Ventilation

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

The vain glory of life

I have heard some interesting views on faith lately, and I must admit, of all the basic virtues that stand opposite the basic vices, faith has been the most difficult for me to settle down with.

Let’s review. We’re exploring the theory that everything you do is ultimately driven by good or evil, and more specifically, one of three root sins or one of three root virtues.

And further, everyone struggles in particular with one sin throughout his life.

I have many assumptions.

The root sins are pride, greed, and lust. The roots of good are faith, hope, and love. And they behave in pairs, or as opposite sides of a single coin.

Matters of the flesh have their source in either love or lust.

Matters of the soul are founded in hope or greed.

And matters of the spirit begin with pride or faith.

Following on, the flesh represents your actions, the soul represents your disposition, and the spirit represents the ultimate position of control in your life.

The original idea was that all sins are created equal and that everyone would find himself in a lifelong battle with one of the root sins; constantly repeating the same mistakes over and over again, always able to trace them back to pride, greed, or lust.

I went about examining test cases, observing and diagnosing as much as my subjects would allow.

Of course, no number of examples proves a theory. But just one example disproves it.

And now, one of my test cases has switched root sins on me!

I must revisit the theory, at least in part.

The cleanest design would see us wrestle through in a straight line; first with the stuff of the flesh, then with the substance of our character, and finally, and probably never decisively, with the right to our own existence.

But I can already imagine how tempting it must be to turn back from the most difficult struggle of all, the struggle for control, and return to an easier battle. I must leave room for this in my revision.

This week someone told me the opposite of faithful is to be a liar. I never thought of it that way, but it fits. If faith is an attempt to recognize God as having control of your life, and pride is the taking control of your own life; if there really is a God, and especially if you are a pre-destinationist like me, then of course, pride is a lie!

The question is, how does one ever really settle down with that?

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