I started off this post (which I now have deleted) by listing a number of headlines from the news. All of them were examples of how twisted and lost we have become as a people in regards to our relationship to others, to ourselves, and to God - our Creator.
I decided to just skip all the depressing headlines/articles and just get to the root of it all.
I decided to just skip all the depressing headlines/articles and just get to the root of it all.
Who are we? Some may even prefer What are we? I don't think the average educated (college educated even) adult today could give you a sensible complete thoughtful response to that question. "Uh, well, we're humans" Ok so what does THAT mean? "Uh, well, it means we are the highest form of animal on the planet and that we can uh, think and stuff" You may even get an "enlightened" response like "Uh, well, we are made by God and we have a soul and stuff like that will never die" And so what does THIS demand of us? "Uh, well, like what do you mean DEMAND?" "Like it just means that when we die we're gonna go to heaven ya know" Ah, I see...
Pathetic!
I assure you that this fake dialogue isn't too far from the truth of it! I don't expect an average person to be able to articulate the deep spiritual/theological dimensions of our existence at the drop of a hat. But, I don't think that this total lack of thought and consideration of the purpose of our existence is a good sign. This is what's at the root of all those depressing, often sexually twisted, death-filled headlines. We haven't a clue as to who we are, why we are here, and what the answers to these then demands of us.
So, we carry on like animals with degrees and cell phones. We act out every impulsive desire for the sake of gratifying every pleasure possible. We have become extremely sophisticated PIGS! Pigs who drive, pigs who earn, pigs who spend, pigs who read (err, rather watch tv), pigs who have figured out how to "screw" without producing any other piglets, and ultimately pigs who've learned how to rationalize every piggish behavior so that we all can be rest assured to die and go to "pig heaven" someday!
I am surely not devoid of certain piggish tendencies myself. But I call a spade a spade, or in this case a pig a pig! I sadly have been blind to my own selfishness and self-serving rationalizations. But now, thank God, I see. What an ugly mess I see. There are many dramatic illustrations of what a mess we've made of our own humanity. But, I don't personally live those headlines I read about, or the stories that make me cringe or worse cry.
What I do live and see from day to day is the reality of any other average American woman. I see the blindness of so many all around me, right here in suburbia. I am so sad for them. Deep down I don't think most of these people are really happy. There's a lot of surface pleasure that tries to pass itself off as fulfillment and joy. But dig just a little deeper and you find an emptiness that is truly sad.
How many women I have met or spoken to who either complain incessantly about their lives or who brag obnoxiously about their "pants-wearing" freedom and domination over their "errand-boy" husbands. How many men have I met or spoken to who aren't really men yet. They ogle and comment on the teen aged girls in our neighborhood. They drink a cold one on their driveway with the other"men" and discuss the next "toy" they plan to buy while they try to avoid their nagging wives' demands to "honey do this or that". How many kids have I met or spoken to whose parents pay them no attention at all. They seem a little surprised by my interest in them and their lives/opinions. Who is this cookie neighbor lady and why does she actually talk to me for more than 2 minutes? Kids who have to deal with foul language of the most disturbing nature on the bus ride to school, kids who learn what "****job" means in the 3rd grade, kids who aspire to be a "pop singer when I grow up" or a professional athlete of some kind.
Often these folks are Catholic, or another denomination even. As for the Catholics I meet, they haven't a clue about their faith and frankly they couldn't care less. Religion is more of a hobby than anything else to those I have come to meet and know. They try to maintain their "hobby" as best they can. If there's a conflict then that's just too bad for mass, or dogma. God will understand.
Sex. Sex is a whole other aspect of this blindness, this emptiness that pervades our culture. We haven't a clue who we are, why we are here, and we certainly haven't the slightest idea about our sexuality in Truth. Sex is like religion. It's another hobby we enjoy. We make time for it and try to get the most "bang for our buck" so to speak. (please excuse the inadvertent pun) We want to maximize pleasure and eliminate all responsibility or consequence.
Children are a burden. we tolerate two for the sake of "fitting in" and leave it at that. Why would anyone want anymore? Too many kids can be bad for your social life, not to mention your pocket book ya know?
Women get "boob jobs" and "tummy tucks" and enlist the help of personal trainers all in an effort to out due their own teenage daughters. Gotta be as sexy as a sixteen year old. The sickness is twofold. First of all a sixteen year old needn't be "sexy"! and Secondly, why do grown women feel so driven to maintain femininity by regressing to a teen-like look and attitude? Why not embrace the most authentic display of femininity there is on earth - motherhood?
The irony of this sexual confusion/desire is that most women I've met who are "so done having kids" and "just want their bodies back "(to be sexy/hot) are the same women who complain about their husbands "bugging them" for sex too much. Well, that whole contraception, getting "fixed" thing is really doing wonders for ya then huh? NOT! I've never seen more women so miserable and unhappy and yet needy and insecure than those who have either had sterilization imposed upon them or have decided to impose it upon their husbands. In one breath they'll tell me how they had their husband "get his stuff fixed" and in the next they'll be telling me how uninterested they are in their husbands' advances and how much they'd just rather sleep!
I know I'm just a backward, simpleton barefoot and pregnant traditionalist and all, but I thought that the whole reason for people getting themselves (or their spouse) "fixed" was so they could ENJOY sex without consequences! Seems to me that when we treat ourselves and those we purpose to love, like animals, the whole mystery/magic just goes right out of sex. I guess if I had altered intentionally my body or my husband's body like one alters their dog's or cat's, then I too might feel not so interested. We kid ourselves into thinking it won't matter. But it does.
The reason it does matter is that we are ultimately made in the Divine image. God wants to lift us up. The more we lower ourselves the harder it is to experience real joy. We may experience pleasure - but my dog gets pleasure from a steak bone too! But joy, fulfillment, true peace, can only come from God. Only in heaven will we experience this fully. But Jesus came and took on flesh and died here on earth so that we could get a glimpse of this here and NOW! Every time we lower our standards for ourselves, our spouse, our kids, we move further and further away from this Divine revelation. God wants to reveal to us the true joy that is possible to attain in a life lived for Him. But it seems we've forgotten that that's what life is for.
Who made you? God made me.
Why did God make you? God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him and to be happy with Him forever in Heaven.
This is who we are. We are children of the Living God. Through Jesus sacrifice we have been made heirs to His kingdom. We are royalty people! We aren't pigs with cell phones. We have been chosen. We have been called. We have been saved by a God who loves us.
We are here on earth to serve Him. We serve Him by serving OTHERS not OURSELVES! We are called to see our bodies as an important extension of God's Divine Plan. Our bodies are not tools to be used. They must reflect the very best of us - the Divine Image stamped into us by God Himself. We must live our lives like this and then encourage our brothers and sisters to do the same.
So much joy awaits those who would open their eyes and see. For those, like myself, who have covered their eyes there is hope for them still to be opened. What is required? Ask. Simply ask for them to be opened and then you will see. The hardest part of it is you see EVERYTHING. You see the beauty of God's creation and His Church, and His plan just for you, but you also see a world that's lost its way. Then you feel compelled to blog about it...
