I would suppose that the story of the foolish virgins might also be appropriately adapted to this instance.
The foolish virgins sally forth, assuring each other that it will be okay to temporarily abandon their allegiance to the bridegroom, to carry out their own purposes. They dally at the local shopping mall, admiring their own reflection in the mirror, picking up some really rad bling for their own adornment. They ask each other, "Do you think this purple dress make me look fat?" They shoot some great selfies on their smart phones.
At some point, they casually saunter back to the marriage feast, fully expecting to be admitted, but are shocked to find that the doors of opportunity have already closed.
Then they stand out in the night, breast-beating and vociferously bewailing their self-rightous victimhood, referring back to their awesome selfies for confidence, and complaining loudly into the darkness, as they threaten to make that blankety-blank bridegroom really sorry for ever shutting them out.
3 comments:
In today's parlance, these foolish folks could also be telling themselves that they were on the "right side of history." You hear that a lot from people like that. Ultimately, it will be the Bridegroom who decides who is and who is not on the "right side of history."
Thanks Dennis.
I find I have to try and catch myself all the time, to avoid falling into the "holier than thou" trap, from either direction. From some points of view, it is painfully obvious that I am no better or worse than the next guy. In other specific instances I am. So it isn't an especially useful metric to compare with. Other than measuring myself against perfection, where I always fall short.
On the other hand, I cannot help but notice some common problems. In this particular group that is my focus, I think the "foolish" are unduly distracted by their own narcissism, which I suppose derives from a "prettier than thou" starting place. It is great stuff for parables and moralistic tales. Mirror, mirror stories and the like. This was just fun to spin out. I'm pretty sure that such "foolish virgins" don't really exist. :-)
And I suppose some bad dogs who bark in the night find comfort in the self-assurance that they are on "the right side of history", as they argue their own agenda, and the caravan rolls on. I don't object to the barking, but am sad to leave them behind. I suppose it cannot properly be thought of as "abandonment" when the parting of the ways is because of persistently misbehaving dogs.
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