Providence

Years ago there was a ministry in Chicago that I used to volunteer on occasion. One night, I was working the night shelter, it was a typical cold winter night. This particular night, two men began to argue. I could see it would soon turn into a fist fight, and if they fought, the two would be made to leave the shelter. I went and stood between them in an effort to stop it, and I was successful. I was very proud of myself, peacemaker that I was. Next, to my great surprise, Dave who ran the ministry came over and said, "I wish you had not done that!" I asked, why? He told me that these two men had caused much trouble in the past, they had fought and been kicked out before, and he made a decision if they fought again, they would be thrown out for the season.  

Here I was proud of myself because I was a "peacemaker", I was sure Saint Francis was proud of me, but maybe he was not. Dave had been dealing with these two men for some time and he had been busy trying to make peace, not just for these two but for the rest of the men in the shelter. After all, a fight upsets all. So, this brings me to the question, was I right? Honest answer: with the information I had at the time, I believe I was right to try and make peace, but I didn't have the full story. Was Dave right to make the decision he did? I don't see why not. Especially, when you consider the disruption to all the men in the shelter, many of whom are living there often for no fault of their own.

Today, I take from this experience that sometimes God's action in our life will look what I did. He will intervene and help us to avoid trouble. Lord knows, Dave did it plenty of times with the two men in question. However, sometimes God will step away and will seemingly leave, and this will make us feel the consequences of our own actions, like the feeling of being thrown into the cold, in the middle of the night, with no safe place to go. Was Dave taking it upon himself to punish these men? Is God punishing us when we refuse to listen and we our disruptive in the lives of others, and harming our own selves in the process? I think not! One of the greatest gifts we creatures have been given is free will. Add to that the ability to reason, God's law written upon our hearts, angels to guide us in our decision making between right and wrong.  

This leads me to the question of God and His punishment. In my opinion, I don't believe God really does punish us. He doesn't have to. We are very adept at punishing ourselves, when we are disobedient to what is right. If I consider the two men who were fighting, I know nothing of their story. I don't know why they were homeless. I don't know what type of upbringing they had. I don't know why they were fighting. I do know they are made in the image of God, just like me and you. I know this gives to them tremendous dignity, just like you and I possess. I do know God has unfathomable love for them just like he has for us. I do know that Jesus was conscious of these two, as He accepted powerlessness as He hung upon the cross. Just as He was thinking of us on Golgotha and in the Garden of Gethsemane. I do know, and perhaps this is most important, that when Jesus prayed for unity with these words, "that they may all be one". (John 17:21) He was praying for you, me, and these two men. In that prayer found in John 17, He also prayed that we not be taken out of the world, rather that we be kept safe from the evil one.  

This reminds me of a story I recently heard from the life of Pope John Paul II. He was asked about how he felt towards the man who was responsible for shooting him and attempting to take his life. He said, and I am paraphrasing, the person who had done this to him is not important because an action like this has it's origin from the devil.  

May the Father hear and answer for our good, the prayer of Jesus for unity and protection. May we have the wisdom and love to understand, that to patiently bear wrong from others, to forgive others are acts of mercy. In fact, this patience and forgiveness is so important, the church has named them spiritual acts of mercy.  

If we reflect upon, understand, and accept the patience and mercy the Lord has shown us, then we can accomplish this by His grace in our relations with one another. Then we shall not have to learn the difficult lessons like these two and be thrown into the cold, or worse into fiery Gehenna where there will be eternal gnashing and grinding of teeth. (Mt. 13:42) Even if we find ourselves in the cold, there is no need to despair. Our God, is a God of mercy. We need only turn to Him in sincerity of heart and, He will provide the help we need.