that we do. We do good deeds with a small hope that others will applaud us. We love our families as an extension of self-love. "There is none righteous, no, not one." We have a horrible time accepting that and living with that. Remember how shocked we were when we heard Nixon cuss?

The psychologist would remind us that when we repress things they do not go away, but show up in other places. When you try to suppress your fantasies they erupt and come out in other places. Some one once told me that evangelical preachers often are rather rotund and are very dapper dressers because those are the two forms of the sins of pride and gluttony that are acceptable in our society.

There is evil in all of us. It is not helpful for us to pretend to be perfect. There is evil in us. There is little reason to be surprised when evil appears. The only surprise is some times where and how it appears. The congressman was much better looking dressed than stripped.

An Olympic Swan?

The movie Black Swan has enough to start a lot to discussions. It was hard to tell which scenes were real and which were hallucinations. But the ending of the movie made me think the lyrics of the Whitney Houston song, "One Moment in Time." That song was very much of the culture and media circus around the Olympics a few years ago. All over the radio. "I want one moment in time when I'm more than I thought I could be, When all of my dreams are a heartbeat away and the answers are all up to me." What a dream. What a inspiration. The song goes on to say that you are a winner for a lifetime if you seize that moment in time and make it shine. Nina seized her moment and she made it shine.

There was no attempt to avoid the tough road to that moment. The song knows it is not easy. "I broke my heart, Fought every gain, I faced the pain, I rise and fall, Yet through it all, this much remains - just give me that one moment in time." This is an all consuming dream. "I've lived to be the very best. I want it all. No time for less. I've laid the plans. Now lay the chance here in my hands. Give me one moment in time. And that one moment in time will give you the chance to feel eternity. "And the answers are all up to me. Give me one moment in time when I'm racing with destiny Then in that one moment of time I will be Free."

The movie Black Swan tells of a very determined mother and daughter Nina to be a famous dancer. To dance Swan Lake and to be star of the show. To put it mildly there are issues to be faced. But in the end she has her one moment in time. She opens as the Swan and dances incredibly well. At the end, the crowd is on its feet. She is smiling and says, "She was perfect." The director is over joyed with her work. And yet somehow most of us did not leave the movie with the feeling that this was a comedy and that it was a happy ending.

It seems to me that the Nina, the dancer, is a perfect fit for the One Moment in Time song, and yet something has gone wrong. "Whatever it takes" we say, and look at what it took from Nina. No pain; no gain. Just do it. "There is no substitute for success." So many messages out there. An Olympic Swan just seems to raise questions.