I think one may be quite rid of the old haunting suspicion—which raises its head in every temptation—that there is something else than God—some other country . . . into which He forbids us to trespass—some kind of delight which He “doesn’t appreciate” or just chooses to forbid, but which would be real delight if only we were allowed to get it. The thing just isn’t there. Whatever we desire is either what God is trying to give us as quickly as He can, or else a false picture of what He is trying to give us—a false picture which would not attract us for a moment if we saw the real thing. Therefore God does really in a sense contain evil—i.e., contains what is the real motive power behind all our evil desires. He knows what we want, even in our vilest acts: He is longing to give it to us. He is not looking on from the outside at some new “taste” or “separate desire of our own.” Only because He has laid up real goods for us to desire are we able to go wrong by snatching at them in greedy, misdirected ways. The truth is that evil is not a real thing at all, like God. It is simply good spoiled. That is why I say there can be good without evil, but no evil without good. You know what the biologists mean by a parasite—an animal that lives on another animal. Evil is a parasite. It is there only because good is there for it to spoil and confuse… Thus you may well feel that God understands our temptations—understands them a great deal more than we do. But don’t forget Macdonald again—“Only God understands evil and hates it.” Only the dog’s master knows how useless it is to try to get on with the lead knotted round the lamp-post. This is why we must be prepared to find God implacably and immovably forbidding what may seem to us very small and trivial things. But He knows whether they are really small and trivial. How small some of the things that doctors forbid would seem to an ignoramus.
~ CS Lewis
Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; but they will give account to Him Who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does…. The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.
~ Peter, The rock, in 1 Peter 4
“A physician once said, “The best medicine for humans is love.” Someone asked, “What if it doesn’t work?” He smile & said, ‘Increase the dose.'”
Oh beloved, it is true.
We live in the flesh. And this flesh screams for us to pay attention to it. And this, this listening to that which is less than whole; less than good, is the source of what is evil in our lives. We fall short. This is not just getting a lower grade on a test. No, sin is a terrible problem.
Enter Love.
We often think that Love is tolerant. But actually, nothing could be farther from the truth. Love is a terribly hot fire that cleanses and breaths life, where our flesh has been bringing a shadow of death. And this is often painful beyond belief.
Can we see it?
Evil, doesn’t really exist. Evil is just me, a finite being, trying to set up my own rubric for what is ok to do, and what i can accomplish to bring myself power and pleasure and prestige. It is a terrible problem. But, it is totally fixable.
This is why Love is so important. This is why Love covers such a multitude of sins. Love is not a passive thing. Love is not a thing (read: finite) at all. Love is Him. In Him is no shadow of turning. Love is Light, and Life, and Wholeness, and Freedom. And all of this is available to all of us, right now.
Yes, we can downgrade and pervert the Love of G_d. We can turn it into some selfish endeavor. And to do this is a grievous evil. But, to even begin to talk about evil is to talk about a comparison to Something infinitely higher, and totally other. Evil is not an-other thing than Love. Evil is a distortion of Love. It cannot exist on its own.
Love will eventually win the universe. It cannot be stopped. However, for Love to be what it is, it has to allow for something less than – if we are unwilling to live the Life He has promised us, and made available to us.
So, hopefully the point is starting to become clear. If we are struggling with evil in our own lives… and we all do, then what is happening is not a competing force to Love. Rather, it is a twisting of Love.
What if we just allowed ourselves to be untwisted? What if we quit fighting evil like it were some sort of competitor to the overwhelming Love that already is at work within us?
Tonight is your night. Time to allow that which is totally real (i.e., Love) to heal our failures.
Here, monks, a disciple dwells pervading one direction with his heart filled with loving-kindness, likewise the second, the third, and the fourth direction; so above, below and around; he dwells pervading the entire world everywhere and equally with his heart filled with loving-kindness, abundant, grown great, measureless, free from enmity and free from distress.
~The Buddha, Digha Nikaya 13
