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20 Oct 2025

 

Reflections On The Human Condition

Recently, I watched the reunion of the Israeli hostages and their families. I was deeply moved by the unadorned joy of the freed captives and their loved ones. Their genuine affection could not be more touching to me and, I imagine, to many persons who witnessed these celebratory events.

The incarceration by the Israeli’s abductors underscores for me the unquestionable evil of such actions. The kidnappers claim the religious right to do so, but their appeal seems morally aberrant to me, based on hatred, devoid of moral substance and credibility.

Inevitably, this event again poses the eternal question of good-and evil, of moral right-and-wrong. Certain human actions are always evil and, therefore, morally unjustifiable, despite the vociferous claims – or the moral indifference - of perpetrators.

The Power Of Indifference

But even when the morality or immorality of behavior is eminently clear, life’s circumstances and our comprehension of the Virtues of Charity, Prudence and Justice (to name only a few) are ofttimes clouded by our emotions or obscured by the vociferous, self-righteous, often violent claims of others.

Even those of us who abhor violence are often faced with conflictive choices, exposed to our own indifference or halted by antagonistic opponents whose undisguised hatred often astonishes. Violent people exude indifference to morality and self-restraint in word and deed. Their violence is intimidating to those who try to follow the Gospel Parables and the Virtues which mark the life of Christ.

So, in our daily lives, we face not only the moral indifference of violent persons. We must also cope with our own moral timidity, which may weaken our resolve.

As we age, we’re supposed to grow in Wisdom and recognize our strengths and our weaknesses. But age does not guarantee moral clarity or insight, which elude some elders.

Thus, we may forget the moral lessons of the Parables and the example of Christ, Whose followers we claim to be. We often forget the moral dignity and irreplaceable Wisdom of the Virtues of Faith, Hope, Charity, Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance. And we forget that these Virtues have extraordinary practicality in our public and private lives … and in our culture.

Too often, portions of our culture celebrate the flighty urges and indelicate wants which moral blindness abets – at a great price to individuals and to our national stability. Wayward adulation of excessive individualism profoundly offends established morality, insults common sense, ignores established science and even inflicts grievous damage (e.g., so-called trans-sexual surgery).

A Comment …

I have said all this before … and when some people hear me say that my values are rooted in Christian principles, they sometimes inform me that surely I must be some sort of religious nut or a retrogressive conservative or something along those lines. The other person then seems suddenly distracted and I am dismissed, as one might dismiss a too-hovering waiter.

If you have been through this experience, you know the signs, I’m sure. At such times, it is good for us to remember certain truths about human nature … about ourselves and the person we are with (including family). I’ve learned that we’re better for it.

Some Truths To Keep In Mind

What truths about human nature am I talking about? Here are a few truths about ourselves and others which help keep life in perspective – even in the face of outrage and violence.

Experience tells us that our sins (yes, sins) and imperfections, our ego-driven errors and our deliberate distortions of reality are part of our being. We are, all of us, prone to the whims and distortions which come with an errant, rebellious ego.

Our good intentions and self-righteous poses do not erase the imperfections which plague every one of us … and always will. But, if we are open to Humility which Wisdom brings, we shall also comprehend the beauty and goodness to which our humanity is capable.

So, none of us is perfect. It is hard for some to admit it, but we are all sinners, even those among us who deny sin exists. Our culture has banished the word “sin” from our common idiom. Even some churches now speak of a theology of “Nice,” avoiding unpleasant realities such as sin.

Yet our propensity to sin and moral distortion is part of human nature … but … so is the Christian promise of redemption, forgiveness and understanding, acceptance and peace. Our mistake is that we look in the wrong places.

Yes, we often fail in our relationships and ofttimes treat one another badly. Yes, we are capable of dishonesty, incivility, and a variety of harms which flow from thoughtless ego-centrism and over-reach for power and control.

But our various needs are also the foundations of our Faith, as the Christian worldview declares. In fact, we live in a Universe which is an intrinsic Mystery … a Mystery which gives real meaning to the word “infinite.” Creation is an infinite Mystery, and our response to this Mystery should be gratitude and acceptance, not gruff rejection and egocentric denial of God’s Reality.

The Grandeur Of Faith

The simple fact is that Faith is far better off not knowing (just yet) the outcomes of the Mysteries of which we are part. Indeed, Mystery of our own lives should further infuse and inform our Faith. The fact that we are part of God’s infinite Mystery is no cause for us to seek violence or denial or fete our arrogance.

Some people see Faith opposed to certitude. But if you think about it, “certitude” is most often an uncertain, precarious condition which cautions us to choose humility over hubris. Life teaches us that we rely on Faith in a variety of circumstances all the time. Faith is as normal to our lives as breathing.

The value of Faith is summed up in the oft-forgotten phrase which Jesus taught us. He told us that when we pray, we should use the simple words wherein Faith’s meaning is found: "They will be done."  These words of prayerful acceptance can (if we choose) heighten our sincerity, pacify our preening egos and calm the aggressively ambitious.

Faith is a simple act of acceptance-beyond-knowing. Faith reveals the obvious: namely, that the world is a constant epiphany, a panoply of Revelation. As George Bernanos says (at the end of "Diary of a Country Priest") Faith reveals to us the salvific fact that grace -- God's free gift of Himself -- is everywhere to behold.

Even suffering brings opportunity for Faith’s acknowledgement of God design for us – IF we are open to the truths of Revelation, and IF we have the sense to recognize our true status as children of our Infinite Creator.

The Point Of Living

People who deny God thereby obscure these realities and ignore the constant epiphanies all around us. They obscure the simple truths and the quiet beauty of Creation. Worse, they distort reality and deny that Faith in Our Father is quite sufficient for the Good Life.

So, while indifference to the Gospels pervades much of our culture, nonetheless Faith in the Wisdom of Our Creator is surely the best choice we can make. And, happily, acting on that choice leads us to the point and purpose of life itself.

The Psalmist David makes this quite well when he says:

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

And so we shall.