He, therefore, who sets himself to act evilly and yet wishes
others to be silent, is a witness against himself, for he wishes
himself to be loved more than the truth, which he does not wish to
be defended against himself. There is, of course, no man who so
lives as not sometimes to sin, but he wishes truth to be loved
more than himself, who wills to be spared by no one against the
truth. Wherefore, Peter willingly accepted the rebuke of Paul;
David willingly hearkened to the reproof of a subject. For good
rulers who pay no regard to self-love, , take as a homage to their
humility the free and sincere words of subjects. But in this
regard the office of ruling must be tempered with such great art
of moderation, that the minds of subjects, when demonstrating
themselves capable of taking right views in some matters, are
given freedom of expression, but freedom that does not issue into
pride, otherwise, when liberty of speech is granted too
generously, the humility of their own lives will be lost.
St. Gregory The Great, Pastoral Care
Comments
6 responses to “St. Gregory The Great, Pastoral Care”
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This reads backwards & very latin. I am not exactly sure what it means–there is the notion of free speach, of humilty, while reading it I started to doubt my choice of source material.Gregory is not a Desert Father, by my definition–I will think more about this.
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he wishes himself to be loved more than the truthThis is a strange way to express truth–it combines lying directly with ego in a fairly unique way. I lie because I desire to be more loved than the truth. I don\’t know–it does not feel right, but it may be…
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But in this regard the office of ruling must be tempered with such great art of moderationI do not think that I see moderation as an art. the art of being middle of the road really seems counterintuitive to me. something that I need to really work on–the art of moderation. It is not only OK to be in the middle, but at some level it may be more healthy–the middle of the road may be the right answer more often then not.
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Peter willingly accepted the rebuke of PaulI think that there may be a very serious teaching in this–I mean seriously, this is the father of the church being rebuked (\”an act or expression of criticism and censure\”) by a zealot that was blasted off his mule into enlightenment. We can and must learn from everyone….
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when demonstrating themselves capable of taking right views in some mattersThis is a very great point–the demonstration of right thinking is somehow required before any real growth can occur. A precident must be set.
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freedom of expressionI like this. The Freedom of Expression is crucial to any discussion regarding leadership or guidance. The notion that fostering freedom of expression is the key to clipboard behaviour is very tricky.At some level, I do not think that this is honest–freedom of expression cannot be fostered by any means of control–freedom of expression is some how bigger than that.
David Given Schwarm 
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