CATHOLICISM
- THE IMPRACTICAL RELIGION
There
is in this, our time, a fancy that, whenever things go wrong, we
need a practical man. The opposite is truer; we need an unpractical
man. A practical man is one who does things the way things were
done. But what if this does not work? We need a thinker -- one who
knows why things worked in the first place.
Isn't it amazing that the problems
in early civilization were solved by monks and hermits who were not
part of the world? And all because they were first and foremost
thinkers; they knew how things were supposed to be, i.e., when
things worked well. A monk does not have to be married and have
problems to know the solutions to marriage problems. He should
simply know how Joseph and Mary would have solved marriage
problems.
The practical man wants to be on
the winning side. But how can there be a winning side if there is no
battle? The impractical man, moved by idealism, fights the battle
and prays he wins. Our politicians are all practical men, making
practical laws. By protecting the rights of criminals, they violate
the rights of the innocent. And they call that accomplishment. If
they were thinkers they would accomplish something good for
all.
The Catholic religion is not a
practical solution for the practical man. To give up all things
rather than possess? To deny oneself rather than indulge? How
impractical. The Catholic religion is a thinker's solution. The fact
it was instituted by Christ, a God, should make us think. . .that it
is probably the best solution.
(01-29-03)
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