Such as we are, Such are the Times

Such as we are, Such are the Times

-St. Augustine

So much of our life is consumed by stressing over the times we live in. We see it all around us. Our plans fail, societies seem to move in a decidedly un-Christ-like way. We are not at peace despite the overwhelming majority of authorities throughout the world openly claiming to desire it. Life and its troubles often overwhelm us. We often put the blame on things far away from us, and this is wrong because peace too is far away from us. How many of us actually account for the things we should be grateful for when we examine the problems of our lives? I know I do this all too often. I blame others for war and ignore the war in my own heart. If I cannot be at peace with myself, it is no wonder that I or my society is not at peace with one another. God’s grace, the life of virtue, and desiring what is good for others bring real peace.

We cannot change the world, but with God’s help, we can change ourselves.

“Let the few who live well endure the many who live ill.” We may not be able to change much. Most of us (myself included) are not called to live great lives we often dream about. Yet there is still a lot of real good that can be done. Someone out there is suffering in a way we could hardly imagine, and being intentionally kind and peaceful, willing to share what we have even if it is just to listen, can go a long way to making the times themselves better. Our world is evil because when we could see another human being made in the image and likeness of God, we see only what we get out of him or her. We treat each other like an inconvenience more than as some with such dignity that God had chosen to share something of himself with that man or woman.

“This world is evil, lo, it is evil, and yet it is loved as though it were good. But what is this evil world? For the heavens and the earth, and the waters and the things that are therein, the fish, the birds, and the trees are not evil. All these things are good: but it is evil men who make this evil world”                  -St Augustine (homily, 30;8)