In Greek mythology,
Sisyphus challenged the gods and was able to chain "the god of death"
for he loved life and thought he was more clever than the gods. Of course, his
challenge did not go well and soon the gods agreed to punish him. In the underworld,
his punishment consisted of perpetually rolling a great stone from the base of
a steep hill to its top then before he arrives, the stone would roll down and
he was to go pick it up and again roll it to the top. Sisyphus had to comply.
But how did he feel about this task? Every time Sisyphus rolled the stone, he
felt the pointless hard work on ascending to the hill's top, but on descending
Sisyphus felt for a moment that he was free and indeed was happy to see the
stone rolling down.[1]
If we apply this to
our own situation, we will see Sisyphus every time we despair but also every time
we have hope that we will overcome our suffering. However, there is more to
this story than Sisyphus alone, for he alone is still a miserable man! The
Greeks imagined many gods, each with a particular power. The gods served
themselves and could not care much about those suffering Greek slaves. The
Christian God is a God of love. We learn from the Gospel that Christ loved his
disciples and his enemies alike to the end. He loved his enemies who crucified
him and still forgave them till the last breath! No historian can objectively
deny that Christ lived and was crucified in Palestine of the first century.
Which god is then
truer? If I think it is the Greek god(s) it would be in my interest to follow
their example which I obviously find selfish and disgusting, but if I think it
is Christ then my freedom impels me to do my best in imitation of him or else
he is not really my God. I naturally love who loves me first. If God loved me
first then I am inclined to love him. This is why I love my mother. She loved
me first! We cannot give what we did not receive but we always have the great
potential of loving those who loved us. My love of others is in my interest
since they will also love me. You see that in the response you receive from
strangers when you smile to them. They often smile back. Whether smiling is
genetically inherited or a learned habit in the development and adaptation of
the human race does not alter the fact that it is naturally present.
Reciprocity is natural but more than that solidarity is a quality of survival.
It follows that the more we have solidarity the more we imitate Christ in his
love of the needy. Heaven is the
community of lovers whose response to the love of God in the crucified Christ
and the suffering fellow humans eventually takes them to heaven because heaven
is a matter of love.
Can we challenge God as Sisyphus did? I think "Yes," but then we would not be punished. If we roll the stone up to the top of the mount, we could expect God to be awaiting us and if we fail, he will be at the base too embracing our efforts. God is present to all: those who succeed and those who fail. He never despairs in his embrace! Unlike the Greek gods, he receives slaps and gets crucified until one day we learn how to love, like him, to the end. This is a hope that I share with you.
Can we challenge God as Sisyphus did? I think "Yes," but then we would not be punished. If we roll the stone up to the top of the mount, we could expect God to be awaiting us and if we fail, he will be at the base too embracing our efforts. God is present to all: those who succeed and those who fail. He never despairs in his embrace! Unlike the Greek gods, he receives slaps and gets crucified until one day we learn how to love, like him, to the end. This is a hope that I share with you.
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