According to my colleague, I am going to be put before the throne of heaven and charged with laxity in the governance of the people commended to my care. So I had one of those moments so amazingly portrayed in the first Avengers movie. Thor and Iron Man are facing off. Thor has just drawn on all the lightning powers of his magical hammer and attempted to cook Iron Man to a nice well-done consistency. The result, a 400% power increase, put this look on Tony's face as he then blasted Thor a good quarter mile off his feet. I pray for forgiveness for my own arrogance in trying to find that same expression for myself.
When I am challenged, I go back to what I was raised on. In this case, it is the Heidelberg Catechism, one of the three pillars of the Christian Reformed Church and one of the collected works in the Book of Confessions of the PCUSA. I went back there after being challenged by a friend of mine to go look at the Roman Catholic Catechism.
Thank you Pam.
Heidelberg Catechism, Question and Answer 115: Q. Since no one in this life can obey the Ten Commandments perfectly, why does God want them preached so pointedly?
A. First, so that the longer we live the more we may come to know our sinfulness and the more eagerly look to Christ for forgiveness of sins and righteousness.
Second, so that we may never stop striving, and never stop praying to God for the grace of the Holy Spirit, to be renewed more and more after God’s image, until after this life we reach our goal:
perfection.
Catechism of the Catholic Church; paragraph 2282: "If suicide is committed with the intention of setting an example, especially to the young, it also takes on the gravity of scandal. Voluntary co-operation in suicide is contrary to the moral law. Grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish the responsibility of the one committing suicide."
I wonder if John Calvin is doing spin-dizzies in his grave as I bring these together...
"The longer we live, the greater the importance of the 10 Commandments as better for us to recognize our sinfulness and the more eagerly we look to Christ. But if we cannot eagerly took to Christ, through psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture, responsibility can be diminished for one who takes their own life. The Commandments are preached that we may never stop striving and never stop praying to the Lord for the grace of the Holy Spirit. After this life, we reach our goal: perfection."
The Catholic Catechism is very specific in the condemnation of suicide and I stand with those condemnations. But when somebody wants the pain to stop and they do not have the line to our Lord, except through us, actively or passively, our job is to strive and to never stop praying.
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