Of this world

Dear Darren,

When you told me that ever since you were a child, you wanted to become a priest, the first thing that I told you was, “Experience the world first.”

I said that because I thought that you should be able to make a better decision if you would know what you will be missing of the world, once you enter the priesthood. You must be 100 percent certain that you are willing to let go of the pleasures of this world, take up your cross, and follow the footsteps of Christ – not in His majestic splendor but as a humble servant to all.

At that time, I was certain my advice to be wise, thinking that we should not have any hang-ups from this world and so we must first experience what we thought we missed in and of the world.

Perhaps there is wisdom in the advice.

Then late August, feedbacks, news, and unexpected challenges rocked our community ending with the leaving of one brother from the program, and then it hit me. When I was with the Brahma, Kumaris we were taught of three truths – God; the soul, that is me; and the life drama, which is that the life we are living now is predestined and definite. All the rest are falsehood – the roles we play and our bodies and all its attributes like possessions, position and relations. With this, our aim should be to experience truth by experiencing God – His qualities and His virtues – and in the process realize our true self, as souls created in His beautiful image. So then, why should one experience falsehood in order for him to decide on answering the desire to live the truth?

God is truth. The self, the soul in its purest form, is the truth. The certainty and definiteness of the roles we play in this life is the truth. With truth we experience only bliss, true divine happiness. But with falsehood we experience superficial happiness coating a big lump of sorrow underneath. One does not have to become impure and dirty just so he will be purified and then experience grace. Our attitude should be to play our role the best we can, yet detached and grounded on the truth that these are mere roles and not the real me. And when we say, “play our role the best we can,” this would also entail doing what is right, according to Divine precepts.

If you are definite with your pure desire to follow Christ, then protect that desire by choosing to live the life that Christ prescribed for us, and that is a virtuous and pure life. Who says one has to experience different and many intimate relationships or to indulge in different vices like substance abuse and then say that I have enough of the world, just so he could decide that he was called by God? No, nothing of the falsehood of this world will be missed if one’s pure desire is to follow God and to pursue the truth. 1 Peter 1:3-5, 10-11 said: “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.  

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” God, himself, called us. What fortune. But despite His call, only a few answered, and these few are the chosen ones.

“For many are called, but few are chosen,” Jesus said as related in Matthew 22:14.

Even among these few, only a small number are genuinely serving God and thus can be called genuine children of God, the reason why Jesus rebuked the hypocritical attitude of the teachers of the law, the Pharisees and Saducees.

People would say that if you don’t experience this world then you won’t be an effective minister because you can’t relate with the sufferings of people. What people desire is to experience true happiness, not for you to relate with their sorrowful experiences. If you yourself share their sorrow, how can you impart happiness? With truth comes understanding of this world including the sorrows that people experience. By showing them the happiness that they could experience in the company of the Truth, one becomes an effective apostle and minister for Christ. Did Christ tell his apostles to go out into the world and experience the carnality of the world? No, but He said that they should not be afraid to be different from this world. “If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” (John 15:19).

Did Christ come to this world to be of this world and to experience sin?

Definitely, not. He was not of this world and so the world hated Him first. Rather He showed us that there is a way for us to experience a deeper and more intimate relationship with God by simply living the truth. So, should one experience the world and sin in order to have no hang-ups when he finally decides to follow Christ, or for him to become an effective minister of Christ? Definitely not, my dearest brother Darren, for in God nothing is lacking. In Him, happiness is complete. Nurture your pure desire of living a righteous life, just as Christ did. Be different and you will become not just an effective apostle of Christ but a blessing and a source of hope to many.

Your brother in Christ,

Ritche