There’s an idea I’ve been trying to synthesize for a while but can’t quite find the best way to describe it, so I may as well think out loud here.
The thesis is this: Faith demands something from you. A faith that makes no demands requires nothing.
Here’s another way of putting it: It is perfectly unobjectionable to live according to the world. Living according to God is hard work.
A Faith that demands nothing from you gets nothing, and offers nothing. A Faith that demands everything from you and receives everything, can offer you everything.
Living unobjectionably according to the world. In Communion with the world, one might say. It’s comfortable. You have plenty of people who agree with and support you. Your opinions can always be spoken out loud, to popular acclaim. Communion with the world demands something of you, but it’s not difficult to give: give over your mind. Let the world do the thinking for you. Bask in the warmth of universal approval.
Living according to God, in communion with God. It’s uncomfortable. You are weak, and are called to acknowledge that by your power alone you cannot become strong. Your opinions are hated by the world. Some actions are bad? What? An objective measure of morality? Obedience to a King? These are unfathomable to the world. These will always be rejected by the world–they will never be the majority opinion. Communion with God demands something of you–but it’s hard to give: Give over your life. Abandon yourself to Divine Providence. Bask in the warmth of God’s tender love just for you.
On this Good Friday, the commemoration of the murder of our God by the world, these are things I was thinking about.
God bless you all.
AMDG
Times-Dispatch of Vichy Earth 