Evil in the World 3/ 5/ 06

We read in today's Gospel, "The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert to be tempted by Satan." We believe that the Spirit is the love of God. God's love is so strong that it impelled Jesus to join us humans in the battle against Satan, the spirit of hatred. That evil exists in a world created by a good God appears to be an overwhelming mystery. We humans cannot satisfy ourselves fully in facing this great puzzle of human existence. The simple story of Adam and Eve's temptation in the Bible gives us the major clue to the woes of the world. Satan whispered, in a way to all of us, "You will be like gods."

So that we could love, which requires free choice, God gave humans their freedom. To be free required a remarkable intelligence, intuition and sensitivity. The physical systems required to keep us alive, when studied, are astonishingly complex. The Church fathers declared that humans are the most important entity in the universe, far more complex than any other system in the cosmos.

Our temptation is to use all these remarkable assets for ourselves alone. We do want to be gods. This drive to be more important than anything else in the world, we call ego. At some level we want the world to revolve around us. We want to arrange everything that exists to our tastes.

The notorious tyrants of world history give us some idea of how far the human ego will go in its quest for dominance. I remember working as a young man at a job supervised by a petty boss. Behind his back many employees called him "little Hitler." There is a bit of Hitler in all of us.

Lent is a time to do penance so that, with the help of the Lord, we might be vessels of salvation for others. We are called to examine ourselves to see what we might change to be in greater tune with God's plans for us.

The author of the book, "The Road Less Traveled," which lasted years on the New York Times bestseller list, was appalled by some of the evil he encountered in his work as a psychotherapist. He wrote his observations of evil people in a book titled, "People of the Lie." He found that those who did horrendous things to others routinely told lies. "They even lied," he said, "when the truth actually would serve them better." M. Scott Peck found that in his estimation evil persons were willful. They wanted something done just because that is the way they wanted things. We live in a world where half-truths, exaggerations, spin are commonplace. As a Lenten exercise, we might dedicate ourselves more fully to telling and living the truth. Jesus said, "The truth will set you free." The more we live the truth, the less anxiety we suffer in our lives. What could be more life giving to us than facing reality just as it is. Living this way give us remarkable inner strength and self-respect for ourselves.

In the modem world the desire to dominate is expressed, "We're number one." Part of being human is our desire for attention. Could we for lent try to focus attention on others? Can we grow in our appreciation of the talents and abilities of others? Can we act in a way that says that all persons in the world are important?

A major human defect is that we forget that everything we have is a gift from God. St. Paul said, "What have you, that you have no received?" St. Teresa of Avila had great advice for all of us. She wrote, "Thank God for your gifts. If you acknowledge that they come from God, it will not make you proud, it will prepare you for greater gifts." 1 think that God wants us to enjoy the gifts we have been given. For example, God has built into us a sense of satisfaction for a job well done. In this way we are encouraged to help each other. The Lord nearly always gives us joy in our helping of others. Many times we enjoy working together. On all these occasions thank God for the Lord's gifts that make us and others happy and encourage us to do good things for God.

For a Lenten project we might pray and work at the ideas: "Help me, Lord, to curb my ego, so that 1 may become a force for the good of all. Help me see the needs of others so that 1 may use your gifts to me to help them. When 1 am inclined to put others down, help me to remember that your gifts to me are also meant to be a benefit to others in my life. Let me not burden others with unnecessary criticism." With your help, let me assist all in living more freely and joyfully in the Lord.