Herod: The Inner Landscape that Wreaks Havoc

You have to summon some courage if you dare to seek out and find the Herod within you, especially in light of the actual Herod’s horrendous actions. He was so threatened by the birth of a new “king” that he put to death all the male children of the region who would have been born around the time of Jesus’s birth, just to make sure he had no challenge to his throne. (Historians remind us that he also put to death many others during his rule, include several sons who Herod viewed as threats to his throne.)

While his actions are deplorable – and don’t parallel the extent to which most persons would go – they are driven by Herod’s interior state, by his inner landscape. And it is Herod’s interior state that we’ll likely find not all that different from our own.

These are a few words I’ve used to describe Herod, not to reduce him, but in order to help me find where he lives within me:

threatened
fearful
insecure
privileged
powerful
in control (of himself and his world)
scared
managing (situations, taking them into his own hands)
scheming
manipulative
unsatisfied
ego-threatened
maintaining (his own kingdom)
small (but wants to be big)

Once I name some of the qualities that drove Herod, I can easily find him within me, because these states also describe my life on a regular basis.

I’m very familiar with having my position or my status threatened . . .

I can be consumed by fear, whether that fear relates to my health, to my job, or to a national election . . .

I control and manipulate those around me, including those closest to me, in order to arrange my world the way I think it should be . . .

I try to move heaven and earth to maintain what I have, even if it means someone else has less . . .

I often strive to be big when I feel dissatisfied with being small . . .

I can scheme and plot my own self-interest to the detriment and harm of those in the world, perhaps not to the extent of Herod; nonetheless, I can do actual damage in my world, and even be oblivious to the harm I perpetuate.

The words I listed above are dividing words. They separate. They set us against others. For example, I realize that when I feel threatened or fearful, anger usually lives just beneath the surface of my consciousness. I respond sharply, even profanely, to those who stumble unknowingly across my emotional landmines. Love and mercy become distant, unreachable goals. Retribution and hatred follow my anger.

And I realize in those moments that I don’t have to take a life literally – as Herod did – in order to do major harm to others.


For Reflection:

Look at the list of words above again. With which of the words do you seem to be most familiar? If you notice 3 or 4 words that describe your interior from time to time, take them out one word at a time. For each one, spend a few moments thinking about times in recent days when you have experienced that word.

As that way of being was living and active within you, what did it feel like to be you?

Were there particular behaviors that arose . . . an argument with someone else, an angry rant whispered under your breath, or a physical reaction?

As you explore these things, do so without judgement; rather, the goal is to notice and become more aware of what lives within you, not to condemn yourself over it.