What are you reading in headlines and news feeds these days? Does it seem like everywhere you look, rich and powerful people get away scot-free with crimes high and low? The reality of human law means that they often do, but divine law is something altogether different. An awful justice awaits the scoundrels of the world.
As Psalm 37 attests, those who do wrong will wither and die away like grass in winter. Those who think they can always escape the consequences of their actions are prisoners of delusion, ego and warped desire. They face the absolute terror of standing before the Lord of all and having no defence and nowhere to hide. Even worse, they can’t make the one, simple choice that would save them.
Do you feel anxious while watching what seems like an unending assault on all that is good and true and beautiful in life? “Do not fret,” says the Psalm, “it leads only to evil.”
It leads to despair and robs us of the energy and the will to do whatever we can to change what is wrong.
It leads to cynicism and deadens our ability to care about injustice and oppression.
It leads to thoughts of vengeance and erodes the soul.
It leads to refusal to love those who attack all that is good, whom Jesus commands us to love despite the harm they do.
It’s only natural to feel upset and powerless when the good seems threatened, and the resolve of those who should oppose the threat is weakened. Yet even silenced by illness or imprisonment, we would not be powerless, for there is always prayer. It is why Christians pray sincerely, even for those who speak and do evil with no sense of shame or remorse.
In Christianity, as well as in Judaism and Islam, there is a tradition known as the recording angel, who takes note of everything we say and do in life. In this belief, God uses the angel’s text to judge us at the end of time. My own brief, mystical experience of divine judgment aligns more surely with the insight of the medieval theologian Robert Grosseteste. He conceived of the human mind as the text to be opened on the Day of Judgment, not only before God, but before everyone.
Now imagine yourself in the shoes of the person who has said and done nothing good or selfless in life, attempting to deny what is laid bare for all to see. To every lie and every denial comes the uncompromising reply: “Yes, you did.” The real horror and tragedy for the person who has made a habit of self-serving deception is this: They are incapable of making the one choice that might save them. Faced with losing all the beauty and power of eternal life, they can’t bring themselves to repent. They can only deny.
For the rest of us, the work of living and growing into eternal life can be strengthened with a practice from Ignatian spirituality, the Daily Examen. It allows us, with God’s help, to review and appraise each day, helping to align our lives with God’s will for us. One thing we can be sure of, our own day of reckoning before God will surely come. Given the means of grace, we too will be judged, but after our trial, redeemed with love and assured of glory.