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SAR 8: Be Not Afraid
- Being tough makes me inflexible, unable to respond fully to life. Self-defenses dull my senses and muffle the clarity of the reality I encounter. That leads to a downward spiral. Now, reality cannot delight me and attract me ever more fully into a world that glorifies God at every turn. The less I enjoy it, the more I retreat from it. Ugh!
- The world is so huge, and the problems so overwhelming, that it feels impossible for one person to have much of an effect for good, but the more I understand about the human person, the more excited I get about the real power we possess! I am convinced that one well-rested, free, Christ-filled human being actually has more power than big groups, or coalitions, or institutions, or political parties to effect real change in the world around him.
- I think we’ve come to the end of all the different dreams of utopia. Right- and left-leaning ones have been tried, religious and atheist ones….nothing has worked, because sinful man was always mucking up the works! Aiming for an earthly utopia, we start focusing on the structures, the systems, the context for the human person, instead of on the person himself. When his behavior throws a wrench into our perfect plan, it seems more efficient to control that behavior than to wait for his formation, growth in virtue, spiritual awakening. I have this problem even within my family life, so I understand the temptation to fight individuals for the sake of ‘the people’, ‘the state’, or ‘the ideal man’. At the opposite extreme, if we abdicate ourselves from any responsibility for this world at all, we aren’t helping persons become free. We have to stand on the via media between pious indifference to the world around us, and self-righteous domination of it….in the place of clear-headed judgment, and loving service.
- The illusion that I am in control lands me in despair, because I so clearly can’t fix everything. If all depends on me, this world is in a heap of trouble…I can feel despair if I live in the illusion that I’m responsible for making everything better for everyone. The illusion that I am powerless lands me in despair – my impotence invites all the woes of the world to rain down upon me. Better: the reality that I have the power to remain free whatever my outward circumstances, and that, small as I am, I am an instrument for good in the hands of a mighty God. Reality – the whole of it, not just the part about how strong my enemy is, or how weak I am – should always be hopeful. Sabbath helps me relax my narrow focus upon The Facts, and realize the whole Context within which I encounter those facts. Eucharistic rest is a dip into the ocean of divine mercy, where the illusion that I am alone and unsupported meets the reality of God’s embrace.
- The locus of control – the ‘place’ from which my actions initiate – can be exterior (The authority says it, so I do it; The hammer hits the knee, so the leg kicks reflexively – or interior (I choose, I decide, I respond). The interiority can be more or less deeply rooted in faith, virtue, values, conviction, informed judgment. I need to be present to my own self in order to initiate action. This is not a self-centered narcissism (which simply reacts to a physical, or emotional desire without subjecting it to the scrutiny of reason), but a self-respecting recollection in which I consider my own desires in light of whatever other factors are also present in the situation (the needs of others, the judgment about consequences of my actions, my own needs that seem to be in conflict with each other). To consider self in making a decision to act is necessary for that act to be truly free. To ignore my own reason, or my own desires, or to give scant consideration before acting is to resign that freedom to some degree. To consider only myself is just the opposite bondage.
- It’s scary to see how easily controlled so many people are – by advertisers, by peer pressure, by societal norms they have not evaluated and chosen consciously, by stronger people who use them. The will to power is alive and well in the world. If we will not be strong, vital, virtuous, conscious, free human beings, we will be prey to those willing to manipulate, seduce and bully us. More and more, people seem to be giving up free agency – actually preferring that someone else just tell them what to do, rather than stand up for the right to make their own free choices.
- Philosophy corresponds to what is highest in us – our yearning toward truth. It’s a bold venture, because it seeks basis for action, not just theory for speculation. Philosophers, at their best, intend to live by what they believe is true, whatever the cost. When people lose vitality, manhood, strength, they become pragmatic – focused on reacting, surviving. Philosophy corresponds to man-at-leisure – to think, to be, to correspond to truth and beauty and goodness instead of to production of goods, or performing mechanistic functions.
- Fruitfulness is, literally, a sign of life – whether it is physical ability to generate children, or creative ability to realize ideas. If an apple tree had a thick trunk and lots of branches, blossoms and leaves, but failed to produce apples, we wouldn’t say it had great ‘vitality’, but that something was quite wrong with it. Jesus cursed a fruitless tree once!
- A day of rest, a feast, a thank-you note, can be revolutionary because these are activities of free persons. On a day of rest, a person has chosen not to act – a sign of his freedom from compulsion. When we feast, we signal the abundant gift of self, and the joy we share in things that transcend temporality. In this day and age, a hand-written thank-you note is a strong counter-cultural statement that human touch, human contact, the gift of time and the free response of gratitude are not altogether unvalued, whatever the masses may think. Each one of these is an invitation to freedom. People who see you keep Sabbath holy, who come to your table, who receive your gracious notes are being invited to respond in kind, to take up their own freedom and act like men, too!
- Fear of whatever assails us focuses us on those enemies, hurdles, persecutors, etc… instead of on the Lord of hosts, who has promised to prevail against all enemies on our behalf. Sabbath is a day to shake off that ‘optical illusion’ and see, as Elijah saw, the armies of heaven encamped around us in the battle. God places me ‘in his pavilion on the battlefield’ and then fights the battle for me with His strong arm (really read the psalms – there are many with this imagery). Sabbath is that pavilion! By not acting, but instead being acted upon, we reestablish ourselves in strength. Sabbath surrounds us with the perfect love that casts out our fears. I just love this reality, and I wish I could express it all well enough to draw everyone to love it and desire this experience!!
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