Eliot Spitzer: A man like you and me

The fall of man

The resignation of Eliot Spitzer as the Governor of New York State brings to the fore the sad tale of another man who had a public persona radically different from his private life. Too many examples abound, not for this blog to list.

Now, I am not going to rake over the salacious coals and dregs that the tabloids and newswires are already doing with aplomb, I could not better any of them as they wallow in the gutter over the man’s misfortune.

Our strengths and our secrets

Let us come back to the substance of what makes us human beings, our great strengths, our vigorous fights, our unwavering activism and our deep felt convictions.

Then ask ourselves that one question that we never get to handle before we are caught out and left in disgrace, dishonour and shame.

What is it that I am so publicly against and so identified with as a crusader that I for my weaknesses as a man cannot avoid participating in and revelling in whilst fearing getting caught out?

Caught out

Then wonder if you are going to be smart enough to find ways to deal with it now or still be driven by the thrill of it that its addiction would lead you to the worst place you never want to be.

Exposed, caught out, pants down, torch shining on your face, facing down the barrel of the gun, captured vividly on celluloid, made a laughing stock of or even made a public show of.

We are really holier than thou

Too many men have suffered from getting caught in a weakness that evolves into what we all can smugly call hypocrisy from our “Holier than thou” temples of saintliness – we are but men, weak, prone to failure, able to make mistakes and sometimes unable to help ourselves.

As we try to remove the speck from the eyes of others who have fallen, do we fail to notice that we have been blinded by tree stumps too big to yank out of our ever observant eyes, held in place by the utter disgust expressed in our so horribly contorted faces but with branches that clear the way for our mouths to speak words that condemn others to oblivion beyond redemption?

Before you step forward to cast the first stone without the thought of your eligibility to do so.

STOP! Think!

Let us reflect on our strengths and our weaknesses as we think kindly of the Spitzer family, it can happen to anyone and most especially, we, the ones who would never ever be caught in that kind of situation. Really?

Pause:

Time for confession - which new sin do I have to confess to before them, the absolvers of Rome?