HONESTY and integrity are virtues that most people value. We are rightly indignant when we become aware of lies or double-standards in public life, because we see how these things undermine trust and cause damage to society.
And yet sometimes it's much easier to see the flaws in others than it is to identify the ways in which we also might fall into some of those ways ourselves.
The Old Testament prophet Habakkuk had questioned God about his plan to use the Babylonians to bring his people Israel to their senses.
They had a reputation for cruelty and excess that was known by all who encountered them - was God blind to these things? Did he not care about them?
In his reply to Habakkuk, the Lord makes it very clear that he knows very well what the Babylonians are like.
He lists their faults and identifies the ways that they have gone wrong.
The Babylonians are greedy, they are complacent, they seek their own fame at any cost, they pursue their own desires without caring how that might hurt others and they have made their own gods.
Everyone can see the difficulty with this and Babylon will have to answer for their actions.
But wait, are some of those faults not the very same things that Habakkuk has identified in his own people too?
They may not see the harm or the consequences of their own bad choices, but they can certainly see the damage that they do in others.
I can see where the world is going wrong, but can I also see the seeds of these things in my own life and attitudes?
As Israel looks at Babylon, can they see themselves mirrored in some way?
Will they see how they are falling short and make better choices again?
As I look at the world around me today, it's easy to see the things that spoil it.
Greed that has exploited creation without concern for the damage that is being done.
Selfishness that seeks its own satisfaction without worrying how others may be hurt.
Complacency that turns a blind eye to the suffering of others as long as it's not affecting this country directly.
I can see where the world is going wrong, but can I also see the seeds of these things in my own life and attitudes?
Maybe this season of Lent could be a time for a bit of honest reflection, for me to look again at my own heart and mind and attitudes with fresh objectivity.
Might God help me to see myself as I really am, so that I might find in Him the person he created me to be?
Bishop George Davison's Lent reflections can be found at connor.anglican.org.
