Shermaneutics
The most tantalizingly close and yet distant thing about Christianity is the simplest - that we must rely on Christ. Period. For everything. For our salvation. For our life. Knowing that he crowns our merits. Knowing that when we go to Mass we are offering Jesus, the Spotless One, as our sacrifice. Knowing that he even inspires our willingness to be good. Sometimes I lose sight of this and it’s difficult to get it back, though that's relying on my effort. A catch-22. It’s always hard to think our efforts aren’t getting things done and carrying the day. That mindset is so completely ingrained in day-to-day living in which my actions produce results. In the end, it’s not about me. It’s about Jesus. The most elusive thing is not giving into the temptation of putting "God on the dock" as C.S. Lewis wrote.
"Discouragement is not from God," said the great St. Ignatius, even though the little voices whisper, like the sad tragedy of Thomas Sherman, son of William “Cump” Sherman, who gave up all for the priesthood and eventually also gave up his mind. Maybe the phrase about losing your life to gain it includes losing your mind? The irony is that Gen’l Sherman was always accused of madness. His son heroically took a stand for the faith against the wishes of his famous, non-believing father.
Thomas Sherman’s life seems tragic and yet we know that it isn't in the grand scheme of things. The key is His will is not our will. Where was I when He created the world? There is no way I’m going to understand God’s ways completely, which is as it should since that lack of knowledge provokes the very thing God asks of me - trust.
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