There are two ways to live: in God or only by God.
We all live by God who governs the laws of the cosmos. However, few of us live in God. Our attention is often diverted to more tangible entities that ultimately manage to steer our existence in an entirely different direction.
The development of our God consciousness will tend to create a detachment from worldly things. Conversely, being in the grip of real life or simply fully rooted in the concrete makes us forget all too often our relationship to God.
Idolatry is a sin that is much more widespread than we think. It is not only confusing God with an image or statue, it is above all having a mental program that is not set on the right frame of reference. Typically, it is to have dominant thoughts that are turned towards something other than God. Let’s look at the dominant contemporary forms of idolatry:
Narcissism: it is the adoration of oneself, whether it is the adoration of one’s external beauty or of one’s qualities of mind (intelligence, erudition etc.). Intellectual narcissism is sometimes the most insidious, and therefore it is more difficult to fight.
Giving too much importance to the look of others: it is to live in a way to please others, whether it is by the taste of fashion, the fear of disappointing or the imitation without critical look. Don’t get me wrong, we need to have a certain degree of concern for the gaze of others when we live in society, in that it can help us to improve ourselves or reflect. Nevertheless, living in fear of others’ judgment is a widespread idolatry.
The cult of money: this is a thorny point because it concerns us all to some extent. This cult is widespread because we constantly live with the idea that we lack something. The foresight or anticipation of a threat causes us to focus our attention on money and forget that by thinking a little more about God, we could deal with these fears more.
Fear of death: to fear death is ultimately to deny the existence of God and not to trust him.
Worshiping stars of all kinds: this is a widespread phenomenon on the web. It is relatively widespread at a young age but it takes other forms as we grow older, such as excessive admiration of a politician, a writer or any person who shines by his intellectual or oratorical talent.
