Learning Goodness

God created man in His image; in the divine image He created him; male and female He created them (Gen. 1:27).

One of my most cherished possessions is a pump organ that I inherited from my grandparents. My grandfather found the 100-year-old instrument in an old warehouse in Chicago back in the early 40s. It had been covered over in black lacquer and, as my grandmother described it, it was pretty ugly. My grandfather stripped all the lacquer off and refinished the original wood to reveal a fine example of woodworking craftsmanship. And yes, it still plays!

Unfortunately, many people become like that organ, covered over due to abuse or neglect, or just the stresses of everyday life. We hide behind a protective covering that we’ve erected for ourselves, and become insulated and self-absorbed. As a result, we can lose sight of our true beauty and that of others. People are reduced to labels and categories and, at worst, individuals and groups refuse to have anything to do with one another. It happens, unfortunately, even in our churches.

The animosity between Jews and Samaritans described in Scripture is one such case. In John 4:9, the Samaritan woman at the well is shocked (as are His disciples) that Jesus would ask her for a drink or even speak to her, for Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans. Jesus looks past the label and sees a person, and operates from that perspective. I find it interesting that Jesus often uses examples of those who were outcasts (Samaritans, widows, poor people) in His parables in order to teach His disciples (and us) how to return to the image of God in which they were created.

As committed Christians, we might be tempted to believe we are beyond such learning. But if we’re real honest with ourselves, admittedly we all have people in our lives whom we avoid. Maybe they hang out with someone we don’t like. Maybe they’re members of an ethnic group whose customs we don’t understand. It may be they have habits or use language we find disconcerting or offensive. We’re called to minister to them too, but we first have to have our own house in order.

Doing that is risky. It means going against the grain and possibly incurring the ire or disapproval of others. But it is what we are on this earth to do. We can fulfill the two great commandments to love God and our neighbor only when we truly know who and what we are. In his book Jesus of Nazareth, Pope Benedict XVI writes, “The risk of goodness is something we must relearn from within, but we can do that only if we ourselves become good from within..." (p.199).

How do we become "good from within"? It is something to which only God can lead us, for no one is good but God alone (Lk. 18:19). We need to let the Lord strip us of that “lacquer” of worldly concerns and suspicions about others that cover us. It may mean admitting to ourselves that there are still little corners of our lives that have dust bunnies that need cleaning up. Unless and until we give Him that permission, our true beauty will never shine through, since a rotten tree cannot bear good fruit (Mt. 7:18). As St. Paul reminds us, all of [us] who were baptized into Christ have clothed [ourselves] with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female, for [we] are all one in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:27-28).

Prayer Request: That we will allow the Lord to remold us into His image in which we were created.