[The following is the forth segment of a six-part blog, and is a revised version of a Lenten reflection given to my Lay Dominican Chapter on March 11, 2024. All italicized names are references to sources that will be fully listed after the 6th segment. While I am a fan of gender inclusive language, for various reasons, I found it easier to stick to Paul’s terminology for purposes of this discussion.]
In the last three segments, we looked at how our spiritual life is about becoming one with God who is selfless and self-giving, how a part of our fallen nature (dubbed the “Old Man,” in reference to something in Paul’s letters) resists this union, how we have to give birth to the New Man, and how the Old Man sabotages our efforts to do so. Today, we want to tackle why the Old Man sabotages; why he can not see that God’s way is in his best interest.
In the book “God and His Image,” Fr. Barthelemy, analyzed the dialogue between Job and his friends, and concluded that humans have false perceptions about God, and that these misperceptions causes us to doubt whether God really cares for us. He then looked at the dialogue between Adam, Eve, and the serpent to explain the root of these fears and misperceptions. From this analysis he surmised that:
– Humans want the ability to be their own God; the right to determine right and wrong for themselves
– Humans want to believe that they are good, even when they do not do what they should
– Humans are uncertain about whether God has their best interest at heart
– Humans fear that God created them to be subordinate to him; that they are really his slaves
– Humans fear being exposed, being found “naked,” and being judged for what they really are – sinners.
In summary, the story of Adam and Eve helps us to understand that the Old Man living within each human subconscious doubts whether he can trust in divine providence and love. He fears that he is being lied to, held in check by these lies, and subordinated to God. Thus he sabotages any effort to bring the New Man to birth. Barthelemy. What the Old Man doesn’t understand is that in his desire to avoid being subordinate to God, he has in fact made himself a slave. When he convinces us to place ourselves in the spotlight, to feed our ego, or to order our activities around our desires, we become a slave to our passions. Garrigou-Lagrange.
To make matters worse, the Old Man believes that God thinks like a human, and that he responds to disrespect the same way we do. In human relations, we tend to nurture spite and ill will towards anyone who disrespects us. We sever relationships with that person until he or she performs some level of reparation (the more humiliating the better), and then slowly consider whether to let that person back in. Barthelemy.
I don’t know about you, but modern culture seems to confirm that we have these false perceptions, and that some of them may be rooted in our subconscious. How often do we say or hear others ask questions like why would a good God do or allow this or that? We live in a world in which God is sometimes linked to Old Testament beliefs of revenge, hatred, and violence. BXVI. We live in a world that demands retaliation when someone else does something we do not like, but mercy when it is us who wants the behavior to be seen as righteous. Our culture encourages us to look out for me, myself, and I, and to look down on others who do not see things the same way we do.
In our next segment, we will talk about how God heals these misperceptions.
In Him,
dw
© 2024 Debra Weldon
thoughtsofacrazywoman.blog 