Life’s unavoidable dirt

WE cannot deny that no matter how much we try to keep

ourselves clean, not only physically but also morally and spiritually,

we cannot avoid the dirt that there is always in the world.

            Some of this dirt today can appear to be so nice that we

can feel at home with it already. We should not be afraid to get

dirty, without compromising what is essential in life. And if we fall,

we should know what to do.

            Yes, nowadays we have to contend with formidable, almost

irresistible moral dirt, since we have to grapple not only with

clearly evil things but also with the many confusing elements that mix

good and evil. These can be produced by powerful structures of sin

that are now deeply embedded even in today’s world culture. Just

consider the wide network of corruption and pornography in the world

today.

            While we have to be realistic and acknowledge this fact of

life as objectively as possible, and learn how to live with it, we

cannot be naïve and think that everything is just fine. We have to do

something about it. We have to regularly clean ourselves up, much like

our need to take a shower everyday and wash ourselves every so often

to keep ourselves clean.

            That’s why we have to regularly pray and offer sacrifices,

make many acts of contrition and atonement, regularly go to confession

and receive our Lord in Holy Communion. These spiritual and

supernatural means are very effective since not only would we be

reliant on our own powers but we also let God’s power to protect us.

            More than that, we have to develop our spiritual combat

skills and a certain kind of immunity from the world’s dirt so that we

would not be unduly affected by them. We have to develop the

appropriate defense mechanisms, learning how to ignore certain things

while intensifying our presence of God.

            Still more, we have to undertake the duty of cleaning up

not only ourselves individually but also of helping to clean up others

and the world in general.

            Of course, we have to start with our own selves. And in

this regard, it would be helpful to educate our conscience to be most

sensitive and clear about what is morally right and wrong without

falling into scrupulosity and paranoia. We also have to train our

conscience to be resistant to all evils, knowing how to ride them out

without falling into laxity and insensitivity.

            It also helps to develop a sporting spirit and a good

sense of humor, since these would facilitate our survival in the

unavoidable disappointments, worries, fears, failures, etc. that we

can expect to happen as we tackle the drama of our daily life.

            We have to have a clear understanding of the kind of

cooperation in evil that is tolerable. This is what is called the

material cooperation in evil, not the formal one. We can have recourse

to this when we somehow are forced or pressured to be in a situation

where some cooperation in evil is unavoidable. In fact, nowadays there

is hardly any instance when we do not cooperate in evil one way or

another. So we have to be prepared for this.

            It is also good that even as we keep ourselves clean and

adequately protected from the world’s unavoidable dirt, we should also

instill in ourselves a keen desire to clean up the world. We can

always start somewhere—at home, in the neighborhood, in the schools

and offices, in the media, in the fields of entertainment, business,

politics and sports, etc.

            For this we have to be truly strong so we can handle the

formidable challenge well. This is where we can indulge in some

healthy kind of activism, pursuing advocacies that are for the good of

all.