We hear about it virtually every day, sometimes there are actual acts of violence that pervade our news, sometimes it is simply stories that show either a general apathy that people display toward one another, sort of a casual indifference that still causes others considerable pain. Sometimes we simply hear about the plight of those who perhaps live in conditions that we would consider intolerable, and we ask ourselves how can our Lord allow all this to happen? We reach out to God and ask these questions, and sometimes point an accusing finger in His direction. The thing is, when do we get around to asking the more salient question – how can we allow this to happen?
Our Lord gave us what is perhaps the greatest gift that a creator could give to the created – a freedom of will that is unencumbered by any influence or coercion. We are trusted with a great deal of responsibility not only for ourselves, but also for those around us. I sometimes wonder if perhaps we have been given too much credit for our ability to exercise such tremendous responsibility. Yet I also know that with such granted freedom, comes the potential to grow into beings who are more worthy of being entrusted with so much.
In many respects right now, I believe it would be accurate to refer to us as unprofitable servants, because very often we are inclined to do only the minimum that is required of us to pursue our Lord’s teachings. We do what we are obliged to do through what we read in scripture, and in following Gods commandments. The thing is, where does this really leave us in terms of the fulfilling to our greatest potential the responsibility that we were each entrusted with when we were created in Gods image? Not very far along I suspect. Our Creator, like any good parent, knows our potential better than we know it ourselves, and if we really ponder it, it is painful to think about what He must feel when He sees us neglect one another, being subtly cruel to one another, and apathetic in our love for one another. We don’t necessarily break a commandment, but we certainly don’t fulfill our potential to be part of Gods salvific plan, or even His plan to allow for each of us to be provided for on the most basic levels to sustain our existence here on earth.
How can we sometimes ask for faith because we want to understand and bond to the things of Heaven, when we cannot even exercise the gifts, we have already been given? It’s like a small child asking for increased responsibility and freedom, when they cannot fulfill the most basic chores that their parents ask of them. Yet our Lord is unfathomably generous to us even here, when we ask with our hearts aligned to truly try to understand more of Gods ways, and even though we have so many failures in our past, our Lord looks beyond these with affection and optimism and allows us to try to strive for even greater things than we are likely capable of comprehending. Why? Again, I suspect that it has to do with potential that He sees in us. The potential to grow into people who can care for one another, not out of compulsion because of what we are commanded to do, but because our hearts guide us, and we actually desire to see others better off. If we can accomplish that we have succeeded in placing ourselves behind the needs of those around us. We have been able to love at the level of Agape – the same selfless love that Jesus Christ showed toward us. We then stop crying out about the injustices and poverties we see, and we instead silently resolve to put our energies and love toward changing things. Our faith, though perhaps small like that mustard seed, is there nonetheless to allow us to simply trust in His plan and be a part of it out of desire.
The Deacons Bench 