Between
Courage and Wisdom
One
of the most difficult discernments that people in a leadership role
have to make is the choice between courage and wisdom. I see parents
who confront their children courageously on points of discipline but
they may not always be wise in doing so. A case in point is Sunday
Mass attendance. All young people, Catholics or not, go through a
phase where they are in rebellion with authority - in the home and
in the church. During this period they will oppose, challenge, defy,
and even correct those in authority. Conscientious parents may take
the bait and enter into battle with their children, telling them that
they are committing mortal sin by their failure to go to Mass on Sunday.
They may tell them about the grave sin that this is and the consequences
of same. They may believe that they are doing the right thing. But
are they being wise?
Does their rebellious teenager buy what they say? Do they not see
the non-sense of God commanding us to worship him under pain of sin?
Something within them, their feel for justice, tells them that such
a way of divine action does not make sense.
Because
of their parents' insistence the child will tend to dig in and find
more reasons to support their rebellious position. They may even convince
themselves forever by their own arguments. Wiser parents who are more
secure in their own authority, can look at what is happening chuckling,
within themselves. They will remember that they themselves passed
through such a phase. If there is no big deal made of it, the issue
will soon pass. But if there has been a major confrontation and either
parents or children have lost face, irreparable harm can be done.
I
believe that most people know when they have done wrong. If they are
given a trusting atmosphere they will make a quiet U-turn back to
what is right. If people try to correct them they will become more
stubborn in defense of their position and lose more face.
Does
this kind of thinking come from the wisdom of years or just from the
fear of breaking a relationship through confrontation? I really do
not know. I think each case has to be thought through for itself.
The person who always defers action may be as lacking in good judgement
as the one who does not hesitate to "step in where angels fear
to tread."
We
find Jesus often struggling between divine courage and wisdom. A number
of times when the crowds were angry with him he slipped away quietly.
On the other hand when he found the temple being desecrated by the
money changers and the vendors he showed his anger and drove them
out. Many writers believe that this incident was the watershed in
the popularity of Jesus. It was after this - when he interfered with
the economic structures - that the authorities became more determined
to get rid of him, and he became less willing to compromise and to
make allowance for their failures.
This
is the mood of lent. It is a mood where the scales are tipping from
the wisdom of compromise to the courage to take decisive action. As
Jesus approaches the end he is willing to give all to fulfil the will
of the Father. He challenges us to do the same: to forgive a deep
hurt; to break a sinful relationship; to let go of an enslaving attachment.
It is only these deaths and the passion that they involve that will
bring us also to our personal resurrections.
