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Re (1): Woman Born Beautiful: Children and Children's Stories
IP: 146.7.17.98
Posted on April 7, 2005 at 06:59:38 PM by Eric
Diana,
You make a good point: understanding morality is indeed not automatically synonymous with moral behavior. And yet the advantage with your brother is that while he may not abide by what he has learned, he has at least learned. At some point down the road, all those seeds that have been planted may begin to sprout in the most unexpected ways—indeed, they have probably already been growing in ways you haven't noticed. C.S. Lewis makes a poignant observation in Mere Christianity that I reference often because I believe it profoundly true, particularly in light of my own experience:
When a young man who has been going to church in a routine way honestly realises that he does not believe in Christianity and stops going—provided he does it for honesty's sake and not just to annoy his parents—the spirit of Christ is probably nearer to him then than it ever was before.
In this way, the boy is making whatever belief he might later engender his own. I am extending Lewis' conception here far beyond ceasing to attend church to include many things that appear to be rebellion (and may in fact be). Our parents did not always teach us every lesson in life: we may, for example, have discovered that the stove is hot quite apart from any parental guidance. In much the same way, our Heavenly Father often allows those that will be His indulge in riotous living, traveling to far distance lands, the spirits freely flowing, the bed sheets easily parting, the money brightly glowing, pleasure actively indulged at every turn. But in the end, just like the woman born beautiful, these things fail to satisfy until they function in service to a higher good.
The difference between the man who has had the moral education and the one who has not, is that the man with the moral education cannot erase what he has learned. As I mailed a friend recently, "One cannot turn one's back on what one knows, for even if he denies his knowledge, he still knows what he knows and cannot unknow his knowing." Once you have learned something, you can only deny it, but you can't "unknow" it. And thus, on the day the prodigal returns to his (Heavenly) Father's house, he is sadder and wiser and loves his Father even more dearly, tears welling in his eyes at the sheer underservedness of it all when his Father rushes out and puts a robe on his shoulders, places a ring on his finger, and kills the fatted calf in his honor.
The man who goes out and wastes his life on riotous living is generally a man who throws himself into everything he does unreservedly. Perhaps it is partly with this truth in mind that "the worst sinners" we are told, "make the best saints." (For other aspects of this consideration, I would refer interested readers to Paul Tillich's To Whom Much is Forgiven.) And if this wayward man has had a sound moral education, he cannot truly run from it; even in the act of denying it, it guides him ever. For example, we read these words in Ecclesiastes 2:1-9:
I thought in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good." But that also proved to be meaningless. "Laughter," I said, "is foolish. And what does pleasure accomplish?" I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.
I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a harem as well—the delights of the heart of man. I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me. (Emphasis mine.)
I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a harem as well—the delights of the heart of man. I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me. (Emphasis mine.)
Your brother might say many things with his lips, but perhaps the Spirit of the Risen Christ is nearer to him than ever before: nearer to him then either you or he realize. As I write in the autobiography, "The strange thing about life is that it has a funny way of teaching people the truth—one way or another. In my case it has always been the hard way when the highway ran out." And when his highway has truly run out, the hard way may be the only way to bring him back to his senses: to restore that which he has never truly lost, however neglected and covered with dust it might happen to be.
God bless,
Eric
Replies:
- Re(2): Woman Born Beautiful: Children and Children's Stories - By karen April 8, 2005 at 02:07:55 AM