WE have heard this warning from Christ himself. It´s kind of strange, something that does not sit well with common sense. But life itself proves it over and over again, up to now.
¨Many that are first shall be last, and the last shall be first.¨ (Mt 19,30) This admonition is somehow embedded in the beatitudes where Christ blessed the poor in spirit, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for justice, for theirs will be the kingdom of heaven, for they shall possess the earth, they shall have their fill, etc.
It is the divine logic that leads us to our true happiness given our weakened, wounded human condition here on earth. St. Paul reiterated the same mentality when he said, ¨The foolish things of the world has God chosen, that he may confound the wise. And the weak things of the world has God chosen, that he may confound the strong.¨ (1 Cor 1,27)
The passage of time has given me more than enough pieces of evidence to prove the veracity of such words. I´ve seen people hard up and struggling when young, but are now successful in life. And, sadly, also the reverse—people floating in privileges and good life when young, but are now having a hard time.
I´ve seen ´provincianos´ who in their formative years were clearly handicapped and disadvantaged economically, culturally, socially, etc., but hardworking, with a lot of faith, enjoying much better life now than their urban counterparts who had all the perks in life in their moldable years.
We for sure do not know the whole story of each case, and so we cannot and should not make definitive judgments. God´s providence, always driven by wisdom, justice as well as mercy that are stretched to infinity, can work in mysterious ways that can surprise us and even contradict our reasonings. But we cannot deny that Christ´s words are true.
These words of Christ are a call for us to guard our heart from the dangers of complancency, pride, vanity. We need to keep it fully given to God, an attitude that does not impoverish our heart but would rather enrich it, enhancing its capabilities.
We have to be wary of the intricate tendencies and behavior of our human heart. It always needs to be filled up with something. It cannot remain empty and idle, because it will always look for something. And in this, we have a duty to fulfill.
Thus, we have to realize that the true home of our heart is God himself, from whom we came and to whom we belong. As God´s image and likeness, and more as children of his, we cannot develop our life simply on our own. Our life has to be a life with God. Our thoughts, our desires, even our feelings, have to be also the thoughts, desires and feelings of God.
We need tremendous humility to realize this. Thus, those with humbling circumstances find it easier to realize this very fundamental truth about ourselves than those whose conditions lead them to have a good life.
Of course, it is always possible that those who are already hard up even worsen their situation by hardening in their peculiar pride or by losing faith and hope. Of this type, we also can see a lot of examples.
And the reciprocal condition is also true. Many of those who enjoy good life, precisely because they remain humble and focused on God, continue to improve personally, and enjoy better quality of life.
It´s really a matter of where we put our heart. Is it on God or on us? Do we grow more in humility and faith, or do we allow ourselves to get complacent and self-satisfied, the wide road toward pride and vanity, and to perdition?
We have to be wary of the many good talents and other endowments we have. If we ae not careful, these can be instruments of our own destruction, rather than the means to attain our perfection.
We should always be thankful for them, an attitude that will always bring us back to God and relate these gifts to God´s will, and not just to ours. It may be an attitude that is likely to be misunderstood by worldly standards, but it is one that truly proper to us, leading us to our authentic joy.
Remember our Lady´s Magnificat. It´s the same logic. ¨He has scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He has put down the mightly from their seat, and has exalted the humble.¨
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