Doctrine and life

DISTINCTION, yes, but not division or separation. That’s how we have to understand the relationship between doctrine and our life.

Another way of putting it could be the link between theory and practice. Ideally, these two should be together in an existential and mutually-affecting relationship.

They are not meant to be in conflict, even if their connection can involve some tension, normal given our human condition. We should not be surprised by this. We should not get nervous and react badly. Rather, we should see it as a challenge to find a way to repair and strengthen that relationship.

Doctrine is the human but inspired, or at least divinely assisted articulation of our faith or belief. That’s where the spiritual and supernatural enter our human way of understanding things.

Its origin is God who reveals himself in diverse ways, the fullness of which being Jesus Christ, God who became man, and continues to be so both here and in heaven. Through it, God’s revelation continues in time.

There’s obviously a human and natural aspect to it, much like the Son of God who assumed human nature and subjected himself to the human condition, warts and all. Doctrine is precisely an aspect of God’s incarnation. It’s God’s way of conveying to us the truth about him and about us.

The imperfection of its human condition should urge us to work for its perfectibility, rather than suppress our interest in it. The rigors of perfectibility should be a stimulus for us to move on, rather than a wet blanket asking us to stop.

This is where the tension arises. Both its divine and human dimensions are in constant efforts to attune themselves to each other—the spiritual to the material, the eternal to the temporal, the sacred to the mundane, etc., and vice-versa.

The divinity of the doctrine has to contend with the requirements of our human development which, as we all know, goes through stages and through historical, cultural, social conditionings, etc.

The absoluteness of the divine character of the doctrine does not take away the dynamic and evolving quality of its human aspect. We just have to find a way to maneuver properly in this kind of set-up, without getting lost and overly nervous but consistently focused and moving, learning and improving along the way.

Adding excitement to this interplay are the consequences of sin that distort the picture, both in a small and a big way. Again, we should not be surprised by these complexities. We have to be both game to it and determined to avoid being trapped by the wiles of sin.

Precisely because of this, we need to be both precise in our understanding of it and patient to its evolving character.

All these considerations should make us realize that we have to take the doctrine very seriously, immediately recognizing its divine character and its great importance and relevance to our life.

In spite of its human dimension, there is something sacred to it, worthy of our piety. Out attitude to it just cannot remain in the intellectual level. Much less should we regard it as an object of curiosity or opinion. We should not consider it as one more opinion among the many spewed out everyday by us.

We need to find ways of assimilating this doctrine more deeply. It should not just be skin-deep. It has to be the flesh of our flesh, converting it to life itself. We have to understand it not only as some kind of theory or ideology. It’s a living word meant to transform us.

Thus it requires study and a lot more. We should realize that when we study it, we are actually praying, we are actually listening to God in terms that are both human and divine.

There should be a certain devotion to it, or a quickness of heart to put what we realize into action. And this in a continuing fashion, so as not to break our contact with God. Thus, we have to sharpen our docility to it, learning how to make sacrifices since it surely will demand sacrifice and involve pain.

More than this, we also have to understand that it’s something that we need to spread around. It acquires more traction on our life the more we share it with others.

The goal to aim at is to make doctrine and life one.