The tree of good and evilCarlos ChiclanaA problematic sexual behavior is something more complex than a struggle for the virtue of chastity".Educating virtues inspired by TolkienIn Genesis 2:7 "God breathed His breath of life into man after forming him from the dust of the ground". We are the creator's design to reflect His image and likeness. Therefore, it stands to reason that despite our internal struggles, we are fashioned and destined to prefer the good, the good and the pleasing to God, and to be creatures of His pleasure exhibiting characteristics of His divine nature.
In addition to these spiritual reasons, during the evolutionary processes we human beings realized that there are also many socioeconomic benefits for choosing good over evil. By directing our sociology and psychology of life around the original design and desire of the Creator, we discover what it is to live in healthy coexistence, united by alliances and behaviors that favor us, sharing "the fruits of the earth and the work of man". Everything is a requirement to remain in peace and not in conflict, growing and prospering, ensuring the survival of all. It is anthropological and universal.
In practically all religions we observe that a part of the religiosity has been dedicated to the reverence to the deity, and the other part, to the healthy interrelated coexistence. The Judeo-Christian faith dedicates most of its teachings to exhort humanity to this faith that invites to reverence to God and to the brotherhood that produces palpable fruits. In the Old Testament Moses gives us the commandments of God's law, and then we read in Deuteronomy 28:1-2: "If you obey the voice of the Lord your God and do all the commandments that I command you today, he will set you far above all the nations of the earth. And because you have listened to the voice of the Lord your God, all kinds of blessings will come upon you and overtake you." Psalm 133, 1 says "See how good and pleasant it is for brethren to live together". And in the New Testament there are countless exhortations to healthy living together, as for example in Ephesians 4, 31-32 "Root out from among yourselves all anger, outbursts, wrath, clamor, insults, and all kinds of malice. But be kind and understanding to one another, forgiving each other, just as God forgave you in Christ".
It is in our DNA to prefer good over evil and to orient our lives toward noble and worthy causes. Yet, history reminds us how easily we give up our original healthy and peaceful essence to become entangled in social conflicts, divisions, quarrels, wars and destruction. For example: half of all marriages will end in divorce. Worldwide, 150 million children live in orphanhood, abandonment or misery. Six out of 10 children and one out of 5 women suffer from abuse. We have lost count of the number of human beings who have perished in historical wars: perhaps one billion over 21 centuries, with 108 million killed in the 20th century alone.
Today, developed countries spend an average of $225 billion a year on humanitarian aid to poor countries, but at the same time, global military spending on conflicts between countries and nations is $2.44 trillion. Spending on health and medicine exceeds 10 trillion dollars to supposedly keep our populations healthy. At the same time, addictions claim five times more lives than cancer and AIDS. What strange dichotomies! What governs human hearts capable of, on the one hand, manifesting many moments of moral nobility, and on the other hand, opting for contrary tendencies of indifference, violence or destruction? It is irrational! It is madness!
In Romans 7:15, St. Paul, frustrated with his indomitable behaviors, said: "I do not understand my own actions: I do not do what I want and I do the things I hate". Could this be the struggle we all engage in within ourselves?
Let us remember that Adam and Eve were appointed the custodians of the earth, of everything living and visible. But instead of living in gratitude and satisfaction with all that was good around them, they preferred to go towards the one thing forbidden and unknown: to eat of the restricted tree or fruit, in total disobedience to God's will. The eyes, the appetite and the cravings of the heart, went after that which had limits, instead of enjoying the rest of creation to the full, at their leisure.
These continuous acts of disobedience to God continue to rob us of our dignity as sons. Comparable to the sad story of Esau, son of Isaac and brother of Jacob in Genesis 25, 24 onwards. Esau was a skilled hunter who one day, ironically and mysteriously, preferred to sell his birthright with all its anointings and blessings, for a miserable plate of lentils. And what about King David? In the history of Israel there have been no reigns like that of David and his son Solomon, and yet David allowed himself to be intoxicated by passion until he became an adulterer and murderer (2 Samuel 11). And there are many such stories.
How to explain these contradictions? What dark and strange forces sometimes operate in the human mind and heart that expose great weaknesses and vulnerabilities? We prefer to blame the devil and evil spirits for our mistakes and misfortunes. Yes, it is true that the Bible presents a real being by the name of satan who is the author of mean and destructive plans. Besides being the tempter in the wilderness who tried to trip up Jesus' messianic mission, in John 10:10 Jesus himself said: "The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy, while I have come that they may have life and have it to the full". Even so, Jesus also clarifies that there are internal enemies that make us sin, and to these we must pay much attention. Mark 7, 21: "For from within the heart of man proceed evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, adulteries".
Why do we give in so much to these corrupt instincts? Why don't we recognize that evil only brings us destruction and loss? Why don't we know how to control our unbridled impulses in order to opt for what is best in our nature? Mainly because we are hostages of feelings that often dominate reason. Just as there are beautiful feelings (love, peace, gratitude, joy, hope), there are others that become paralyzing forces or destructive currents. We so easily feed back on rejection, dislike, hatred, sense of revenge, prioritizing thoughts of domination and narcissistic plans, that we sabotage our possibilities of dimensioning ourselves with superior qualities. These negative feelings fermented within us are the triggers of a system of systematic and integral self-destruction. They are like acid that corrodes understanding and mental and social health. They are primitive tendencies that we have not learned to overcome.
THE EMPOWERERS OF WICKEDNESS
1- Disfigured perception of reality
Evil feeds on obstructed perception. This emotional or spiritual blindness drags us into confusion and misinterpretation, warping our sense of honest evaluation. When our perception does not match reality, we judge life and others harshly. We lose the gift of empathic communication and obstruct opportunities for reconciliation. This is where the prejudices and distancing that are so detrimental to us are born.
Matthew 6:22 explains it this way: "Your eye is the lamp of your body. If your eyes are sound, your whole body will have light; but if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be in darkness."
2- Uncontrolled feelings
Resentment, desire for revenge, envy, unregulated anxiety, despair, distrust, bitterness, arrogance, are the feelings that contribute most to mental imbalance and social destabilization.
3- Lying and deception
John 8, 44. (The devil) "When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies".
Lies have many slaves, and truth has few soldiers. Evil finds refuge in lies and falsehood. Lies erode social trust. It damages our relationships and damages our self-esteem by sabotaging our dignity and prestige. When others realize that we have lied to them, they feel emotionally and intellectually mocked. Lying promotes distrust and division, dismantles credibility, which is the backbone of authority.
4- The philosophies that govern us socially
The sociology and philosophy of life that our humanity adapts, if they are not aligned with our original spiritual, neurological and psycho-affective configuration, will be unsustainable. Social misconceptions of happiness and success are to blame for generating an exaggerated nonconformism and selfishness in many human beings. Modern cultures exalt superficiality and popularity, and have replaced the wise guide with celebrity, even as corrupt lifestyles have become normalized, desensitizing us from the initial impact of what we once considered shocking and repulsive. Folly dethrones wisdom.
5- Collective hysterias
These expose just how susceptible and impressionable we are to any indoctrination that appeals. It is easy to see how social and political movements such as fascists, communists and terrorists have dragged the masses throughout history, but lead them to throw themselves over the precipices of deception and decadence.
6- Fear and cowardice
They produce silence, cover-up, blind obedience, and complicity. We sell our prestige, dignity, honesty, emotional stability, and spirituality, for fear of rejection, finger-pointing, irrelevance or loss.
7- Distorted or disfigured concept of justice and mercy.
When the laws of a country or the actions of legislators favor the guilty more than the innocent, we will not effectively stop or eradicate evil. Rather, we operate in complicity with evil by becoming its enablers. We have exchanged harsh and deserved punishment as a deterrent to stop the growth of evil for disproportionate and misplaced mercy, excusing and justifying acts of violence by proposing that the offender is just another victim. Before absolving a fault we must know how to explain the scope of the offense and promote the conviction of the error.
8- Misinterpretation of free will and unfounded freedoms
We are not free to take, to assault, to impoverish others, to harm ourselves, to destabilize society, or to usurp the rich to satisfy the poor. Free will is not licentiousness: it must be monitored by good judgment, good sense and universal mercy.
9- Money, the root of all evils
1 Timothy 6:10-11 "For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, for which some have been led astray from the faith by coveting it, and have tortured themselves with many sorrows. But you, O man of God, flee from these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and kindness."
God's master plan articulated by Jesus in several of his messages is that our provision is assured by the provident God of Our Father, who daily clothes and feeds even the simplest creatures of creation. When we understand God's providence, we will no longer be controlled by the survival instinct, but reconfigured by the grace and love offered by the providing Father.
10-Lack of faith and religiosity
Jesus' message attempts to bring our conscious and unconscious impulses back into alignment with God's will, our original design. This is why faith and religion are so important in the life of man. Just as we yield to the pathology of evil, let us always remember what Luke 17:20 says: "At that time, to some Pharisees who asked him when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, 'The kingdom of God will not come spectacularly, nor will you proclaim that it is here or there; for behold, the kingdom of God is within you'".
How do we overcome the pathology of evil?
1–Assuming His divine nature
Making conscious efforts to make changes to carnal, destructive and enslaving behavior patterns in order to dimension ourselves through life as authentic children of God accompanied by His grace, manifesting life testimonies of people who are seeking self-control and holiness.
Romans 8:29-30: "For whom God foreknew, he predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren; and those whom he predestined, he also called; and those whom he called, he also justified; and those whom he justified, he also glorified."
2 Peter 1:4-7: He has granted us the greatest and most precious thing that can be offered: you become partakers of the divine nature, escaping the corruption that in this world goes hand in hand with desire. Therefore, make every effort to increase your faith with steadfastness, steadfastness with knowledge, knowledge with the mastery of instincts, mastery of instincts with steadfastness, steadfastness with piety, piety with brotherly love and brotherly love with charity.
2– Transforming ourselves with spiritual weapons
Conversion is more than a change in behavior: is the equivalent of a new birth, making resolutions of amendment that lead to a firm resolve to fight hard not to err again. The true conversion that is achieved with sincere repentance and the grace of God implies a radical transformation of ways of thinking and acting: to clothe the soul with a new essence. To achieve this we will sometimes have to face human battles and spiritual battles. With the help of spiritual weapons, we will fight those battles.
John 3:4-6: "Can he enter into his mother's womb and be born again? Jesus answered him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit".
Ephesians 6:13-17: "Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Therefore stand firm, having girded your waist with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation for preaching the gospel of peace."
3– Cutting and uprooting
Matthew 18, 8 says: "If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame, than having two hands and two feet, to be cast into eternal fire".
Evil approaches our lives with violent plans. We must respond with decisive and assertive decisions to stop it in time, without ambivalence and with great determination. Old bitterness or old resentments continue to ferment and foment more conflicts. Through counseling, reconciliation dialogues, the sacrament of confession, prayer, retreats and intense processes of inner healing, the cracks and doors that were left open by the traumas of the past, like wounds that never healed, can be closed.
4– Arming ourselves with gifts
Of courage, resilience, discernment, awareness of error, gift of knowledge and gifts of detachment, to choose to get rid of the erroneously acquired and exchange it for the pearl of greater value.
Luke 19:8: "Zacchaeus He said resolutely to Jesus, 'Lord, I will give half of my goods to the poor, and whoever I have unjustly exacted from you, I will repay four times as much.
3- Modeling the teachings of love and mercy of the Gospel
Jesus' teachings are full of exhortations to mercy. Even in the Lord's Prayer, Jesus makes it clear that if we do not forgive those who offend us, we have no spiritual legitimacy to ask God's forgiveness. Some great examples of mercy are in:
- Luke 10, 25-37, in the procedure of the Good Samaritan.
- Matthew 18, 22, in the unconditional forgiveness of the 70 times 7.
- Matthew 5, 6 and 7, living under the creed and moral codes manual, healthy life proposals spelled out in the Sermon on the Mount.
Let us also remember that forgiveness is a contract of amendment. For there to be conviction of error, the act of forgiveness must be accompanied by an understanding of the scope of the harm.
4- To teach the new generations the faith and unbreakable moral codes.
Psalm 90:1: "Lord, you have been a refuge for us from generation to generation."
Psalm 145:5: "From generation to generation your deeds are celebrated, your exploits are recounted."
There are irreplaceable values for the formation of healthy communities: love and respect for life, family, fear of God, charity, social responsibility, among others. But besides teaching values, we must accompany our children to have a personal relationship with God and a spiritual encounter of genuine conversion. After receiving the sacraments of baptism and confirmation, many children will not have the opportunity to continue growing in faith if they do not have the moral and spiritual formation that their parents should provide.
5- Announcing the good and denouncing evil
Evil must be faced with courage and rightness, even if it implies sacrifices and renunciations; this is what it means to be prophets for these times.
Jeremiah 1:8-10: "Do not be afraid of them, for I will be with you to protect you," says Yahweh. Then Yahweh stretched out his hand and touched my mouth, saying to me, 'At this time I put my words in your mouth. This day I charge you with peoples and nations: You shall uproot and tear down, you shall destroy and destroy, you shall build and plant.'"
To unmask deceit, rapacious wolves, lies under the guise of truth, even if it means losing admiration and human prestige, is what we, the children of truth, are called to do.
In conclusion: We have to activate all the spiritual gifts and instincts that will help us to subdue our human vulnerabilities. By enabling the most sublime gifts that are all under our possibilities, we will overcome the pathology of evil with the healthy and beneficial of the spiritual nature that faith, conversion and baptisms of grace that produce real changes.
Ephesians 4:23: "Let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes".
PhD in Psychology
