Mankind, Manconundrum

The utter foolishness of man is evident in the fact that from the very beginning mankind has pursued with great prejudice an eternal life of happiness on earth. This being the supreme goal despite the real evidence that not one person has ever achieved this in history. Not one single person. Not one single creature has persisted eternally in their incepted life. Not one has ever avoided suffering and tragedy and trial and death.

Why are we this way? Because we demand and crave to be god: determining what is and what isn’t, what is right and what is wrong, and who should be blessed and who should be condemned. We are not capable and never will be capable of this in and of ourselves. History confirms this without question.

We did not call ourselves into being. We do not hold ourselves together. We cannot keep life in ourselves.

We do have free will. But this too is a gift from an external source. Our true free will lies in our minds not in our ability to determine our present or future. Can we impact those? - yes. Can we control it? - no. Yet even our minds can betray our free will in succumbing to mental illness. We can treat and battle but without the help of the maker of our brain we cannot truly say our minds are fully in our power.

When we set our minds on truth, on eternal things, and on Jesus the earthly things of our life are redeemed, beautified, and made holy. The mundane, and even the inane activities, we must partake in are inordinately pleasing to all of heaven. Greatly worldly success can and does happen at times, but it can only really be worthwhile when it is God who accomplishes it and not our frantic efforts alone.

Why do I tell you this? Because I don't want you to be unaware of how the messages of power, self-reliance, success, winning, call your own shot, follow your passions, you can be anything you want, that are relentlessly shouted at you in this world are contrary to reality.

Look to the saints. They truly exemplified and realized what Jesus meant when he said, "whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever will lose his life for my sake will find it". The saints relinquished control to the Father on a daily basis, got up with they messed up, didn't define themselves by the world's shifting standards, and sought Jesus where he said he would be every day - in the blessed sacrament of the Eucharist. Their lives and works, whatever they may have been, resonate through all eternity - past, present and future.