Change Your World: Awakening to the Power of Truth – Beauty – Simplicity – Change

By Jean Maalouf

A New Creation





Our very survival is at stake. We must change.

The references and values on which we used to depend are becoming relativized and questionable, and the true sense of integrity, responsibility, and purpose now seems outdated. Instead, we seem to have chosen the path of shortsighted success and gratification, convenient arrangements, and sometimes the one-sided fanaticism and fundamentalism. No wonder we find ourselves in such a deep spiritual crisis that makes all other crises possible, probable, and even certain and extremely dangerous.

Change Your World: Awakening to the Power of Truth Beauty Simplicity - Change is an invitation to faithfully recapture the basics, deeply rediscover the very reason for our existence, and carefully reassess our references and values. Truth will make us free. Beauty will save the world. Simplicity will help redefine our priorities. Change will transform us and will transform our world into a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).

This is a profoundly political book; it describes, in an original and engaging way, how to live and govern from our highest and most sacred consciousness. Therefore, do not expect politics as usual, politically correct, well-calculated, and feeling good spirituality talks. Expect rather as it is articulation, straightforward approaches, and unequivocal descriptions of the new creation values. Our survival depends on our ability to be truly human and in alignment with our most sacred consciousnessthe mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). Isnt contemplation the highest form of activity, as Aristotle suggested?

Masterfully, Dr. Maalouf uncovers the simple truths of a happy, healthy, and meaningful life, and discloses the secret of the fullness of life. A contemplative approach to life is indispensable for grasping and living the essence of what it means to be truly human.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 20, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483647210

Book preview

Copyright © 2013 by Jean Maalouf.

Library of Congress Control Number:       2013909734

ISBN:         Hardcover                               978-1-4836-4720-3

                   Softcover                                 978-1-4836-4719-7

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4836-4721-0

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, translated, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

Unless otherwise indicated, the Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Holy Bible, copyright © 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches in the U.S.A., and are used by permission. All rights reserved.

Rev. date: 08/02/2013

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Contents

Prologue

TRUTH

Introduction

1       What Might Truth Be?

2       I Am… the Truth

3       Transformed by Truth

Conclusion

BEAUTY

Introduction

4       On Beauty

5       Beauty: Nostalgia for God

6       Beauty Will Save the World

Conclusion

SIMPLICITY

Introduction

7       When Less Is More

8       The One Thing Needed

9       Simplicity Nurtures Beauty and Growth

Conclusion

CHANGE

Introduction

10       Change Happens

11       Radical Transformation

12       The New Self

Conclusion

Epilogue       A Political Manifesto Guide The Lord’s Prayer

About the Author

Also by Dr. Jean Maalouf

To

"Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven."

The glory of God is a human being who is fully alive.

                     —St. Irenaeus

Politics is the highest form of charity.

                     —Pope Paul VI

Contemplation is both the highest form of activity ( . . .) and also it is the most continuous, because we are more capable of continuous contemplation than we are of any other activity.

                     —Aristotle

Be content with what you have, rejoice in the way you are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.

                     —Lao Tzu

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

                     —Leonardo Da Vinci

Beauty will save the world.

                     —Fyodor Dostoevsky

The truth will make you free.

                     —John 8:32

Listen, I will tell you a mystery! . . . We will all be changed.

                     —1 Corinthians 15:51

The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it.

                     —Marcus Aurelius

Prologue

U nless there is a real change deep down in our hearts and souls, we will be, to our misfortune, the witnesses to the decline and fall of our civilization. It is true that we do have at the present time many crises that affect the economy, healthcare, education, ecology, corporation managements, government, and the Church. But not one of these crises can match the profound spiritual crisis that is the matrix and the root-cause of all of them. Precisely because of this spiritual crisis, which is distorting our vision, our very survival becomes questionable.

We may find some solutions for this or that crisis, improve in writing better laws, and even sign all the treaties we want to avoid international impasses and wars. But nothing will really work in the long run unless we find the solution for the spiritual crisis that blinds our consciousness, misguides our conscience, and paralyzes our will. If we don’t bring remedy to our selfishness, discipline our self-indulgence, uproot our greed, recuperate our old-fashioned integrity, and find the meaning for our lives, chances are that no matter what we do to contain a deteriorating situation, we won’t succeed except on a temporary basis.

We live in a time when true values, solid references, and the sense of significance and purpose seem to be vague and even lost. Instead, we appear to have chosen fun, convenience, success, and comfort at the expense of the true, beautiful, and meaningful. Also, we seem to have forgotten that The exulting of the wicked is short, and the joy of the godless is but for a moment (Job 20:5), and Even in laughter the heart is sad, and the end of joy is grief (Proverbs 14:13).

When solid references are no longer to be found anywhere, the I do what I want to do will sooner or later collide with the You do what you want to do, and one of us becomes a nuisance to be eradicated. It has happened before. It can happen again. The long history of successive civilizations is there to prove it.

Change Your World: Awakening to the Power of Truth—Beauty—Simplicity—Change is an invitation to faithfully recapture the basics, deeply rediscover why we are here, and meditatively and deliberately reassess our priorities in life. This book contains four sections: Truth, Beauty, Simplicity, and Change. They aim and contribute to changing our mind-set so we can reach our most sacred consciousness—the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). Then we will be able to embrace wholeheartedly the Lord’s Prayer—praying it and living it—as the most radical and political route guide that humankind has ever seen.

The truth is that no matter what we do cosmetically for our human life, nothing in fact will make a real difference unless we start from the inside out. Some time ago, I heard the story of a man who lost the key to his house and went diligently looking for the key outside the house. A neighbor who was passing by offered to help to find the key. He asked: Where did you lose it? The man answer: Inside the house. In this case, why are looking outside the house? asked the neighbor. The man answer: Here there is light, inside the house it’s dark and I cannot see. Morale: The key-solution for any problem is inside and not outside of us.

While engaging the reader with his or her own reflections and participation, each one of these sections provides the key to open the door for ways that are by far more efficient for achieving spiritual growth, true human development, and peace than the ways we usually use; we have had enough of these and we all know how limited in time and space they were. A profound change of heart is needed in order to even simply survive. The key for such a change is in our heart, mind, and soul. Therefore, let us not look for this key somewhere outside. It is not there.

Do not expect vague and ambiguous concepts, politics as usual talks, politically correct answers, or feeling good spirituality approach. If you like the straightforward direct, forthright, unequivocal articulation of gospel values, then, this book will not disappoint you. Please, read on and see for yourself. Hopefully you will be convinced, as I am, that the basic values of the gospel are also the basic values of our humanness—the art of being truly human.

TRUTH

The truth will make you free.

—John 8:32

Introduction

T ruth is one of the first casualties of our modern life. The question Is it true? has become, it is sad to say, Whose truth is it? People tend to live by their beliefs, indeed, even if their beliefs are not true.

Practically, truth seems to have lost its correlation with reality to become a mere plausibility or especially an effort to obtain a certain desired effect. It is mainly used to confirm an agenda or carry out a mission. We no longer discover truth; we create the truth that is in our image. We easily twist our perceptions and make our opponents look bad in order to promote ourselves and meet our needs and interests. It is even worse when, while refusing to acknowledge any valid truth in the other side’s position, we monopolize the right to truth as if the doctrine of infallibility has moved to our side, and as if we were immune to flaws, inconsistencies, and shortsightedness.

No wonder we’ve made of our world a world of spin, bias, and a well established excessive relativism.

Yet, in the heart of our hearts, we know that, without truth, nothing is worth to live or to die for. This is why the pursuit of truth has been, still is, and will ever be a widely shared project of humankind. There is and will always be an urgent need for people of truth. We know there is no other way to live free and be fully human.

But if, in the depth of our hearts, we greatly love and appreciate truth, why then do we lie almost spontaneously? Why does the epidemic of cheating cover all segments of society? Why are we so apathetic in the face of hypocrisy? More importantly, how can we free ourselves from lies to become men and women of truth?

This study will try to answer these questions and many more, and help us to be aware of the danger of lying and deceiving, which affects faith, marriages, children, relationships, careers, and every aspect of our lives. Above all, it will show the biblical path toward greater truthfulness, integrity, and honesty—dearly treasured, but such rare virtues.

Also, this study will ask questions—even uncomfortable ones—that force our hidden motivations to come out into the open and that reveal our need to ask God’s help to heal unhealed wounds, and be free from false selves and untruths.

Strangely and paradoxically, we seem to live in a tell-all culture. We are free to confess our feelings, our frustration, our shyness, our failures, our indiscretions, and our struggles to wake up and go on with our lives.

Yet, politicians lie to get elected, doctors lie on reports, scientists fabricate data, professionals and experts distort facts and events, CEOs of corporations cook the books, journalists twist news, universities lie about athletes, advertisers lie about products, ordinary citizens lie on income tax returns, and pastors lie about money and private life. In all these cases, truth is so stretched that reality is recognizable no more, and cheating becomes the common currency that is justified by an everybody’s-doing-it rationale. Consequently, there is no surprise in seeing ourselves immersed in various forms of equivocation, cover-up, camouflage, delusion, complicity of inaction, and—even worse—we try to mitigate any attempt for accountability from and to anyone.

Don’t you think we clearly are out of alignment with what is good, true, right, and real?

Finding the foundation by which all truths must be judged is a must. Jesus pointed to this unshakable rock. He said: I am the way, and the truth, and the life (John 14:6), that is, according to the author of the Letter to the Hebrews, The same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

Truth is definitely the decisive issue of our time because without it, freedom is merely an illusionary mirage and a self-serving fantasy. Only when we accept Jesus’ invitation to Put out into the deep water (Luke 5:4), we will discover more of God’s truth, and we will realize how The truth will make [us] free (John 8:32), as Jesus said.

1

What Might Truth Be?

Pilate asked [Jesus], ‘What is truth?’

—John 18:38

T ruth can be the first and most recognizable casualty of modern life. If we no longer know what a lie is, chances are that’s because we no longer know what truth is.

Apart from a few exceptions—thank God for these good exceptions—our conversations, behaviors, and relationships in general unfortunately do not inspire trust. How privileged and lucky you are if you can say you have never been lied to! Do you know anyone who has never been lied to? Personally, I have not met that person yet.

Why in the world are we so accustomed to lies?

Why Do We Lie?

In the thesaurus books, we see the word lie synonymous with falsehood, untruth, delusion, perjury, duplicity, insincerity, deceitfulness, phoniness, fallaciousness, simulation, hypocrisy, dishonesty, prevarication, distortion, fabrication, false pretense, sham, and more. This is enough to convince us about the extension and forms of lies we consciously or unconsciously can be guilty of in our daily lives.

A few years ago, Authors James Paterson and Peter Kim conducted an interesting survey, which went beyond the superficial five-minute poll, about private morals and values. This study was published in a book called The Day America Told the Truth. What they found is astonishing. For example:

Lying has become an integral part of the American culture, a trait of the American character. We lie and don’t even think about it. We lie for no reason. The writer Vance Bourjaily once said, Like most men, I tell a hundred lies a day. That’s about right. And the people we lie to most are those closest to us.

Just about everyone lies—91 percent of us lie regularly.

Americans are making up their own rules, their own laws. In effect, we’re all making up our own moral codes. Only 13 percent of us believe in all of the Ten Commandments. Forty percent of us believe in five of the Ten Commandments. We choose which laws of God we believe in. There is absolutely no moral consensus in this country as there was in the 1950s, when all our institutions commanded more respect. Today, there is very little respect for the law—for any kind of law.

Yesterday’s verities had vanished. Unpredictability and chaos became the norm.

If these findings are true, and if what a TV preacher once said, The average person lies about 200 times a day is true, we do not have a pretty picture of ourselves at all. Isn’t this the picture of an ethical disarray—a jungle?

The problem of lying is obviously not the monopoly of one special country, or one special culture, or one special ethnic group, or one special religion, or one special time in history. Look, for example, how philosopher Simone Weil (1909-1943) warned her fellow-citizens in France, We live in an age so impregnated with lies that even the virtue of blood voluntarily sacrificed is insufficient to put us back on path of truth Paul wrote to the Colossians, Do not lie to one another (Colossians 3:9). Aristotle warned, All that one gains by falsehood is not to be believed when he speaks the truth.

Why in the world do we seem to have difficulty telling the truth? Here we do not have a shortage of reasons.

A first reason is that we might be guilty of a bigger failure and want to hide it. Lying, which we consider a lesser evil, becomes a way of self-protection. Therefore, we lie for security reasons.

A second reason is the reason of character. When lies become habits, they also become character. It does not take long to be known as a chronic liar, in which case we lose hold of the truth by believing our own lies. Also, sometimes we lie because we can lie for the fun of it, and for the fun to get away with it and not be caught. Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881) wrote:

When we lie to ourselves, and believe our own lies, we become unable to recognize truth, either in ourselves or in anyone else, and we end up losing respect for ourselves and for others. When we have no respect for anyone, we can no longer love, and, in order to divert ourselves, having no love in us, we yield to our impulses, indulge in the lowest forms of pleasure, and behave in the end like an animal, in satisfying our vices. And it all comes from lying—lying to others and ourselves.

A third reason is that repeated lies, which give the appearance of success, help liars to become more accomplished in the craft of lying. They become experts in lying.

A fourth reason is that we can, in order to justify our conduct, rationalize and give explanations for any behavior we choose, even though in our heart we do not believe what we are saying. One obvious justification for our conduct, we think, is the use of the polls and statistics. 80 percent do this or that, we say. But we forget that truth has nothing to do with majority, minority, or even unanimity. This is not its language. The earth was revolving around the sun even when we were saying the opposite.

A fifth reason is that by substituting living-the-lie to living-in-the-truth, we not only turn any sense of morality upside down, but we think that it is our job—a proof of loyalty—to do this for the good of the company or administration we work for. In this sense, we think that lies pay or promise to pay.

Loyalty to a company, a community, or a country should never blind us from seeing the truth. Even though loyalty is certainly a wonderful quality, we should seek truth first, because loyalty can cover many sins and crimes. Dorothy Day pointed out rightly: Our job is not to look for results but to be faithful for the truth. Therefore, results should flow from the truth, not the truth from results.

Furthermore, we are always tempted to adapt and adjust facts to what our superiors would like to see and hear, and we turn, as they do, the blind eye to what they do not want to see. Some of us are becoming so skilled in lying that we are no longer amateur, but real professional. Obviously, certain careers, more than others, count heavily on such skills.

A sixth reason is to set for oneself unrealistic goals and unreachable ideals. These goals and ideals can certainly be good in themselves. But they can also constitute an effective tactic of falsehood when we set them so high that they cannot be reached.

A seventh reason is that, in order to advance an ideology or a certain agenda of any kind, we tend to create a persona of ourselves. The Latin word persona means a mask. We want to wear a mask, and act differently from who and what we are, to improve on ourselves. Our world, which counts heavily on first impressions, encourages us to sell ourselves on sight. In such a world, depth becomes less important than appearance, honesty less