God helps the helpless, not those who help themselves

Publish or perish! This axiom is not just true in academia. It also applies to the now relatively old-fashioned world of blogging. As I've mentioned more than once this year, I miss blogging regularly. To that end, I have set my sights on the new Year of Grace, which begins Sunday, 3 December- actually, it starts with Vespers on Saturday, 2 December.

Heaven knows there are no lack of things to write about. I find myself micro-blogging on other social media platforms instead using this medium to develop things a bit more. While I certainly hope that there are people who find what I write interesting enough to read, long from writing is a way think through things.

Today, for example, I saw a meme on another platform that really provoked me. I was provoked by it because it was posted by a Catholic entity. Prudently, I am not going to mention either the entity or the content of the meme. It was basically more self-help pabulum.

I grew up in a religious tradition that more or less teaches human perfectability. This is the idea that you make yourself perfect by trying really hard. Talk about banging your head against a wall! While I don't reject the need to both desire and strive for holiness, I believe that it is God who has begun His good work in me and only God who can bring it completion, sometimes despite myself- God is that good (see Philippians 1:6).

Spiritual life is not a steady, linear movement to a desired point. In the best of times, it is two steps forward and one back. At other times it is no steps forward and five back. While this can make us frustrated with ourselves, it doesn't and cannot frustrate God in that way.

Anyway, apart from writing about this cyberspace moving forward, I wanted to post what I wrote as something of a response to the meme that provoked me:

What I grow very tired of is Christianity as self-help. It's a betrayal of the Gospel. If it really does boil down to all that nonsense, then you don't need to be a Christian because you don't need a Savior. Just follow the lame ass advice and, supposedly, you'll flourish.

The Gospel is for people who realize the vacuousness of such trivialities and who reach their realization through experience. Optimism is not hope. Hope lies beyond optimism.

Far from achieving worldly success, following Jesus is largely about eschewing that in order to live the Kingdom as a present reality. While that sounds lovely, it is difficult in many ways, not least of which is that it renders your incomprehensible to virtually everyone. Kinda like Jesus.

These words from the Prayer of Saint Francis are ones we probably pass over too lightly: "O Master, let me not seek as much... to be understood as much to understand." When I think about it, much of Pope Francis' teaching is rooted in this petition, which is to pray for something quite difficult, like Padre Pio asking for the stigmata.

"You shall know the truth and the truth will make you odd"- Flannery O'Connor

In a comment, I added:

I don't know how valid this still might be, but in a study, I believe by Pew, a number of years ago, an alarming number of U.S. Christians identified "God helps those who help themselves" as their favorite Bible verse. At least for them, we are not our brother's keeper. The Gospel According to Cain

Jesus' response to the Pharisees who complained his calling of a tax collector to follow was to say: "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:31). Or, perhaps more appropriately if a bit out of context: "Physician, heal yourself" (see Luke 4:23).