SIX LEVELS OF FAITH IN SUFFERING
The average adult today can remember the time when computers were unheard of, or at least not regarded as a home appliance. Yet today, if all computers stopped working, our highly technological society would be rendered helpless and the economy would collapse.
The primary advantage of cybernetics is perhaps the ability to store and retrieve virtually limitless information. But this boon would become a burden if unwanted items could not be deleted. As a safety feature some computers aks, "Are you sure you want this deleted?" With a tap of a single key, the data is deleted forever.
The Lord has, in his own divine "technology," a "deleting" function, erasing our sins as irretrievable as a computer erases a file. "I am he who blots out your trangressions...and remembers your sins no more" (Is 43:25). But he first asks us if we are sure we want out sins erased, because he's familiar with the "false repentance" of those who seek God's forgiveness without taking steps to avoid future sin. In asking us "Are you sure?" he's really asking "Are you sincere?" If our answer is affirmative, the key we then push to delete the sin is repentance: "Repent...and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out" (Acts 3:19).
A computer with no delete button would be an inconvenience. But God without a "delete function"...the thought is terrifying!
This excerpt is from the book One-Minute Meditations for Busy People, by John H. Hampsch, C.M.F., originally published by Servant Publications. It and other of Fr. Hampsch's books and audio/video recordings can be purchased from Claretian Teaching Ministry, 20610 Manhattan Pl, #120, Torrance, CA 90501-1863. Phone 1-310-782-6408 or www.Catholicbooks.net