The Deception we all Suffer

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In the context of our sinfulness, everything becomes a question of ourselves. However, this is not surprising because when anybody sins, they and all around them realize it has become an “every man for himself” situation. By sinning, man takes for himself what would likely have been given him anyway. When we realize someone has acted without regard to others, we can bet they won’t care about us. As a result, we perceive external realities as against our good, and we seek deliverance from them. However, this instinctive shift in man’s thoughts causes him to mistake friend for foe, foe for a friend, and gift for granted or even punishment. Human sin distorts perception, erodes trust in God, and hinders acceptance of His gifts, compelling a search for redemption amid profound wounds and fears.

First, based on the pain we have suffered in the past, we make prejudicial decisions about who has the power to harm us. These contemporary ministry heroes and also psychologists call wounds or trauma. We dishonor rules, we despise their makers, and we avoid those who exact its implications in virtue. This causes us to hate the sinner worse than the sin and God more than the sinner.[1] Throughout the Old Testament, we notice those who have sinned avoiding/running away from God and/or whatever renders them accountable for their actions. Man does not only not trust God but does whatever He can to oppose God’s supposed wrath. Concurrently, even Man’s conscience becomes a great source of confusion, because it both is made for a relationship with God and to oppose what is wrong. In such a state man will know no peace, because he avoids a relationship with God and does what is wrong. This avoidance closes us to love and redemption.[2] If we truly understood our pain, it would both draw us back to our healer and unite us, even in our pain, to Him Who is our Wounded Healer.

Second, this dynamic we see in our culture has metaphysical implications. God is the author of truth, goodness, and beauty. Everything is a gift from God; if we avoid Him at all costs, we cannot properly accept his gifts. The gifts we desire are ours for the taking even if God lets us take them. The gifts He gives more directly we instinctively refuse and the more stable gifts we steal all the more (Romans 1:21-25). Evil has been said to be an act of non-being and this is because it refuses to accept God as Creator on Whom we are contingent. How much then is God’s Providence that even when we take His most precious gifts for granted and reject Him besides paying no heed to the fact, he does not smite us thence. Instead, continually provides us an opportunity to find Him or to choose what we believe to be our good (Romans 8:28; 2 Peter 3:15). Sin makes us sick.[3] We are perpetually in great need of medicine which other created things cannot provide because it is not their likeness that must be restored in us, but God's. It is not them we must first see clearly, it is not them we ought to love, it is not them who are always ready to accept us, it is not them who see us as we are and still come to die for us, it is not them which are truly good. 

In conclusion, our tendency to hide our deepest wounds from the Divine Physician out of fear mirrors the instinct of Adam and Eve to conceal themselves from God in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:8-10). This evasion of God's love stems from a profound hurt that drives us to seek refuge in darkness, yet paradoxically, it is this very concealment that perpetuates our destruction. As our pain intensifies and our spirits falter, we find ourselves crying out in desperation for God's presence and healing touch. Yet, amidst the onslaught of our enemies who manipulate our perception of reality and exploit our desire for happiness, surrendering to these powers becomes perilous. The deception woven by these adversaries appears compelling, entwined with what we hold most dear, but it ultimately leads us astray. Thus, in the face of such deception, there arises a fierce struggle and agonizing pursuit to break free and embrace the truth of God's love and redemption.
FN:
  1. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 399.
  2. Cf. Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae, II-II, q. 85, a. 1, at New Advent, www.newadvent.org.
  3. ST, I-II, q. 85, a. 1.

Written by Carter Carruthers & also available soon at Missio Dei

I am a created entity, not a person.

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