A personal look at piety
There is a problem with this word. It has a very positive meaning but has also attracted a negative one (overly-pious, sanctimonious or self-righteous), as can be seen in Merriam Webster's definition:
a: marked by or showing reverence for deity and devotion to divine worship
b: marked by conspicuous religiosity, a hypocrite
Jesus pointed out a good example of the negative piety in
Matthew 6:5:
"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
and, in
Matthew 23:
“Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; [:]6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; [7:] they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others."
A friend of mine described the positive piety as the equivalent of using one's turn signal even if there's no-one around to see it. It means that one has good habits, that the act is ingrained in the individual. The same friend said there's also an element of checking the blind spot before changing lanes, making sure that one's actions do not endanger others. The action is not done for show, there's a purpose that is not self-seeking.
When I was a Jehovah's Witness I was accused of the hypocritical piety because I would study the Bible hard to uncover the meaning of the text and get the full background, down to researching Hebrew and Greek etymologies and digging deep into the context. For many of my peers I was "taking it too seriously" and I was accused of doing it to agrandise myself in the congregation. Their judgements of me did sting, I have to admit, and of course, I had my judgements of them, namely that they were embarrassed by their own lack of deep-diving into Scripture. They could not know that this had always been my way, to uncover how things worked and why they were the way they were.
With piety can come judgement of others too. I could be guilty of judging others because they do not do as I do; but perhaps I am also somewhat guilty of ignoring the principle "do not go beyond the things written". As I am currently "trying on" Judaism in a Reform congregation I am aware that I could be applying the Law more strigently than is strictly necessary, and that is a danger I need to watch out for. Thankfully the rabbis will no doubt be very helpful in helping me to answer these questions and stay balanced, for which I am very grateful.
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