Opposition can generate growth

Some opposites are aptly fitting and when they fit they will function accordingly like nuts and bolts; plugs and sockets; gloves and hands; shoes and feet. It is also well known that like poles in a magnet repel and unlike poles attract. You can go on adding to these examples from nature and life. So why should we be at any time worried by things that look bleak. Struggles are paths to great achievement.

In Incarnation God himself becomes human to experience human struggles to achieve his goal of saving the human being: the “vinashaya ca duskrtam, dharma samsthapanarthaya...”(for the destruction of evil and establishment of the right order) that the Gita speaks of or the establishment of the kingdom of Heaven “the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence and men of violence take it by force” (Mt 11.12) involves struggle! The common saying is: “there is no gain without pain”.

The environmental changes that we are witnessing in this century call us to urgent response. There are climate changes. One way of reacting to this is to say to ourselves: “let it come; it is inevitable, it is fate” the other way is to see what we can do about it. How best can we survive such disasters and make life easier for the generations to come. It also means a few sacrifices. Are we prepared to make such sacrifices?  A mystic could be lost in thought over a single grain of sand, its beauty and value. Let us learn to look at life and its challenges as so many invitations from God to grow up.

The Psalmist describes such people who have accepted God in their life, to palm trees and Cedar trees growing in God’s presence: “The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a Cedar in Lebanon...They shall bring forth fruit in old age, they are full of sap and green” (Psalm 92.12+14).

The palm tree is useful in many ways giving food and shade; Cedars are huge long lasting trees growing tall and straight and forming wonderful timber. The image is apt; but do they mean exemption from pain, struggle and opposition; certainly not!