God Turns All to Good

45 years ago, I was a Naval officer aboard a ship in the Philippines when I got the word that my mom was near death. The cancer she had battled for so long would finally take her. My commanding officer granted me emergency leave and I somehow managed to make it back to the states in near record time. The trip from halfway around the world involved a series of flights aboard several military and civilian aircraft. Arriving at Boston's Logan Airport, I was met by my dad and brother who drove me straight to the hospital in Hyannis on Cape Cod. 

My first look at Mom as I entered her room told me she wouldn't be with us much longer. Her words merely confirmed this. She looked up at me and said, "Okay, Lord, now I can die."

We spent some time together in prayer but at one point she said, "Dana, I've learned that everything is a gift. Even this horrid disease is a gift because it has taught me so much." 

Of course, as a 30-something Navy pilot, I didn't have a clue. How could she say that? A gift? No, this was a tragedy! Still in her sixties, she had suffered too much for far too long. I simply didn't understand what she meant and didn't try to grasp her meaning.

It took some time, actually a couple of decades, for her words to make sense to me. Sometimes that's how God works in our lives. He waits until we are properly disposed to understand His Word and then He reveals it to us in ways we can accept. In my case it came thanks to many others who, like Mom, were seriously ill and facing death. Their attitudes and words mirrored Mom's, forcing me to seek understanding. 

And then, one day, I read a letter by one of my favorite writers, Flannery O'Connor. Throughout her adult life, O'Connor had suffered from Lupis, a disease that would ultimately take her at the age of 39. Referring to her illness, O'Connor wrote these words to a friend:

"I have never been anywhere but sick. In a sense sickness is a place, a very instructive place, and it's always a place where there's no company, where nobody can follow. Sickness before death is a very appropriate thing and I think those who don't have it miss one of God's mercies." [The Habit of Being, p. 163]

"...one of God's mercies." One senses that O'Connor, too, realized all is a gift for those who strive to accept God's will for them. 

This morning I was reminded of this again. Listening to the news, we were told that Rush Limbaugh died a year ago today. As the news show briefly covered this anniversary of his death, they showed a video of Limbaugh, apparently just days before he died. Speaking to his nationwide audience, it seemed as if he were consoling them as he said:

"There's good in everything that happens, if you look for it."

Yes, indeed, we encounter many examples of people who came to realize and accept the goodness in so much the world considers bad. Of course, St. Paul said it best, didn't he?

"We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose" [Romans 8:28].

God's peace...

Modern Gnostics

(This is the second -- and probably the final -- post on gnosticism and its presence in today's world, a sequel to my earlier post: Roots of Modern Gnosticism)

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When we examine ancient gnosticism's modern successors, we encounter a change, or a progressive movement that renounces God, or really any belief in a vertical, other-worldly transcendence. Gone, then, is the “hidden God” of the ancient gnostics, replaced by a horizontal belief in a closed historical process manipulated by a revolutionary elite. According to these elitists, these modern gnostics, only they can understand the process as history moves inexorably forward, one step after another. 

For the gnostic, the old world -- that is, traditional society and its institutions -- must be destroyed to make way for the new. Change, then, means destruction. This transformation will take place thanks to the knowledge -- the gnosis -- possessed by the elite who will manage the process. We see shades of this gnostic thought among politicians, intellectuals, academics, revolutionaries, media pundits, and others who desire to transform the world through programs run by experts, by those in the know. In other words, the gnostic, rejecting the God who acts in and redeems the world, believes in self-salvation through human knowledge.

Eric Voegelin, one of the more stable and believable 20th-century philosophers, reminds us of the gnostic's "prohibition of questions." Using Karl Marx as an example, Voegelin describes Marx's unwillingness to answer questions as central to his philosophy. To paraphrase Marx: For socialist man, questions become an impossibility. When socialist man speaks, man must be silent. Indeed, for Marx, questioning his thought "becomes a practical impossibility." 

Interestingly, Rudolf Hőss, the commander of the infamous Nazi death camp at Auschwitz, when asked at trial why he did not question or disobey the horrific extermination orders, replied that such a thought would never even occur to him. "Something like that was just completely impossible...I had to carry it out," he said. Yes, indeed, for all socialists questions become "a practical impossibility." It matters little whether they are communists (international socialists) or Nazis (national socialists) or run-of-the-mill socialists (democratic socialists), since they employ identical tactics -- some just more subtle than others -- when it comes to exerting power over others. Too many people have forgotten, or perhaps never knew, that the word, “Nazi,” was shorthand for the full name of the political party founded by Adolph Hitler, the Nationalsozialtische Deutsche Arbeiterpartie, or the National Socialist Workers Party. There is really very little difference between extremists on the left or right. 

[Note: If you have about 22 minutes to watch a homily that addresses the role of Divine Mercy in the conversion of Rudolf Hőss before his execution, watch the video I've embedded below. As my eighth-grade teacher, Sister Francis Jane, often said, "You might be surprised whom you meet in heaven...assuming you get there."]

We see this prohibition of questions, too, in the response of today's leftists to serious questions, a response that inevitably centers on attacking the questioner. The gnostic mob -- regardless of what it calls itself -- silences its questioners with personal attacks, both verbal and physical, and with noise. It screams it’s irrational chants as it tries to destroy the symbols and ultimately the foundation of the existing society.

The gnostic "spirit", however, is largely a revolt against God. Marx, in his doctoral dissertation, provides us with the perfect example of this. Like Prometheus, Marx writes:  

In a word, “I hate all the gods” is its own confession, its own verdict against all the gods heavenly and earthly who do not acknowledge human self-consciousness as the supreme deity. There shall be none beside it.

The Marxist, a true modern gnostic, rebels against the cosmic order created by God and, therefore, rebels against God Himself. But today's gnostic knows that such a revelation might well undermine his legitimacy in a world that still largely accepts a transcendent God who cares for His creation. And so, the gnostic must deceive, knowingly deceive, and perpetuate an ideological shell game. It's a game that cannot  succeed in the long run; but in the short-run some very nasty things can happen, as they have in the past and are happening in the present.

Fascism and communism are both manifestations of the modernist and socialist ideology that rejects God. In a sense they embrace the first sin in Eden — “you, too, shall be like gods” — and like all evils attempt to imitate good but ultimately embrace the culture of death. From the beginning of recorded history to 1900, governments murdered an estimated 133 million of their own citizens. Between 1901 and 1987, governments killed nearly 170 million of their own citizens. Stalin slaughtered 41 million, Mao 35 million, and Hitler 21 million. Another 38,5 million died in state-sponsored wars during the same period. 

If you can make your way through such modern philosophers as Heidegger, Hegel, Nietzsche, and Marx you will encounter the core of modern gnostic thought. Marx was probably the most influential, although Nietzsche was certainly the most readable. Yes, they were all intellectuals, but those who took their ideology into the streets — Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and all the rest — were really just thugs. In fact, once the thugs gained control, the intellectuals and the academics were usually the first to go. During the so-called “Cultural Revolution” in Communist China (1962-1976), Mao first adopted the slogan, “Never Forget Class Struggle.” Under this slogan Mao encouraged the students to rise up against their teachers who were labeled bourgeois intellectuals. The students, who evolved into the infamous and brutal Red Guards, beat and imprisoned their teachers. Mao even attacked the party itself because he believed too many of its functionaries were insufficiently revolutionary. This phase was spurred on by the slogan, “Sweep Away All Monsters and Demons.” Mao later demanded the Red Guards erase all vestiges of the old culture, which led these young thugs to attack virtually everyone. Destruction was universal — churches, temples, shops, libraries, cemeteries, museums, monuments, statues, even pets were destroyed — and countless people were slaughtered. The entire process was orchestrated by Mao as a form of directed anarchy, violence from below but with approval from above.

Under Marxism — and, folks, socialism, even Bernie’s and AOC's so-called “democratic socialism,” is founded on Marxist principles — human beings are seen as socially determined by their historical and material circumstances; they are not defined by their infinite worth before a transcendent God. According to Marx himself, Marxist revolution implies “the replacement of religion by politics as the source of man’s liberation, since evil is a consequence of society...and not of an original sin,” and it ultimately leads to an ennoblement of violence and the extinction of ethics. 

Revolutionary ethics sees its own version of violence as liberating, unlike what it claims is the repressive violence of the established order. Marxism approves of the former as the means to overcome the latter. We will continue to encounter this "liberating" violence so long as those who should know better continue to support and bankroll violent revolutionaries.

Barack Obama called for the "fundamental transformation of America" but to the far left these words simply mean total revolution. And in total revolution violence becomes just fine, a necessary tool to achieve the complete alteration of the society. Ethics, too, at least ethics as we know it, becomes meaningless, since such concepts as justice, freedom, and morality are incompatible with revolution because they represent and legitimize the existing order which must be destroyed. Oh, these words and others like them will be parroted to recruit those who believe society is oppressing them, but to the revolutionary they mean little. 

Because the modern gnostic elites believe they know better than the masses, they really can’t stand the thought of the uninitiated being free to use the gifts God has given them. For the same reason, elitists, whether of the liberal or revolutionary variety, always crave power. For the revolutionary, the only acceptable form of democracy is mob rule, the democracy of violence which for them is the pathway to power. Liberal elites are more subtle and strive to convince the masses to trust them because they know better, all the while working within “the system” to undermine the people’s freedom. Publicly they minimize the violence of the revolutionaries, although they fear it could get out of hand and threaten their personal power. And yet this same fear leads them to continue their quiet support of the revolutionaries.

A recent Rugters University study found that the social media profiles of some anarchists gained hundreds of thousands of followers since May. According to Pamela Paresky, one of the study's co-authors:  

"The systematic, online mobilization of violence was well-planned, coordinated (in real tme), and celebrated by explicitly violent anarchy-socilaist networks that rode on the coattails of peaceful protest...The ability to continue to spread and to eventually bring more violence, including a violent insurgency, relies on the ability to hide in plain sight -- to be confused with legitimate protest, and for the media and the public to minimize the threat."

As I mentioned in a recent post -- Madness Rising -- the similarities with the early years of the Russian Revolution are striking. 

What’s behind it all? For the true believers, it”s driven by their ideology and their quest for power. For the followers, Lenin’s “useful idiots”, I really believe that too many today simply refuse to recognize that which is good, that which is beautiful. Modern education has taught them that the world of man lacks goodness, and the wonders and beauty of God’s creation escapes them. Lacking moral imagination, the concept of sin and disorder in the human soul means nothing to them. How can it, since they reject the very idea of the goodness of creation by a transcendent, loving God who acts in the world? One gets the impression they’re just bored with it all.

There is much evil in the world today, but that’s nothing new. The evil — and that means Satan and all his followers — are unable to fathom the motives of the good. We see evidence of this in the way so many haters simply cannot understand religious values, particularly Christian values. One need olny read the mainstream media's coverage of things Christian, and especially that related to the Catholic CHurch.

We who believe, though, live on in trust and in hope; and hope is knowledge, the firm knowledge that "all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose" [Rom 8:28]. God will indeed bring all things to good because the good is far more powerful than any evil and will emerge the victor.

Life and Death, Good and Evil

Gustave Dore: Paradise Lost - Satan

A few days ago, while driving to the dealership to get some service done on my car, I hit the wrong button on the steering wheel and found myself listening to what I guess was a local preacher here in central Florida. I had hoped to select one of the satellite radio stations but obviously didn't. (This happens a lot. The radio in this new car is more complicated than all the combined systems of the first car I owned back in the 1960s.) But instead of trying again, I found myself captivated by this preacher's voice, until he said something that took me by surprise. This is what I heard, at least as near as I can recall:

The world is evil, brothers and sisters, every bit of it. Satan rules the world and God made the devil to tempt us, and He made the evil world to challenge us. But most people have failed the challenge. They have succumbed. Because just like the world, people are evil, through and through. Evil is a part of our very human nature. And we can't overcome it, not without God's help. The only way to salvation is to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Once you do that, Jesus becomes your shield and protects you from all the evil of the world. And those who don't accept Jesus will spend eternity in the fires of hell.  Salvation is as simple as that.

Wow! Now this was certainly a simple although rather grim solution to the issues of life and death and salvation. I didn't listen to any more but simply changed the station. I know neither the preacher's name nor his denomination, and the above isn't a word-for-word transcript -- my aging memory isn't that good -- but I believe it's pretty accurate and certainly captures the intent and meaning of what he had to say. I also know that his beliefs are certainly not held by the vast majority of Christian denominations with which I am familiar. And yet I couldn't help but wonder how many people believe what this preacher apparently believes.

Afterwards, as I made my way through traffic listening to some Vivaldi, I thought about what I had heard and considered how most errant thought usually contains some snippets of truth, but buried in a mound of false teachings. My next thought was how joyless such a distorted version of Christianity must be. How could someone who holds such beliefs ever be moved by a Beethoven symphony, or a Bach fugue or prelude, or a good, down-home country-western song? How could one appreciate the artistry of Michelangelo, or Monet, or even Picasso or Dali? How could he take in and appreciate the beauty of a tropical sunset, or the grandeur of the Grand Canyon, or the incredible vastness of the universe? How could such a person enjoy even life's simple things, like a good  home-cooked meal? What kind of life must it be for someone who sees the world and everything in it as evil?

Of course, such false teachings have been around a long time. They appeared as a form of gnosticism early in the Church's history and actually made serious inroads among Christians. Because of that problem with Jesus taking on our human nature, gnostics followed their logic and ended up rejecting His divinity, or the Incarnation, or His humanity, or all three. Some gnostics believed that the God of the Old Testament, the God of the Jews, was not the same as the God of Jesus Christ. This Old Testament God, they believed, was an evil God, the creator of matter. As you can see, such beliefs are in sharp contrast with those taught by the Church. In fact, John the Apostle quite likely wrote his first letter to counter these beliefs in the early Church. And as our preacher proved, gnosticism in some form is still around today.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church: A Guide to Truth

This is why I find it so comforting to be a believing and practicing Catholic. Jesus promised He would be with His Church until the "end of the age" [Mt 28:20] just as He promised the Holy Spirit would guide the Church "to all truth" [Jn 16:12]. And guided by that Spirit, the Church, for 2,000 years, has been constant and consistent in its teachings on faith and morals. And so through its teaching authority it provides the faithful with the truth as revealed by the Holy Spirit. This doesn't mean that all of us in the Church aren't sinners, for indeed we are. We can and do commit sin. Like St. Peter, we can even deny the Lord, and like St. Peter we, too, can repent and go on to live a life of courage and humility in complete obedience to the will of the Father. But despite the sinfulness of its members, the Church itself, the Bride of Christ, remains as the bulwark of truth, or as St. Paul described it, "the Church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth" [1 Tim 3:15].

For example, the Church has always taught that God does not create evil. Indeed, this is the one thing that God cannot do, because God is goodness itself and evil cannot come from good. Doing so would be contrary to God's nature. Remember, even Satan and his fellow demons were once angels, spiritual creatures created for good. Created with an intellect and a will, they could know and they could choose. God didn't make them turn to evil; this was a decision made by each of them.

The Church has also always taught that material creation itself is certainly not evil. Indeed, in Genesis we are constantly reminded how God looked upon His creation "and saw how good is was" [Gn 1]. We are called to use the things of this world in good ways, in ways that do not promote evil, in ways that do not create obstacles to our salvation or the salvation of others. And just like the fallen angels, men and women can choose evil. Evil isn't some "thing" in the world that attacks us and turns us from God. No evil is something you and I can choose instead of the good. How did Jesus put it?

"But what comes out of a person, that is what defiles. From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile" [Mk 7:20-23].

This doesn't mean that our nature is inherently evil; it simply means that our intellect and will enable us to know and to choose, and that the choices we make are ours. And so the Church has always defended the goodness of our human nature. For how could it be inherently evil if God Himself -- He who is all goodness -- created us in His image: "God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them" [Gn 1:27]? And would the Son, the eternal and creative Word of God, become like one of us and take on our human nature if our nature was evil?

Michelangelo's Creation of Adam - Sistine Chapel ceiling - Rome

Yes, God's creation  is good. Although every day we spend in it presents us with risks, God also promises that the end will be greater than anything we can imagine: "What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him" [1 Cor 2:9]. 

We should rejoice in it and be glad.

Pax et bonum...