Secret

... your Father who sees in secret ...

 - From Matthew 6

There's so much to unpack in these few verses from Matthew 6. It's the famous passage about doing your good works secretly. Don't make a show of your piety.

I thought about making a connection to Lincoln's Birthday, which is today. His professions of faith, and good deeds were done with a humble spirit. 

And then I thought about emphasizing the word "hypocrite," which is overused in our times. It seems that only hypocrites, themselves, ever accuse others of hypocrisy.

But recently I have been studying a mental health condition called "IPD," or "Immature Personality Disorder." It is a concept, and phenomenon, and problem, that may very well overtake society's current obsession with rooting out narcissists. 

A narcissist and a bully are often the same. But it is a single person. And single persons can be taken down.

But IPD has taken over an entire group of people. Children lack power, of themselves. But when they gang up, they increase their power many times over. And when children are in adult bodies, they wield the weapon of "ganging up" quite effectively.

The traits of hypocrites line up tellingly, in the traits present in IPD:

• Drawing attention to themselves. "Notice me!!"
• Making a show of their faith or good deeds
• Exaggerating how much they sacrifice for others
• Materialism - - - wanting and taking things for themselves

Of course, we all must watch ourselves, so that we do not do any of these things. If we're all being faithful servants (see the blog post entitled "Slave") then there will be no need for those with IPD to draw attention to themselves. In reality, you can't blame them . . . they don't think anybody's listening to them!

But it's the people that are well cared-for; that do make a good living, that do have respect in the community . . . when they exhibit IPD traits, that's when it's bad.

And worst yet . . . it's the people that really don't do much to care for others: they don't give much to charity, they don't express kindness to strangers on the street, they don't visit their aging relatives, they don't let others have different viewpoints . . . yet they signal their own virtue by way of bumper stickers and getting their photo taken at the latest protest, or march. 

Goodness happens in giant ways, in the small moments. Moments so small . . . that only God can see them.