Mt 19:3-12 Splitting Adam
“The Pharisees came up to Jesus and tested him by asking, ‘Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?’ He answered, ‘Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?’”
As I was meditating on this Gospel passage my mind easily wandered on the current assaults being waged upon God’s design and His amazing plan for man. Divorce destroys marriages. Same-sex marriages distort marriage. Alone, these constitute the most serious threats to life and society. “Whoever has ears ought to hear.” Are we so confident that humanity can endure such attacks? If so, why? After all, the words above come from God, not man. We can either dismiss it or accept it.
We have had ample time to witness the destructive power of what John Paul II prophetically referred to as “the culture of death.” We have attentively listened to Pope Benedict’s warning of religious intolerance from the “dictatorship of relativism.” But are we aware of the danger of the splitting Adam? How man is constantly splitting himself from his conscience and his heart and soul? This divorce mentality – this cut and running mentality – is ruining our lives and those around us! It has the destructive power as any splitting atom or from any war on earth, for it is the inner war that starts all wars!
We love to quit. We love to walk away. But from whom? Mostly, from ourselves! We can start with the divorce between our conscience and actions. Much of the evil in the world begins from within. This isn’t some ancient Buddhist or Hindu philosophy. This is an historical fact! I must constantly be on guard in keeping the voice of God alive and active in my heart, and to be obedient to it. Otherwise, I am more than capable of creating a monster from within! Thankfully, the Lord gives to us what we don’t ask for! He gives us a sense of guilt and remorse for what have done or what we have failed to do. We have a hard time sleeping. We blame it on our mattress. But when one’s conscience and actions are obedient to one another, then we can sleep at night.
Next, we have the divorce between our desires and duties. This may be hard to hear, but I cannot always get what I want; not because it is impossible, but because it is not always what is best. Imagine eating whatever you want, whenever you want, everyday? You can imagine the results! When duty and desire are combined together; in other words, when “what I want” is the same as “what I need” or “what I want to do” is the same as “what I ought to do”, then I will be trim and lean in mind, body and soul. This is the path to self-esteem, to self-worth – to happiness. I will find happiness when what I feel like doing is the same as what I should be doing.
Throughout our lives we can suffer from all types of mini-divorces: between heart and mind, faith and reason, irrational and rational, giving and receiving, humility and pride. If we are not careful, they can easily get to the point of divorcing my life with another - with my family and friends. And eventually, it will all lead to the Great Divorce between God and me.
