If I work for five hours, I expect to get paid for five hours. If I work for two, I expect to get paid for two. What if we worked for a company that paid everyone the same amount regardless of how long they worked? How would we feel going home with the same pay for working eight hours as my co-worker did for working only two hours? Secular wisdom would have a huge problem with this and a visit to the Labor Board would quickly pursue. But this is God’s wisdom and God’s ways.

We sometimes think that if we pray more, better, or more fervently and go over and above with the practice of our faith, God will somehow reward us and present us with some kind of merit badge. We are so wrong. Spiritual practices have only one true purpose: to deepen our love for God. In deepening our love for God, we also increase our ability to see God’s presence around us, living life more purposefully and contemplatively. What if God chooses to treat someone who has come on the scene of faith later in life the same as someone who has devoted their whole lives to it? Does it really matter? If we have the merit badge notion of faith, we can find ourselves feeling a little arrogant and even jealous of folks who have not followed the same path that we have. We can even see ourselves as the privileged few who have a corner on the faith and fully possess it.

That thinking doesn’t square with God. God is all about mercy in abundance and is ready to take anyone to himself regardless of when they come. He is only happy that they have come home and delights in their return. After all, if you really and truly love someone, does it matter what they will give you in return or what you receive as a benefit? If relationships were assessed based upon productivity, they would lack authentic love. We invest too much self interest in our prayer and neglect to see it as an opportunity to pursue our Lover and deepen the intimate bond we have with God.

When we breathe our last, all that is of consequence is union with God. If my love for God is real, I am going to want to live the Gospel, abide by the commandments, practice my faith, forgive and love my neighbor, and care for the environment, regardless of how much time it takes or benefits me. We want God to think and behave as we do, and in doing so, we set ourselves up for disappointment. God has a totally different agenda and that’s okay.

©LPi
 

What right do we have to limit the amount and degree of forgiveness we show to others when we are so desperately in need of it ourselves? In not wanting someone who hurt us to downplay or forget the gravity of their wrong, we cling to anger, resentment, and wrath as a way of maintaining control. It is a way to acknowledge and express our deep hurt. We fail to realize that in doing so we hold ourselves hostage to these destructive feelings and actually become mired in the bondage of sin. All we gain is further alienation from ourselves, others, and especially God. We are no longer free but tethered to all of this unresolved negativity. Don’t we really want to let it go? The fact is that we need to.

A good self-reflective posture will quickly show us that when the shoe is on the other foot and we are the ones in need of forgiveness, we desire it above anything else. This is especially true with our relationship with God. It is hypocritical to want one thing for ourselves and something else for another. Yet, many act in precisely this way.

Perhaps we think that in offering forgiveness, even for the most grievous of wrongs, somehow excuses the person of their wrong and makes it almost acceptable. This is what makes revenge, retaliation, and punishment so attractive. We see forgiveness as being an eraser that easily wipes away the offense without consequence. Or, we may believe that in offering forgiveness I must somehow forget the wrong and open myself as a victim of even greater possible hurts in the future. In fact, forgiving my sister or brother of their wrongful actions or attitudes involves none of this. It does not erase anything or position me vulnerably as a doormat to be walked on.

Forgiveness is an act of freedom that restores honest dialogue, shares true, and heartfelt feelings and acknowledges the consequences of an action. It admits that the wrong has caused a hurt that must be healed and squarely positions responsibility on the offender. The act of forgiveness recognizes our sinfulness and brokenness. It also admits that the most saintly among us is capable of doing very grave and deep harm to another person. It sees that we all can be victims of our passions and works in progress that deserve unlimited chances to get it right. With forgiveness, I release myself from the bonds of negativity and pursue a path of restoration, wholeness, and healing. I do not forget the wrong nor do I dismiss it. Sometimes, we have to stay far away from the one who hurt us. But we can still heal internally and be free.

For the one who wants to be forgiven and the one who needs offer forgiveness, the journey can be an adventure in learning what brought us to this place and what is needed to move forward. This is exactly how God treats us. Why would we not want to do the same for others?

©LPi

It’s all about reconciliation and conversion, not punishment. Relationships are not static adventures but wonderful gifts that continue to develop, grow, change, and mature. We are meant to be social beings, so isolating ourselves from others is rarely helpful. But, because human beings are on the one hand tremendously gifted, talented, and blessed creations, they are on the other also flawed, broken, and sinful. We all need to humbly admit that we are works in progress and not only capable of enriching each other’s lives but causing deep hurts and wounds as well. Hence, we always need to be reconciled. We are always growing, changing, and expanding our knowledge of who we are and how we are meant to share life together.

Because reconciliation and conversion are always part of the mix of life, honesty is crucial. Without honesty, we can easily find ourselves living a lie and causing more harm than good. Being able to freely share our feelings, especially those involving pain and hurt, is a charism necessary to pursue and an art to learn. When we are wronged or wrong someone else, we do not enjoy the confrontation that can and needs to come. We are taught to keep our feelings to ourselves, especially when they are negative, and we tend to avoid difficult conversations. Hence, we never really learn how to confront another, successfully resolve conflict, find reconciliation, and welcome conversion. When we hurt or wrong someone, it does not mean that we are a bad or sinful person who deserves only punishment and excommunication. Quite the opposite! We are simply a human person who can make poor choices and sin and can be forgiven. We can restore and deepen the relationship that has been affected and find our way home again.

Jesus clearly wants to avoid shame because it has no purpose in achieving reconciliation and conversion. All broken relationships deserve a chance at reconciliation. Every person has room for growth and a need for conversion. We have to learn to be okay with honesty and not be afraid to hear and process what someone needs to say, even if it is difficult for us to hear. Severing a relationship, both personally or with the church community as a whole, ought to definitely be a last resort and only pursued when all else has failed.

©LPi
 

Secular pursuits only bring a temporary amount of satisfaction and fulfillment. As much as we may think that achieving worldly success, economic security, personal well-being, and self-fulfillment are worthy goals to obtain, they all are dependent on external variables and can lead to emptiness. We are trained to be very pragmatic and productive. Unless we are able to check off all of the boxes or comply with specific measurable requirements, our value and worth becomes questionable. Corporations, educational institutions, systems, structures, and secular ideology rarely consider deeper, more spiritual, and human contributions a person can and needs to make.

To the secular mind, the wisdom and ideals of the Gospel are making less and less sense. Consider for a moment this question: “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” While Jesus is asking this very challenging question to people who are considering his message, many in our world are in a quite different place. Whether we realize it, many folks are asking a much different question. Why would you not want to gain the whole world and secure your life? If you look at where a lot of folks are investing their time, energy, and resources, it becomes obvious where current priorities rest.

Modern day comforts and possibilities are backing us out of our relationship with God. The fire burning in every human heart is trying to find its satisfaction in the things that humans have created and not God. Being altruistic and offering compassion for those most in need becomes a political responsibility or responsible gesture. We realize that our hearts need to be centered on something and someone who calls us out of ourselves, but we struggle and battle with naming the source of that call. God places the desire to seek, find, and love Him in the core of every soul. We are not abandoned and left to fend for ourselves. But we can easily get confused. We know that when we extend ourselves to another self-sacrificially, we are doing what is just and right. We know that we can work through suffering and loss and come out better and more whole on the other side.

Our minds need to be renewed so that they can begin to understand that there is much more to who we are, and that faith plays a pivotal role in achieving our true and everlasting goals. It is when we see that it is only faith that can bring us to this heightened awareness of ourselves and God that it will begin to make sense. Then, we can put things in proper perspective and consider being a disciple.

©LPi