Lent: Day Ten

I don’t believe that everything that happens is God’s will"I never have. I guess I understand in theory how people assume that. If God is in charge of everything, then nothing could happen apart from God’s will. Yet, I see a lot of evidence against that.

First, the “All-Powerful” or “Almighty” in the New Testament is the word Παντοκράτωρ (Pantocrator, derived from pan"“All” and kratos"“ruling power”), meaning “All-governing” not “All-powerful.” If God is All-governing, doesn’t that prove that God is responsible for all that happens? No more than the Federal Government is responsible for all that happens in the USA"floods, riots, storms, car accidents, etc. The Federal Government governs the entire nation, and yet a lot of things happen that oppose what the Federal Government as a whole wants to happen, or is motivated to bring about. But what about the Hebrew name El Shaddai, that means “Almighty” doesn’t it? No. There is a lot of debate as to it’s real meaning from “God the Destroyer,” “God who stops creating,” “God of the mountain,” and the one I favor, “God is sufficient.”

Second, Jesus strongly implies (if not clearly states) that things can happen that are not God’s will. Jesus tells us “Not everyone who calls me ‘Lord,’ will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but only those who do what my Father in heaven wants him to do” (Mt. 7:21). If only those who do what the Father wants them to do"do God’s will"enter the Kingdom of Heaven, and there will be some who will not enter the Kingdom, then some are not doing God’s will, which means they are making things happen that are not God’s will. Therefore, not everything that happens is God’s will.

Third, if one accepts the reality of Satan, or even accepts Satan as a concept or symbol or ideal, one is accepting that there is a force that is actively working against God’s will, and which seeks to undermine it. Now, if you abandon that idea as being old-fashioned or hokey or primitive, then you do have to start blaming God for all that’s bad, and I can see how God’s “goodness” would then be called into question. But if you accept that there is evil, and even if that evil is somehow passive"an absence of God, or a passive perversion of what is good"then that evil would still not be God’s will. If evil is active, then it is actively opposing God, resulting in something other than God’s will.

Fourth, free will makes it possible that God’s will may not happen. Human being were given the gift of free will by God, and God does not violate that gift. God gives us the free will to use our money to feed a starving child or to buy a Lexus"and then when we use it to buy a Lexus, we wonder why God isn’t feeding the child. God gave you the free will to do it, and you chose to use your free will to be selfish, or to fill a void in your ego, believing an expensive car will give you the status you feel you lack, so the child starves. Yet, the child doesn’t starve because God wills it, the child starves because we will it"not directly of course, but indirectly by deciding that human need is subordinate to personal wants.

So, let me repeat, I do not believe that everything that happens is God’s will. There is much that happens in this world that is not God’s will. So when I was reading St. Alphonsus Liguori who says in many places to treat all that happens as God’s will, I was disheartened and annoyed. I had to take a couple of days and re-read and meditate on it. Then I realized that he said to “TREAT” it as God’s will, not that it IS God’s will. What others do to me, what tragedies and circumstances I may face may not actually be God’s will, but if I can find the spiritual discipline to treat them as though they are, then I can respond in a manner that is in keeping with God’s will"and that’s the important part. Even if things happen to me, or others, that are not God’s will, my response is to be God’s will. So if I treat it as God’s will, while praying for God’s will to be done"in my life, in my person, and through me"then God’s will will change the situation so that it conforms to God’s will, and my response is in part how God brings His will about, making me a partner with God’s will. This attitude is in line with St. Benedict’s sixth step toward humility:

BE CONTENT IN EVERYTHING, NO MATTER HOW MODEST OR DEGRADING.

When I am humble, I can be grateful for the thing itself, not the value I, or others, impart to the thing. If I accept all that I am, and all that I have, as God’s will, then I will be content with what I have because it is a gift from God. No task is menial if it is God’s will"I would rather scrub toilets in heaven, then be President in hell. I would rather scrub toilets on earth if it is God’s will, have all the wealth and possibilities of Donald Trump if it isn’t God’s will.

I’ve already noted that life isn’t fair, and that this works for me as much, if not more, than it works against me. Yet, when it works against me, I behave as if it is the worst thing that ever happened, forgetting all the times it worked in my favor. And even when “life isn’t fair” has worked in my favor, I didn’t treat it or behave as if it were the best thing that ever happened. I behaved as if I was entitled to it.

My pride determines that I am entitled; my humility declares I am entitled to nothing. My pride says “I deserve this”; my humility says, “I don’t deserve any of this. It is all a gift.” My pride says, “It’s mine”; my humility says, “It belongs to God and is only in my care. If God wants it back, I have lost nothing, but am grateful for the time I had it. If God gives it to another, I have lost nothing, but am grateful for the time I had it.”

St. Paul says to Timothy:

For we brought nothing into the world, just as we shall not be able to take anything out of it. If we have food and clothing, we shall be content with that. Those who want to be rich are falling into temptation and into a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evils, and some people in their desire for it have strayed from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains. (1 Tim. 6:7-10)

If I die with nothing, what have I lost? Nothing! I came into this world with nothing, and any of the things I may have acquired along the way aren’t mine, because I can’t take them with me when I leave this world. They are God’s, meant to be used in this world. But if I am not satisfied with what I have, and crave more, I will end up hurting others to get what I desire. I believe that how we use our money is the clearest reflection of how well we are doing, or not doing, God’s will.

So this step is for me to learn to be content in all things and with all things. This may be reflected in the saying: Happiness isn’t having what you want, but wanting what you have.”

Things to do to demonstrate that I am satisfied and content with all I have and all that I am:

1) Thank God for what I have. Many times throughout the day.

2) Tell myself that whatever I have is a gift, not an entitlement. (This includes people too.)

3) Don’t strive for the “best” or the most expensive, but actively seek what is modest. I don’t need the best or most expensive car or house or clothes or computer or food or anything else. A $10,000 car and a $100,000 car both have the same function.

4) Don’t use things as a way to show off.

5) Don’t complain about anything I have.

Feel free to add to the list!