In the context of Barts contribution I suppose I was thinking of "vocation". There's a vocation to married/family life and raising children - yet regularly enough through no fault of one partner such "marriages' do not turn out to be happily ever after or even a marriage. Some stay, some are yet unable to practice heroic virtue and leave. Was reading Cardinal Hans Urs von Balthasar's difficult book "The Christian State of Life" recently (which probably sparked my comment in the light of Barts contribution) where this seems to be a minor thesis of his book. Just because we are truly "called" (to single life, to married life, to Priesthood, to Religious life) ... that doesn't mean it will work out that way. Actual life is conditioned by the vagaries of the world as well. We aren't all heroes, and failing in heroic virtue is not the same as succeeding in mortal sin it seems to me. We may be truly called to Religious life but personal health or opportunity or even the laxity of the Community on whose door we knock - may be against us. So through no fault of our own our "original" vocation from God is thwarted. Balthasar notes that he believes there are many true priestly vocations that never saw the light of day for these reasons - and through absolutely no personal fault of the laymen involved. Why not for the married, why not for single persons? So I ponder whether a more spiritual approach, a second innocence if you will, to Christian living as Balthasar also suggests ... is to be dedicated to God's Will as an ongoing work-in-progress and not be too hung up about fitting into a well defined "role" or preset "vocation". This is something, no matter how broken our past life, we can all faithfully attempt do every single new day.
I can understand what Cardinal Hans Urs von Balthasar's and you are saying, with… We may be truly called to Religious life but personal health or opportunity or even the laxity of the Community on whose door we knock - may be against us. So through no fault of our own our "original" vocation from God is thwarted. Balthasar notes that he believes there are many true priestly vocations that never saw the light of day for these reasons - and through absolutely no personal fault of the laymen involved. Why not for the married, why not for single persons? However I have a different take on these seeming thwarted vocations. God calls all of us to live a beautiful mapped out life with a specific vocation to love Him through. However since original sin, many people do not live out their lives on the paths originally chosen for us by God. By virtue of mans free will, possibly due to our personal sin or to the fault of others or our interaction with others, our circumstances or even our environment; so the trajectory of our lives is changed and most of the time it is not due to our fault. We can see this more clearly when looking at the poor who live in the poverty stricken countries in say Africa or India. God is not responsible for this poverty in the world, and God’s original plan for a small baby boy that will be born in Africa in the next 5 minutes may be that he becomes a priest, but this child born into such poverty, may not even get an education let alone survive, due to man made poverty and political circumstance. God has a wonderful way of countering all our decisions that are not His original plan for our vocation, He constantly accommodates these mistakes or misfortunes by giving us a new set of plans to bring us home to Him from the position that we now find ourselves. The original vocation is just that, the original; but now that plan has been superseded by God with a plan that He specifically and dynamically designes to accommodate the unique position and circumstance of our life. Just like a parent that prepares their child to become a physiotherapist but then due to circumstances of college requirements the child has to change career paths and now studies to be a medical doctor so the parent changes tack and accommodates for that.
I don't know if I'd call it punishing - just coping with as best I can. None of us are islands so each of us has an influence on others, even if we don't have control. Now that you've challenged me on the point I'd guess that I am probably more in 'mourning' than in 'punishment', but there probably is some aspect of me that is hoping to get a chunk of purgatory done here! But I know I haven't got an accurate understanding of God and how He works, so I have to revert to: pray, trust and don't worry. Whatever aspects of 'living the Gospel' I've got wrong, I'm just gonna leave to His mercy.... but will probably still beat myself up on a regular basis anyway... Thanks for your time Blue - I like having you on the forum coz you do shake up the paint can a bit, but isn't that the best way to find the true color!
Thanks Bart. For what its worth I see no objective state you need to personally compensate for in this ongoing manner. He is lucky to have you.
By funny coincidence (- isn't God hilarious!) I read a very topical section of Vol 4 of "Love for All My Children" this morning: It is you who choose the path you want to follow but do not forget, all paths will lead you to me. But if you do not choose the right path, you will become sour,for my graces of light and my graces of goodness will not nourish you anymore. It is up to you to follow the right path and it is up to you to choose goodness. It makes more sense in the context of the longer piece I read (302) which is a type of parable... basically all roads do lead to God, but whether we are admitted to the banquet when we arrive is another question... Link to full volume in English attached below: http://lafilleduouiajesus.org/a_volume4NEW.pdf
