'The Trouble With "X"...'

In our first class, our professor, Brother Young, gave us a short piece by Lewis to read. in 'The Trouble With "X...', he talks about the issue that we too often have with other people. Whenever we look at others, whenever we see them do this and that, there is an automatic judgment about the person from us. We always see the flaw in "X's" character.

That, then, is what separates us from God. He who has created all things has to see all that we do, the faults and mistakes we make. Having created a perfect world, he still has to see what we do as human beings. But, God doesn't change us, he doesn't try to change us by force. Lewis says,

"You may say it is very different for God because He could, if He pleased, alter people's characters, and we can't. But this difference doesn't go quite as deep as we may at first think. God has made it a rule for Himself that He won't alter people's character by force. He can and will alter them - but only if the people will let Him."

God will only change us if we let Him. The gift of agency allows us to find happiness on our own terms. the things is: He has all the answers.

Lewis goes on to question us about the level at which we admit our faults. More often that not, we might say, "yes, we have faults." But, how often do we actually look at ourselves and realize that the same grief that we feel or give others when they make a mistake is the same way others view us when we do the same? When we realize that, then we understand that "X" isn't the other person in the room. "X" is us. We are the ones who have the trouble, the problem. Only when we comprehend that can we be more like God.

To end, may I quote Lewis, who explains,

"You say, 'I admit I lost my temper last night'; but the others know that you're always doing it, that you are a bad-tempered person. You say, 'I admit I drank too much last Saturday'; but everyone else knows that you are a habitual drunkard.That is one way in which God's view must differ from mine. He sees all the characters: I see all except my own. But the second difference is this. He loves the people in spite of their faults. He goes on loving. He does not let go. Don't say, 'It's all very well for Him; He hasn't got to live with them.' He has. He is inside them as well as outside them. He is with them far more intimately and closely and incessantly than we can ever be."

I hope that I can perhaps see myself more as "X," as those around me as children of God who are to be loved and not be judged. That I may go on loving, even as He loves me.