February 28, 2016 - Do we live in a faraway land?

February 28, 2016

Do we live in a faraway land?

“The younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country…”

How much do we feel that we live in a “far away land”? Perhaps, it is difficult to identify ourselves with this meaning, in other words, that we live in a “far away land”.

A person that feels totally “at home” in this world, that has never experienced pain and the nostalgia for another reality; that has never lost a love, or was not able to fulfill a love that he desired, cannot fully understand one’s self or one’s distance from God. Such a man is overtaken by intense insecurity and uses most of his time to plan how he can assure that he has an easy life without too many mishaps and, mainly, how he can avoid the pain of death. Thus, he remains anxious in his efforts to control everything and everyone around him, to succeed in acquiring that which he desires, but to avoid that which he does not want. We could say with great accuracy that this describes the man of our times.

The strange thing is that as much as man tries to reach the goal of affluence and security, there is something in him that holds him back and prevents him from doing so. As Dostoevsky says, “perhaps man does not only love well-being. Perhaps he loves his passions just as much! Perhaps his passions and well-being are of equal benefit. Often times, he also loves his trials with great passion.” And we add: Even though he wants to be saved and to reach sanctification, he also wants to sin; most of the time, he remains trapped and stagnant between the two.         

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