Tuesday, September
20, 2016
A Proverb from today’s first
reading:
All the ways of a man may be right in his
own eyes,
but it is the Lord who proves hearts. (Prov.
21:2)
One of the effects of original
sin is that we are born with a certain kind of blindness; that is, the
inability to assess accurately the rightness or wrongness of our actions. It
started at the very beginning with the sin of Eve. When she took the fruit from
the tree and ate it, she was convinced that she was doing the right thing
because Satan had distracted and confused her, and provided her with a right
reason for doing what she did.
This happens to us as well,
doesn’t it? Especially at times when we need to make good moral decisions. The
sad truth is that we can almost always convince ourselves (or does the convincing
come from the evil one?) that what we are doing is right.
Our higher nature always desires
what is good and true and beautiful, and what will make us truly happy. The
problem is that our “lower” nature deceives us and causes us to make wrong assessments
of the goodness, truth and beauty of what we are being tricked into accepting.
I remember being in religion
class many, many years ago, and having a teacher tell us that a bank robber is
convinced that what he is doing is going to make him happy. Of course, in the
long run, he finds out that he was wrong, because his action failed to take
into consideration its consequences.
AA has a motto that says “think
it through.” This is a helpful notion. “What will happen if I disobey the Lord’s
command not to eat the fruit of this particular tree?” would have been the
right question to ask, but the tempter had so confused her thinking that she
became convinced that the consequences of her action would be good.
How about us? Where can we go,
at times when we have to make a decision, to get a more accurate assessment of
the reality of our actions and choices? To a trusted friend, to a therapist or
spiritual director, to a counselor or to a member of the clergy . . . just a
few of the resources we can use at times like these. Of course, the greatest
resource of all is prayer. As for me personally, I find that as a result of
meditation (where I am not asking any questions), I emerge better equipped to
make a wise decision, yet still I will often “check it out” with one of my
mentors if and when I can.
How about you?
God bless you this day!
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