Dear People Whom God Loves,
We have seen that we are like animals. On the other hand, we must not deny that we are angels. Being human means that we have the capacity to see what is morally good or bad…not just what feels good or bad. There is in us the capacity to choose what is morally good. In other words, we have the capacity to choose behaviors that are loving and helpful.
To put it another way. When our brain stem and limbic system are drawing us toward behavior that is contrary to loving, we have the capacity to choose otherwise. I fully realize that our capacities to choose love are limited by just being human and more severely limited by the abusive and harmful things we have experienced . . . and further limited by our own destructive choices. That loving capacity is still there, but is hidden, denied, and difficult to activate.
The human journey requires accepting what comes from the older parts of our brain as valuable and good and within that acceptance, guiding these older parts with their drives and impulses with the newest part of our brain.
This is the human journey. We all do it imperfectly. My personal belief is that we don’t die with it all resolved. We also need to remember that we are not alone. Hopefully, we have other humans to walk with us. We all have God (Love) working in us to bring us to that wholeness. God (Love) accepts us as we are, with understanding and compassion. That healing Love that is working in us we call grace because it is a gift that is freely and graciously given.
This human journey is extremely difficult. My personal belief is that Love is so powerful in the long run that Love will bring us to a good conclusion no matter how complex our journey is. I believe that Love never stops drawing us toward love (Love). What loving is not completed in this world will be completed in the next. God (Love) never abandons us. That is what the doctrine of purgatory (once we let go of some old images) says to me. I believe with Julian of Norwich — all will be well.
Smile, God Loves You,
Father Clay
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