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Great Thinkers in the History of the Church (no. 17)
The devil said to Jesus: "If you are the son of God, command that these stones become bread." [Luke 4.3]
Here we learn that there are three principal weapons that the devil likes to carry in order to wound our souls. They are gluttony, arrogance, and ambition.
--St. Ambrose, 4th Century, On the Gospel of St. Luke
Comments
All passions that drive the person to ruin of self and harm of others have an apparent and subtle form. And one such subtle form is the passions clothed in religious garb: it seems the human person can find a way to justify anything by attaching to it a favorite name of God. Maybe even more in vogue in pluralistic society is to clothe misdirected passion in that oft misleading term spiritual. Such is the subtle blasphemies that I assume each one of us has commited and does commit unconsciously. And spiritually ignorant is the man or woman who denies that he or she has committed and does commit such blasphemy.
Greed has an apparent and subtle form. Says St. Isidore of Seville (b. ca. 560), "Greed is insatiable. The person who is afflicted with it always needs something else; the more he has, the more he wants" (Defensor Grammaticus, Book of Sparkling Sayings). But especially at the subtle level, is anyone free of this insatiable greed, this always-dissatisfied-with feeling within?
This early afternoon, walking under the big oaks, I reflect on the inner peace that fills me at this time of life. The reflections are ushered in by a long meditation of resting in the Mystery of Love, the Ground of Being among whom I now walk. Though surrounded by circumstances that once would have led to marked consternation, I am enjoying my life with a trust and joy, and inner tranquility, I have never known before. I am enjoying what I for years tried to push away, to no avail.
I have known this profound contentment as a temporary respite. Now, it seems my home, permanent residence--ironic, for I am still stuck in a temporary residence and in a town to which I do not belong. I reflect that my calling as a man, a Christian, and a contemplative is to own the life given me, to accept it as my life, never looking in greed for another life, another place, another anything.
To cease looking for that illusory other life that is other than my life, I am accepting my life's uniqueness and, then, I see it as everyone's life. I find freedom from a subtle form of greed.
Sadly, in our overly psychologized society, we are often taught in subtle ways to see our existences as contaminated by the past and a problem to be solved, rather than a life to be accepted as intrinsically good, as a gift to be embraced: not mended or pushed aside for another, better one.
How can I truly live my life, if I do not love it, now, as it is? How can I see its possibilities and glories, if I am always fixated on its imperfections? Is not this pervasive rejection of the mystery of our individual existences, through the mechanisms of religion or psychology, or cynicism, a subtle greediness, one which rejects the gift of what is given in the societal delusion that there is one better? And is not this greed itself irreligious, unspiritual, and selfish, even if it is couched in the aspirations for a more spiritual life, one which is always failing to see the life given as the best of all lives for oneself and to be cherished as a gift from God?
Reflections
How might subtle forms of greed arise from religious aspirations? Are you content with your life? Explain your response. If you struggle to accept your present life as intrinsically gift from God, how might you proceed toward that acceptance?
*OneLife writings are offered by Brian K. Wilcox, a United Methodist pastor serving in the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. Brian lives a vowed contemplative life with his two dogs, Bandit Ty and St. Francis, in North Florida. OneLife writings are for anyone seeking to live and share love, joy, and peace in the world and in devotion to God as she or he best understands God.
*Written August 28, early PM, Lee, FL.
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