Heard the saying Cleanliness is next to Godliness well here’s another one

I don’t often place much stock in old wise sayings or  other kinds of superstitions but every once in a while a thought occurs to me which not only revives those old sayings but possibly creates another in my mind which I believe is placed there to share.  For some reason or another, I awoke this morning with a thought of cleanliness being next to Godliness just like arrogance is next to ignorance, I’ll explain.

If you were privy to this saying as I was growing up, we used to hear it all the time especially when parents wanted us to learn to properly bathe ourselves and not put on the very same clothes we had been wearing the past week.  Since it was told to us that being clean brings you closer to God, we then applied that to our understanding of how to tell if the people we meet on the street was Godly people or sinners.  Society began to take this saying to new heights and even used it as a form of discrimination which also allowed us to distance ourselves from others who may not have been as clean as we believed we were at that time.  You see this manifest itself still today when you watch the reaction many have with homeless people or those who may not be able to afford a new outfit to wear each and every day.  You see it today when you are under the assumption that bathing every day is the real way to be and you run into someone who will bath every other day or have a different style of cleaning themselves.  Now is this old adage right or wrong?  Only you can answer that question individually and if what you believe is your truth, I strongly suggest that you stick with it and defend it as often as you must but if there is the slightest doubt in your mind that this old adage may not be as useful as it may have been thought to be some time ago, I suggest you take a few minutes contemplate this question and decide what works for you.

The same goes for the newest one that is hopefully now going to make the rounds and become as memorable as the last.  This one is arrogance is next to ignorance.  If we consider the actions of an arrogant man or woman, we should clearly be able to see how that arrogance leads straight to ignorance because we see things as we believe they should be and with arrogance comes this fixation that everything you do is right and those who perform that same task differently must have done it wrong.  Arrogance breeds this fixation that any thought or belief you have is better than any thought or belief that anyone else has.  Arrogance breeds this fixation that whatever comes out of your mouth, enters your head or is based upon your choice of lifestyle is superior.  With all of this arrogance flowing through your body, you make yourself that much more susceptible to ignorance because refusing to see yourself as foul able or imperfect means that you will never be able to correct the course you have set yourself on nor will you ever be able to become that more perfect person that God knows us to be.  Frustration then begins to set in and we turn to violence not because we hate those we war against but because we know deep within the very fiber of our beings, that we are not as perfect as we pretend and instead of dealing with our own demons, we decide to turn our attention and everyone else’s toward the demons of others.

Man’s arrogance has lead him to another fork in the road years ago and instead of following that path most worn and used by our Native American brothers and sisters, we decided to follow the path less traveled by adopting European behaviors instead.  We were and still are being taught that a woman’s place is in the home and in some areas of America, some still see them more defined as barefoot, pregnant, having no voice and being subject or slave to the man.  This was not the true history but yet the arrogance of man leads us to become ignorant of how things truly were meant to work.  When God created Eve, he did not do so to provide Adam a slave to do his bidding.  God created Eve as a partner to Adam, to support, care for, nature and nourish him and to assist with any and all tasks assigned to Adam where decisions had to be made and with her help could be made in a more educated manner.

In an article titled “Matrilineal Societies – Women with Power and Respect” written by Toyacoyah Brown for PowWow.com, she reports that “A lot of Native American tribes were matrilineal instead of the typical patrilineal societies you see from Europe. This meant that you were descended from your mother’s clan, not your father’s. It was also meant the women were involved in the decision-making process for the greater good of the tribe. Some of the more well-known matrilineal societies are the Lenape, Hopi and Iroquois. The Chickasaw were also a matrilineal society”.  Now whether you believe everything written in this article or not is not the question, the question is why we as a society choose to follow a path that leads to more hate, distrust, degradation and heartache instead of following the design we know is not only much better but feels much better too.  We know that inclusion of all voices makes decision making not only that much easier but also can lead to solutions much faster than an assumption that our arrogance will lead us past ignorance.  The Native Americans sought the voice of all when it came to decisions that had to be made, they took the time necessary to think about those others voices and when it was time to make that decisions, it was made bearing in mind more than just the arrogance of males, it was made bearing in mind the voices of all who dwell within that structure and by doing that, the decisions were greatly accepted because it was reflective of the people as a whole and not just about one particular group or another.

How much do you really know about any subject?  How important is it to you to repeat truth about that subject when asked?  How is it reflective upon you when it is discovered that you provide misleading or bad information and while you may have been the most sought after person on that subject you are now being avoided like a plague?  Are you now extremely angry now that no one wishes to listen or talk to you now so you feel to remain relevant you now much focus others attention off you and onto others?  Are you so consumed with being right that you cannot see yourself ever being wrong?  Does any of these questions sound eerily similar to our early definition of the newest saying arrogance is next to ignorance?  It’s your choice, it’s your decision and no one else can make it for you except you, my only hope is that you listen to those voices of those loved ones who have left this earthly life before you as they whisper in your ear encouraging you to stop assuming you have all the answers and seek the help of those who are stranded on that island with you because without their help, you will never see rescue.