According to the Gospels, Pontius Pilate left in the hands of the people the phrase that would mark the destiny of Jesus’ life, so he sought to relinquison responsibility for what happened, and washing his hands kept him away from the consequences of Jesus’ life. their choice and any interest in the situation.
This expression, transmitted over time, is part of our common language and is usually used with a negative bias: “Am I washing my hands?Or, with the same meaning, “I deny any responsibility for what may happen. “As we know, this is mainly used when someone is aware that there is a lot of pressure when choosing an alternative to the countless others that exist behind a decision.
- That’s why it’s an awkward decision: because washing your hands is an act of cowardice that puts the full weight of a situation on the shoulders of others.
- Sooner or later.
- However.
- The consequences will come: it will probably lighten the burden.
- But it will only be a momentary relief.
- As consciousness becomes heavy and behavior contaminated.
All decisions require someone to answer for them, otherwise it is very difficult for them to be made with responsibility and ethics, this is something that we must take into account, because when faced with a complicated situation, there may be the temptation to share the weight of the decision that we do not like.
In these cases, common in family and at work, what happens is that there is always someone who shys away from decisions, avoids seeking solutions or facing difficult times: this requires less effort and is easier. However, this person forgets that by action or inaction he is in the problem and the consequences end up happening.
In other words, losing interest in some of your responsibility doesn’t set you free and can end up losing sleep: consciousness is a beautiful judge who analyzes behavior and determines your own pains.
“My conscience has more weight for me than the opinion of the whole world. -Cicero-
According to the ABC newspaper, studies show that washing your hands (literally) after a moment of conflict reduces discomfort and justifies the way you act: water seems to help with guilt and remorse. The University of Michigan conducted a test to prove this theory.
What they did was deliver a set of CDs to a group of people, asking them to sort ten according to their preferences, then told them they would have to choose between the CD they had placed in fifth or sixth place. participants washed their hands with soap and the other half examined only one container of soap. When they finished, the bands had to rearrange the CDs.
Those who rinsed their hands maintained their initial CD control, while those who had not placed the CD had chosen it from the former and discarded it between the latter.
The researchers realized that the people who washed their hands did not feel the need to justify their decision regarding CDs, however, those who had not washed them rearranged the CDs because they felt the need to justify their decision, placed the one they had chosen in a much higher position than they had abandoned.
In the same sense of experience, it is possible to rediscover the use of water in religious circles: a symbol of the purification of the soul that helps redeem itself from sins, so it is likely that pontius Pilate’s expression refers not only to the act of evading responsibility, but also to reduce remorse.
However, in practice, washing your hands doesn’t always clean them: we’ve all made the mistake of wanting to get away from something, if only for the simple reason that you killed us, the truth is that, after that, this decision followed us. as a problem we had to fight with.
In fact, having a heavy conscience is like having a bad friend that you can’t get rid of, ethical morality makes us understand that we don’t act the best way and we don’t let ourselves rest until we regain inner peace. consciousness weighs, teaches us to grow with mistakes, to be more supportive, and to renew our own values.