The Importance of Free Will to God

In today's first reading, Sirach 15: 15-20, I am/you are reminded that God "has set before [us] fire and water; [and] whichever [we] choose, [we are to] stretch forth [our hands].  Before [us] are life and death, good and evil, whichever [we choose] shall be given [us]..."  God's wisdom, Sirach reminds us, is immense, his power mighty and His seeing infinite.  "The eyes of God are on those who fear [reverence] him; [God] understands [our] every deed." [And] [n]o one does he command to act unjustly, to none does he give license to sin."

How awesome is God and how humble. He's given each one of us free will to choose life or death, good or evil. God knows that at times we will choose that which is evil and yet He does not stop us. That is how important our free will is to God. God wants us to freely choose what is right, what is just and what unites us in love with others.  No way will God force us to do these things!  When we choose evil, there are consequences to those choices. In suffering those consequences, hopefully, we turn from the evil back to the good.  God waits in the background and, with open arms, welcomes us back into His arms to counsel us, advise us, forgive us and give us strength. Having learned from the poor choices we might have made,  we, in turn, grow in wisdom and are equipped, even more, to continue doing good! If we fall--and Jesus fell many times on his way to Calvary--we, through grace, are empowered to pick ourselves up and start over again. And each new day gives us the opportunity to try again to remain faithful in choosing good over evil, life over death, just deeds over unjust deeds.

May we do so!

All of God's Creation

In today’s first reading, Sirach 42: 15-25, Sirach is filled with awe at God’s creation:  “At God’s word were his works brought into being; they do his will as he has ordained for them.” As I meditated on the phrase , I thought of humankind. Of all of God’s creation, we are the ones to whom God gave freedom. We can choose to do the will of God or to follow our own will. As I grappled with the reality that I often choose my own will over God’s and then thought of the disasters in the world because of our ability to make choices contrary to God’ will, the Lord broke into my musings and said to me through His Spirit within me:

My will is that you have free will. I delight in that creation of you. Yes, I know that you choose your will over mine many times. In that, you learn to be obedient to my will. The suffering that follows your refusal to love sacrificially, to live the life of a disciple, teaches you to follow your Master. I built that dynamic within you. Grace will ultimately triumph over nature. I made it that way. Am I sad to see you, or anyone else,  choose your will over mine? Yes, but I love you unconditionally and will not take away your freedom. It is in learning to  choose  rightly that you will become truly free.  I cherish that dynamic in my creation of humankind.

Jesus, you delight in each member of Isis, in those perpetuating human trafficking, drug trafficking, slave labor, abortion and so many other corrupt practices?  I delight in every  person I created.  Each is my son/daughter. I gave each free will, as I did you. Each who chooses as Isis does or any other person making poor or sinful choices saddens me, especially if they choose to go their own way as Judas did. I don’t delight in anyone making choices that lead to perdition but I delight in the person I created, even when their potential of becoming the person I intended them to become is thwarted. So, too, when the person I intended you to become is thwarted when you choose pride over humility, selfishness over generosity, deceit over truth, prejudice over openness, nastiness over kindness, I am saddened but my love for you remains unconditional. I always delight in you. And ultimately grace will triumph over evil in you!

Enduring Joy

In the  first reading of today’s liturgy, Baruch 4: 5-12, 27-29,  Baruch tells the people not to fear but to remember that the reason that they were conquered by other nations was that they had abandoned the covenant God made with them.  This did not happen, Baruch tells them, because God wanted them to be destroyed, but that they had provoked God by sacrificing to “demons, to no-gods; you forsook the Eternal God who nourished you, and you grieved Jerusalem who fostered you.”  Further on in the reading,  the holy city of Jerusalem—where God dwelt, as God dwells in our Tabernacles--says that with “joy I fostered them; but with mourning and lament I let them go.”

I could not help but think of the times the Lord is directing us and we simply ignore the Spirit’s direction and do our own thing. “With joy,” God says, “I fostered them; but with mourning and lament I let them go.”  God deeply respects our free will and does not ever force us to embrace His will.  God lets us  go to experience the emptiness, if you will, or the frustration of not having followed the way to which God was calling us. It may be as simple as calling a friend, reaching out to someone we slighted and saying “I’m sorry,”  spending some leisure time in the evening with family or community members, listening with an open mind and heart or taking time to study the Scriptures or to do some substantive reading that nurtures our spiritual lives. Or, it may be more serious, like not getting involved with the wrong crowd that leads us into selfish pursuits  or that leads us into violating the rights of another person or of doing that which violates our own personal integrity.  Baruch says to us, then:  “As your hearts have been disposed to stray from God turn now ten times the more to seek him; for he who has brought disaster [frustration, emptiness, pain] upon you will, in saving you, bring you back enduring joy.”