You won’t be surprised that someone in my position would think that spirituality is important. And, while it is important for everyday life, it can be particularly helpful in coping with more trying situations. In more difficult circumstances, I find it is often helpful not to simply reply on my own spiritual insights but to draw on the insights of the spiritual masters of the past. For example, how do you respond when you have been unfairly treated and unjustly criticized by someone?

Several years ago I stumbled on some very useful spiritual wisdom for precisely that situation in the writings of Dorotheus. Certainly not the best known of spiritual writers, Dorotheus was a sixth century monk, who lived in the Egyptian desert. He wrote a series of instructions for his fellow monks on spiritual training. Among the subjects he deals with is the problem of how to deal with unjust criticism.

First, he gives us an example we should not follow. He tells us of a novice who was unjustly “plagued and insulted by many.” Remarkably the young man was able to endure the unjust criticism as though it was nothing. Dorotheus tells us he saw all this and asked the young man “to disclose to me the thought that he retains in his heart that makes him so patient. He responded with great contempt: ‘Why should I accept insults from them as I would from humans? After all – they are barking curs.'” The young man, it seems, was able to dismiss the criticism by holding his critics in contempt. But this is hardly spiritually healthy and Dorotheus declares, “This is obvious perdition.”

Dorotheus proposes another way. When you have been injured by the criticism of another, you should begin by examining yourself “carefully and with fear of God.” You may discover that you were not entirely without blame in the matter, but had provoked the criticism by something you said or did, however unwittingly. If, after that examination, you feel that, no, you did nothing to bring on the unjust criticism, you should consider further that, even though you did nothing wrong in this instance, perhaps, at some other time, you did something that had offended the person who has now injured you. You may recognize the ultimate source of the criticism in some long forgotten offense on your part.

If after having completed that examination you still feel that you have never done anything to injure this person, then, Dorotheus urges us to consider that, while you have never injured this individual, you may have injured someone else. In that case, you should accept this person’s insult, however unfair, as a kind of penance for injuries you have caused to others. In other words, you should accept the current injustice as the penalty for faults and offenses you have committed in the past to others and gotten away with. It is certainly an unusual suggestion, but who among us can claim that never to have offended anyone and gotten away with it? He asks us to accept the injustice committed against us in humility, recognizing that we too have been unjust in the past to others.

When I first read this, I was impressed and related Dorotheus’ advice to a friend who is a monk and spiritual guide. He knew of Dorotheus’ advice and respected it, but added a further consideration. He pointed out that, even if we could honestly say that we had never injured anyone (and who could possibly say such a thing), to consider that this was exactly what happened in the case of Jesus, who was persecuted even to death though he had literally never offended anyone, according to Christian tradition. Even if we could not identify any previous offense on our part, we could still identify with and follow the example of Jesus. I found this insight powerful. In fact, I have thought, even if I know that I have obviously offended against others on many occasions I can still identify with Jesus when I am falsely judged. Between Dorotheus and my monk friend, I have found spiritual wisdom that can help me maintain my balance and peace of mind in the face of insult and unfair injury.

While I should probably end right there, I cannot resist passing along to you one more bit of wisdom on this same theme, namely dealing with unjust criticism. I am not sure it should be considered on the same level as the advice of Dorotheus or my monk friend, but I read recently that the French philosopher, Albert Camus, suggested that the best revenge we can take on our enemies is “to be madly happy.” I am not sure that’s Christian, but I like it.