There was a large group of people. On one side of the group stood a man, Jesus. On the other side of the group stood Satan. Separating them, running through the group, was a fence.
The scene was set, both Jesus and Satan began calling to the people in the group and, one by one - each having made up his or her own mind - each went to either Jesus or Satan.
This kept going on. Soon enough, Jesus had gathered around him a group of people from the larger crowd, as did Satan.
But one man joined neither group. He climbed the fence that was there and sat on it. Then Jesus and his people left and disappeared. So too did Satan and his people. And the man on the fence sat alone.
As this man sat, Satan came back, looking for something which he appeared to have lost. The man said, "Have you lost something?" Satan looked straight at him and replied, "No; there you are. Come with me."
"But,” said the man, "I sat on the fence. I chose neither you nor him."
"That's okay," said Satan. "I own the fence."
Jesus builds a shield around the law or Commandments in order to create more space and distance so that we won’t even bump up against the fence or sit on the fence, but rather keep a healthy distance.
British philosopher Gordon Graham wrote, “Decision is a sharp knife that cuts clean and straight; indecision is a dull one that hacks and tears and leaves ragged edges behind it.” --- Anonymous source.
And, our First Reading from Sirach 15:15, says “If you choose you can keep the commandments, they will save you.” It is our choice to keep a healthy distance. When in doubt ... don’t.
1. for example, the commandment that thou shall not commit adultery. The boundary is actually set to avoid “heart adultery” fueled by lust. Jesus says take drastic measures to avoid crossing this boundary through the metaphor of tearing out one’s eye and cutting off a hand.
The right eye represents the side of ourselves that is consciously developed, where we know that we consent to see persons that we are not treating as real human beings that they but rather we project onto them our desires.
The left side of ourselves, of which we are not very aware, is the deeper life of our soul. At times we must sacrifice what is psychologically developed if it takes over and excludes our totality. Tearing out our right eye is to realize that evil is a privation, the absence of a good that ought to be present.
Cut off power to your computer. Join a 12 Step group. It’s better than your whole body being tossed into hell fire. Consider that Saint Padre Pio said that “The Devil is like a rabid dog tied by a chain. Beyond the length of the chain he cannot catch hold of anyone. And you, therefore, keep your distance. If you get too close you will be caught.
2. Murder is obviously wrong, but the protective shield is to not even nurture resentments-- “Whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.” Matthew 5:22
We are talking about just the intention here, not even the act of murder. Crossing the fence already has happened if we insult people like ‘Raqa” which means idiot, or teasing a younger sibling, for example.
When we are wronged, we must not let anger and its hunger for vengeance to overwhelm us and transgress the command of love. St. Thomas Aquinas recommends the virtues of clemency and meekness, which come under the heading of temperance, which deals with the governance of excessive desires. Clemency moderates our wanting excessive punishment. Meekness reduces the interior passion of excessive anger, thereby providing an interior peace for discernment. These two virtues help prevent just anger toward evil from being sinful anger that leads to greater wounds. Yet this does not mean that we overlook our neighbor’s responsibility to confess, do penance, and accept the consequence for wrongs committed. A forgiveness that ignores the obligation of a wrong doer to convert erases a transgressor’s responsibility, and overlooks justice, in fact, abandons the divine respect for human freedom. A forgiveness that does not also call for conversion only harms the wrong doer for reinforcing sinful behavior and trivializing evil.
And just because someone else crosses the fence, you don’t have to.
e.g.--“I’m sorry you feel that way, but you’re still responsible for taking out the garbage.”
--“Talking to me that way isn’t going to get you out of doing your homework.”
---“Maybe you do hate living here, but you still have to be home on time.”
What to do about it, if you are the offending child? “...leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother or parent, and then come and offer your gift.” Matthew 5:24
That means to say you are sorry and apologize before the Offertory and Communion at Mass.
A last example is divorce in a valid marriage-
In principle, and in actuality in God’s eyes, the divorced woman is still the wife of her husband, and the man who divorces his wife makes her an adulteress on the presumption that she will marry again. The man who marries the divorced woman both shares in her adultery and also commits that offense himself, because the divorced woman is still married to her first husband. A paper divorce decree can’t change that spiritual reality.
Crossing the boundary is to threaten divorce in the first place, or infidelity physically or financially or staying in conflict with your spouse, even though these actions do not in any way invalidate a marriage.
In a study of some 30 conflicts comprising more than 280 campaigns from ancient to modern history, the brilliant strategist and historian B.H Liddell Hart came to a stunning conclusion: In only 6 of 280 campaigns was the decisive victory a result of a direct attack on the enemy’s main army. Only six. That’s 2 percent. If not from pitched battles, where do find victory? From everywhere else. From the flanks. From the unexpected. From the psychological. From drawing opponents out from their defenses. From the untraditional.
The lesson is to take a step back. Approach from what is called the “line of least expectation.” Route the basketball away from defensive pressure rather than attack directly.
[source: The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph Hardcover by Ryan Holiday, May 1, 2014, 104-105]
Start by acknowledging the things you might be doing wrong.
Take a collaborative approach. Spend some time brainstorming ways to solve the problem and don’t judge each other’s ideas, then, mutually pick one that sounds like a good compromise to both of you and commit to trying it out. [source: internet].
Ecclesiastes 10:8 says that whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.
Don’t cross the fence or sit on it or you will get bitten by a rabid dog or a snake or far worst.
Accept the fact that only you can determine where you want to go and how you are going to get there. --- Terry Bowden
If you have not chosen the kingdom of God first, it will in the end make not difference what you have chosen" [source: Neil A Maxwell, Conference Report, April 1974]
Amen.
