Package Deal
All things come from God.
My child, do not busy yourself with many matters; if you multiply activities, you will not be held blameless. If you pursue, you will not overtake, and by fleeing you will not escape. There are those who work and struggle and hurry, but are so much the more in want. There are others who are slow and need help, who lack strength and abound in poverty; but the eyes of the Lord look kindly upon them; he lifts them out of their lowly condition and raises up their heads to the amazement of the many. Good things and bad, life and death, poverty and wealth, come from the Lord. - Ecclesiasticus 11:10-14
Today's reading reminds us to be cautious about how we judge.
How easy it is to look on what is good in our lives and draw the conclusion that we are good as well, for we can be deceiving ourselves.
When ties are bad, are we to blame?
If not, than perhaps we are not the source of our joys or sorrows.
That is not to say that God rains down troubles upon us, nor are we totally responsible for all that happens. Good and bad can happen regardless of how good or bad we are.
That is what God permits, and what we must learn to live with.
The challenge we face is to act the way we would prefer others to act toward us, because there is no guarantee that will happen. We can give one thing and get another.
The good and the bad come as a package deal. We may not like it, and it may not seem fair, but it is the way it works.
Of course, we may look at someone who is suffering and judge them, or we may see one benefit and assume he is good, but both are just a trap.
The deal is we must learn not to judge others, for we would not want to be judged by them.
Easier said than done, though.
More to come...