The Corona virus has unnerved all of us, mainly because it shows the corruptible nature of our human bodies. It is a distinct reminder that each of us, without exception, will die. Except, if we are intelligent enough to believe in God, it is also a reminder that we have a soul that will not die, but will have everlasting life.
With whom will we live this everlasting life?–with none other than the loving, immortal God who created each of us for the specific purpose of returning to him. Of course, we can choose NOT to believe in God, or that He created us. And even if we do believe, we can choose NOT to follow Him, which all of us do at one time or another. Our individual human natures are forever in a constant battle between vice and virtue, evil and good, because we have Free Will.
We cannot blame anyone except ourselves for out choices. It is not someone else who messes up our paths–it is we who choose to mess up our paths through wrong-thinking promoted by our vices: Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy and Pride. Thankfully, we can also choose to ask forgiveness and change our direction.
Choice is a word thrown around a lot, without looking at the responsibilities that flow from the God-given gift of Free Will that we have. Responsibility is not a ‘happy’ thing to bring up to someone in the throws of corruption, selfishness, and a lack of goodness. When we are acting in this way, and unwilling to change, we do not want to look at ourselves in a truthful light, and so, many of us try to make the wrongs we do seem right. And there are plenty of people who do this, covering over truth with lies for personal gain.
Corruption (evil) is, at first, a small thing. It may even have a hint of conscience, until it becomes habitual and infectious to everyone around it. Goodness also begins small, becomes habitual, and infectious as well. Except goodness is honorable in the human person, while evil degrades his or her soul.
Of course, corruption happens in politics since it is made up of many people with ambition, people who ignore goodness if it interferes with their political goals. A few examples of ignoring goodness are these: the taking of a human life in the womb, the mistaken confusion that we can change our own gender, or the misrepresentation of what marriage truthfully is. These acts demean us as human beings created by God. And yet, we can choose to do any of them.
This is why the truthful family, based upon the sacrament of marriage, is being negatively affected. This is why the deep responsibility to guide children who come from that marriage is being overlooked. This is why it is imperative to look upward to God for guidance, rather than looking around at the temporary world we live in. Except, goodness isn’t easy, has never been easy, and will never be easy.
So, can we actually do the things that are hard, the things that are truthfully good, and not take the easy way out with wrong behaviors that decay not only ourselves, but also, spreads like a virus to others? The truth is that without delving into the spiritual side of our human nature, we cannot. We will listen to false voices, swallow false precepts, and we will fall into corruption rather than goodness.
But, with courage and faith, we can also do the opposite. We can commit ourselves to the responsibility we have as human beings who actually share in the divinity of God. By looking inward and upward, even those in politics can understand that only our likeness to God (our Spirituality) reveals our true value as people, and that it is He who gives us the final victory, which is everlasting life. We only have to realize that we are His and act upon that.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. — John 3:16-17
Translating a World on the Edge 