A Slave Driver Called Pettiness
“Nothing is as hard to suppress as the will to be a slave to one’s own pettiness.” Abraham Joshua Heschel Ah, yes. Yes, and ouch. I wake daily to a battle: the fight to silence my inner voice of pettiness. Left to myself, I boast, I whine, I complain, I scorn, I judge. Most of it is in my head. Some of it spills my lips. I resolve to be better, but can lapse into small-mindedness with hardly a demur. I mask it with coy phrases: “I know I’m not perfect, but….” The “but” consti