“After the Tyrant”
Lent 2010 – Day 19; Wednesday, March 10.
Deshi Ramadhani, SJ
Do you know how it feels like to live in a country under a cruel regime? One thing is sure: you have a lot of anger against the person who has the highest authority. Laws are easily designed to support the ruler. When the tyrant falls, people are happy. But there is a sad side to the story. People begin to desire to live without any laws at all! Democracy is understood as a validation to do whatever you like.
I guess the same thing happens in Christianity. Ages ago, for sure, many Church leaders acted as tyrants, and they taught by imposing on people severe laws labeled as God’s commandments. Nowadays, we tend to approach God more tenderly, as to a very loving daddy. The bad news is obvious: we think that God is not so serious with the divine Laws. Christianity without demands, that’s what we have now.
God is never a tyrant. We made God so. Now that God is more lovable, the challenge for us is to obey God’s laws out of love, not of fear. Love is demanding!
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