Recently a young man was presented his Eagle Award. Just before the presentation the speaker talked about what is a central theme of the Scouting movement, Honor. A Scout pledges on his honor to do all that is expected of him as a scout, family member, and citizen. To violate his honor could mean forfeiture of rank and membership. But the word “honor” fell flat on the audience. It was obvious that many had not thought about the term or its implications up until that moment. In society today there are few that truly understand what the term “honor” means any more. We generally know dishonorable behavior when it is observed, but do we still know what the term means? If we observe carefully we expect honorable behavior in others but we make exceptions for ourselves for any number of reasons and all of those reasons have, at the heart of them one particular sin and that is deceit.
The Rule states “Rid your heart of all deceit.” (RB 4:24) Smaragdus of Saint-Mihiel defines deceit as holding one thing in your heart and pretending in your behavior to be doing something else. “It is a cunning of mind, and a hidden malice adorned with smooth words.” It divides the heart of the Christian for “… by holding deceit in their heart they lose the indwelling Holy Spirit…” and “… cease to be the temple of the Holy Spirit, and through having deceit become the dwelling of the demon. For the one heart will not be able to keep hold of the Lord and of deceit at the same time.” (Commentary on the Rule of St. Benedict, Trans. David Barry, OSB, pp. 189-190).
This appears harsh to modern ears but Smaragus makes a good point. Eventually the person will be faced with either continuing with the deceit and holding on to their own perception of truth or recognizing the real Truth and returning to the Lord. We are taught to be single minded and have undivided hearts. Deceit, by its very nature, prevents us from the singleness of purpose the Lord asks of us. Deceit eats at our core – and those core values totaled together is honor. We see examples of this every day in the news and papers and they do not need to be enumerated here. But usually when it makes the news the deceit becomes revealed – but usually at great pain and a general sense that “honor” has been violated.
So how does one deal with deceit and restore honor? Smaragus outlines that as well stipulating “The more hidden this vice is in the heart, the greater does it grow in malice; but when it is brought out in the open it is reduced to naught and healed.” Being honest and open about who we are and how we act in accordance with the Gospel and the Rule will put light into the corners of our hearts. A good spiritual director or even a trusted friend can help you look deep into yourself and find these small demons locked in your heart. Remember that they only fester and grow when you do not expose them. The danger to honor occurs when we hold on to them and keep them enclosed in our hearts. But also remember the pain that can be inflected and, once exposed, remember to make some reparation for the pain they may have caused, whether large or small. Only then is honor restored.
