Always, I find myself thinking the same thing:
Faith, Hope, and Charity are what we call the Theological Virtues, because not only do they point us toward God, but they also proceed from Him. Contrary to popular belief, it's not about the quest of Man for God; it's the quest of God for Man. What's the first question God asks in the Bible? "Where are you?" (Genesis 3: 9) God always makes the first move. This is why Jesus says, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him." (John 6: 44) [BTW, you'll notice I finally got off my lazy duff and got out my RSV-CE for citations. I haven't banished the Douay, but this one's a bit less Shakespearean and a bit more ecumenical.]
There's a brilliant post on this today from Bad Catholic. Check ye it!
We can't build our own stairway to heaven. Play your old Zeppelin albums backward all you like; you'll only succeed in trashing your needle (ask your parents, if you don't get the references here).
You'll never convince some people, though. The Gospel of Self-Help is a business too big to fail, it seems. Even now, rest assured, an ex-Amway salesman from Hoboken has found the astonishingly simple answer that's eluded all the great minds since the dawn of civilization. As we speak, he's in the basement, making an infomercial to promote his tapes, promising you instant salvation, on your own terms, in the comfort of your own home, by tapping the latent Answers Within YOU!
. . .which is unfortunate, because analog tapes are obsolete and have gone the way of the dinosaurs. So should the notion that you can make yourself happy, good-looking, and successful just by telling yourself that you are. In the end, you climb toward Heaven, not to get with God, but to be God. And we know where that ends, don't we?
Yep, back in our last post, with good old Phaëton, taking the sun out for a spin.
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