Herod Herodias and influence

The episode which relates how John the Baptist met his death from the Gospel of Matthew in the Roman Catholic Lectionary for today prompts consideration of the influences from which we make our decisions. Herod is in fear of the people who consider John the Baptist a prophet and he has been reluctant to act against him until his image as a ruler comes into question following the promise to Herodias daughter to give her whatever she asked. How we look in the eyes of others is too often a strong decision making influence for us. Our pride is so often the cause of our failure. The psalmist advises praise of God for His graciousness and blessings. From the attitude of gratitude we are less likely to overvalue our own position and promotion as we become aware of the involvement of Providence in our daily life. The text from Leviticus indicates the need in our lives for the time of fallow and restoration of our relationship with the Divine and one another when our tendency to unbalance the scales in favour of our position and privilege has been in the forefront.