Jul 31 2019 22 mins 1
God created the world and humans in four-fold state of harmony Harmony or good relationship between God and mankind in which God literally dwelt in their souls as in a Temple Harmony between men and women – I have no idea what that could have been like so I can’t describe it. Harmony between Man and creation – there was no sickness, no disease, no natural disasters, no death for the human person – we were created immortal with all of creation serving us. Finally, there was a harmony within the human soul. The intellect, will and passion worked in a perfect accord As a consequence of original sin, CCC 400 states, The harmony in which they had found themselves, thanks to original justice, is now destroyed: the control of the soul's spiritual faculties over the body is shattered; the union of man and woman becomes subject to tensions, their relations henceforth marked by lust and domination. Harmony with creation is broken: visible creation has become alien and hostile to man. Because of man, creation is now subject "to its bondage to decay". Finally, the consequence explicitly foretold for this disobedience will come true: man will "return to the ground", for out of it he was taken. Death makes its entrance into human history. To understand what happened to our soul we must remember from a few days ago the way the powers of the soul were originally designed to work. The Intellect is designed to know reality – how things really are. Once the intellect grasps reality it has the truth. Then it must make a judgment: this is good or this evil. Our passions are designed to respond to the truth perceived by the intellect and Motivate the will to choose the good and avoid evil. Through my intellect I know coffee is good for me. My passions respond to this truth by moving me by my desires to make a pot of coffee as soon as I get up. This is the case of the powers of my soul working as they should. The intellect perceives reality, then give this info to the passions that respond to the truth perceived by the intellect which then motivate the will to choose some good In our fallen state, it goes more like this: I get up in the morning after a very restless night sleep; I feel rotten, this passion or emotion causes me to treat myself and everyone around me rotten (I could have substituted others adjectives here). The point is, I let my feelings of pain, fear, frustration and despair determine how I choose to live. We were designed to live according to reality and truth not fallen and disordered passions and emotions. Is your life based on feelings or on reality? Almost all people say reality or truth. Almost no one lives according to reality. If they did then they would live continuously in a state of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and self-control; the fruits of the Holy Spirit which are the results of living according to truth rather than disordered passions. Which passions, feelings or emotions control you? How do we reintegrate and heal the soul? I get up in the morning feeling rotten. Now what should I do? Think, the way I am feeling is going to lead to a lot of destructive choices today. I don’t want that. Plus – the way I am feeling – is it reality. Is everything terrible and is all hope lost? No, that is not reality. The reality, even if I don’t feel this way and don’t particularly like it right now is that suffering brings us closer to God and it brings us the grace to accomplish great things. That is good. Since God works all things for good for those who love him, then this suffering has meaning – God is using it to bring about some good. Therefore I can choose and even like the good God will bring about by this suffering. Furthermore, I can be thankful for suffering that God uses to bring about the good. Gratitude then sets me free from destructive feelings. Simply stated – I replace the wrong feeling with the right thoughts that begin to change my feelings which motivate good actions.
