THIS should be
no surprise to us, no breaking news. We
just have to acknowledge this very obvious fact and avoid
falling into
two extremes. One is that of perfectionism, when we think
everything
will just be rigidly perfect, and anything that stains
and distorts it
should be rejected at all costs. The other is complete
laxity, when we
think that just about anything should be ok with us.
Yes, we are in
an imperfect world, but a world that is
always in the process of perfecting itself through the
interplay of
God’s grace and our effort and correspondence to that
grace. We are in
a world in the making, a work in progress, aiming at
becoming “a new
heaven and a new earth.” (cfr. Jn 21,1)
Besides, what
makes our world more imperfect is that we
all have fallen into sin which would make our
correspondence to God’s
grace more complicated. Given this reality, we just have
to learn to
help one another to cope properly with this condition.
taking the initiative and bent on completing what he
started. Ours is
simply to play along with God’s will and ways, but
knowingly and
freely and lovingly, as befit our dignity as God’s image
and likeness,
as children of his. Our part, of course, is no laughing
matter. It
requires everything that we have got.
try our best to know what is right and wrong as defined
by God our
Creator, and live our life according to that law, we
should not ignore
the fact that evil will always be around, harassing us,
and we just
have to learn how to live with that.
Yes, we should
try always to be clean, even squeaky clean
as much as possible, but let’s not forget that one way or
another,
sooner or later, we somehow get dirty. So we just have to
learn to
clean ourselves again as soon as possible, and move on
without much
delay.
That we should
not be overly rigid in our desire to be
perfect is somehow illustrated in that parable of the
unjust or shrewd
steward. (cfr Lk 16,1-13) The steward was about to be
fired by his
master because he was reported to be squandering his
master’s goods.
Since he was
not too strong to dig and was ashamed to beg,
what he did to secure his future was to curry favor with
his master’s
debtors who hopefully would return the favour once he got
out of job.
The master
apparently knew about this but just the same he
commended the steward for acting with shrewdness. And
Christ, deriving
the lesson from that parable, said that while what the
steward did was
wrong, he did right in being shrewd.
Christ was
clear about not serving two masters, God and
mammon. But he also said, “make friends for yourselves by
unrighteous
mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an
everlasting
home.” (Lk 16,9)
What the
parable tries to tell us is that we should just
do what we can to survive, even if it is wrong. When we
would be
cornered already with no other possibility for survival,
we can play
shrewd. We should just make up later for whatever
wrongdoing we may be
pressured to do.
It’s like
saying that in this world, we cannot help but be
dirty, what with all the evil elements and powerful
structures of sin
around. We should just bear with it and try to clean
ourselves as soon
as the chance comes along.
Of course, if
the choice between good and evil takes place
at our final moment, there is no doubt that we should
just learn to
suffer the inconveniences of good over the perks of evil.
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