This is the fruit of some prayer. It might be a walk so please bear with me.
- Love includes and is frequently characterized as willing the good of another.
- Experiencing pain at the good fortune of another is disordered because it is selfish or envious–one wants that good fortune for oneself.
- Experiencing joy at the misfortune of others is disordered because it doesn’t desire the good of another.
- Pain at the misfortune of others is ordered because it is empathetic; one feels the pain of the other and wills their consolation.
- Joy at the fortune of others is ordered because it is sympathetic, good news for others is the fruit of willing their good, and cause for joy.
- Willing the good of another allows one to share in the good of another.
- Sharing in the good of another means more than being happy that they are happy, but being happy for the same reason they are happy.
- NB: It is possible for people to be happy for reasons that are disordered, I am not referring to those circumstances. Willing the properly ordered good allows one to share in that properly ordered good.
- To be happy that they are happy is good, because the response of the joy of another is joy, which is ordered.
- To be happy for the same reason they are happy is better, because their good is your good, per se.
- The human condition is intimately connected. Doctrine states that the sin of one affects everyone around them; it makes sense that the good of one has an equal and opposite effect.
- Willing the good of another is not selfish in itself because the object is not the good of the self. Good of the self is a de minimis benefit of willing the good of another.
- Sharing in the good of another means more than being happy that they are happy, but being happy for the same reason they are happy.
- I, personally, struggle at times to internalize these ideas.
- The last year has seen a lot of good fortune for a lot of people around me.
- In moments of despair I have thought, “when is it my turn” or been frustrated that certain things I desired have not materialized in the way I wanted, but rather materialized in accordance with God’s will.
- NB: Loving God means willing God’s good; but God is goodness, so rather it means willing what God wills and being happy that God wills it.
- NB: My life has not been devoid of good fortune, but there are certain fortunes others have that I would like to also have. This is pain at the good fortune of others, which I have established is selfish and envious.
- In Prayer, thinking “Why do I have so little good fortune for myself”, the thought I was led to was “I have more good fortune than any of these others, individually, because God has allowed me to share in the good fortune of so many people.”
- Said another way: “No good fortune? What do you think all that good news was for?”
- I have been happy that they are happy but not for the same reason that they are happy.
- I must prayerfully move beyond being happy that they are happy and make their reasons for joy my reasons for joy.
I hope this stream of consciousness is fruitful for others. Point #4 fell on me like a hammer, and I cannot rid myself of it. Once I see truth, I must assimilate it.
AMDG
Times-Dispatch of Vichy Earth 