“If, in trying to do the will of God, we always seek the highest abstract standard of perfection, we show that there is still much we need to learn about the will of God. For God does not demand that every man attain what is theoretically highest and best. It is better to be a good street sweeper than a bad writer, better to be a good bartender than a bad doctor, and a repentant thief who died with Jesus on Calvary was far more perfect than the holy ones who had Him nailed to the cross….The Pharisees had kept the law to the letter and had spent their lives in the pursuit of a most scrupulous perfection. But they were so intent upon perfection as an abstraction that when God manifested His will and His perfection in a concrete and definite way they had no choice but to reject it.”
-Thomas Merton, No Man is an Island, page 70
If you have never read Thomas Merton, do it. I do not care what faith, belief system, or non-religious position you subscribe to. Passages like this go beyond any religious doctrine and address a central problem that many of us are prone to. So many times in my life I have struggle with getting the “right” solution to questions like “How should I live?”, “What is acceptable?”, and “What is the right opinion on this issue?” rather than seeking humility in my daily life and responding to what I see in front of me with compassion and action.
What is the Godliest morality? Or, for those non-theists out there, “What is the highest good?” I am beginning to think these are the wrong questions, not because they are invalid, but because they promote a state of inaction. We see it in our government, when we spend more time arguing over what is the most philosophically correct form of governance than we do dealing with the key problems we face as a society. We see it in academia, where we spend all our time trying to get the right theory on why inequality exists instead of practicing an attitude of equality towards others.
When we take speculation on what is right or good or true to the highest level of abstraction, we lose perspective. People become cases, personality traits become criteria for judgment. I’ve noticed that it is often the people I expect the least from who surprise me the most with one great act, insight, or kind word. And if I judge such persons by an abstract system of value, I cut myself off from all that those people are and can be.
When we try to figure out what is perfect and imperfect, we kill everything and everyone around us. Nothing is completely one or the other, and it is constantly in motion. Someone who is a bigot may also have a passion for serving the poor. (Yes, this seems contradictory, but I have seen it). Someone who engages in a sex lifestyle we disagree with may be the one who saves your life on the operating table. And you (I) could miss all the beauty in the world while trying to get the right answer, the moral truth, the holiest viewpoint.
Everyone has a part to play “for good or for ill” as the wizard Gandalf said of Gollum in the Lord of the Rings. And if you decide before it is all said and done who is good or right, you might not stick around to see what happens.
That thief played an important role in the story of the Gospel, and I doubt anyone would have guessed it until the last minute of his life.
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