Take this cup.

See how beautiful it is, gleaming with precious metals and stones. It is easy to hold; there are grooves carved for your fingers. It is light and easy. It demands nothing and can hold little.

Lift it

so everyone can see

But don’t grasp too tightly – it withstands no pressure – and don’t examine it closely – it withstands no scrutiny-

just hold it aloft to show

that you are in the right.

You need to fill it, this false and flimsy cup. But what can you drink from this cup made of your own correctness?

You cannot dip into compassion. It is too weighty. Compassion’s complex broth pulls its flavors from the reality of other people, from their uniqueness, from the weight of their sorrows. Compassion listens; it makes room for understanding. Compassion dissolves away any ideas of self-superiority, it strips off scorn and anger, dulling the bright finish. Compassion allows the other side to be right in their own way.

No, you cannot allow your certainty to dip into compassion.

You need to fill it, this false and flimsy cup. But what can you drink from this cup made of your moral and intellectual superiority?

You must avoid humility at all costs. The cup will crumple at the scent. Its lustre is formed of the contrast between your rightness and their wrongness; its jewels are the proofs you amass while plugging your ears. Humility seeks truth; humility is curious; humility stands always ready to be proven wrong. The cup cannot go near humility, and if you are pulled that way you must cry out that humility is a weakness you cannot afford.

No, you cannot allow your self-righteousness near humility.

You need to fill it, this false and flimsy up. But what can you drink from this cup made of the failings of others?

You cannot fill it with charity, the pure love of Christ. This is subtle, for there are many ideas and flavors of Christ that can be safely mixed in. A Christ who forgives sins but not those sins; a Christ who supports only your own side; a Christ compassionate to your failings but condemning of others’ – all these Christs are welcome. It is the true Christ, the one who loves and suffers for all people, the cup cannot hold. The true love of Christ is love is powerful and discerning; it sees evil without averting its eyes; it pleads for repentance and yearns to be able to forgive. Its guileless and simple love for its brothers and sisters has the strength to change hearts, transform lives, conquer addictions and rewrite both past and future.

No, the pure love of Christ will crush the cup into dust.

You need to fill it, this false and flimsy cup. But what can you drink from this cup made of scorn and division?

You can drink of outrage.

This, perhaps, is the unifying drink of our time. It is shared by all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people. It is shared by all political parties and welcome at all debates. It is on tap in every news station, available in every app. Conspiring men distribute it for free via algorithm.

It is sweet and oily and coats your throat with the certainty that you are in the right. Outrage delights in the failings and follies of others; it cannot apologize; it has no time to waste on peace. Outrage takes “I don’t support this plan, interpretation, policy, or idea” and torments it into “you who support this plan/interpretation/policy/idea are stupid, or immoral”. Thus all differences of opinion become moral failings, all opposing points of view become threats, and treasured children of Christ become enemies.

Its sweet, sticky liquid seeps from the cup and stains the fingers and blinds the eyes; it curdles in the hair and traps the feet. Outrage cements the soul to the false and flimsy cup.

It tastes sweet, this certainty.

It is delicious, this sense of superiority.

It is poison, this oily blackness that hides how much the Savior loves and pleads for your enemies, His children.

Drink this sweet poison from the shiny soulless cup, and you will be able to blunder into conflict full of self-certainty. Nothing will penetrate the sticky film over your eyes and ears, and you will remain

stiffnecked and sure that you are in the right.

Take this cup. See how beautiful it is. Close your eyes and your ears

and drink