I have a friend who vehemently disagrees with reading instruction manuals. I was helping her set up her apartment one day, which necesarily included some do-it-yourself furniture from IKEA, and there I came to appreciate the value of the aforementioned instructions.
So we had a couple options we might pursue in order to acheive this end. We could read the enclosed, step-by-step instructions or we could try and figure out how to assemble her desk ourselves. Thinking we were a couple of bright university students, we chose the latter.
2 hours later, we re-visited our starting point and chose the former. And within 25 minutes, her desk was up and running..
I'm often told that the faith that I ascribe to is a long list of rules. I'm told it's restrictive. I'm told it's an assault on my freedom.
Interesting, I say.
But I do disagree.
I don't think it's rules. I think it just makes sense.
In the assembly of furniture, if the instructions are neglected, you end up with a consumer newly acquainted with their purchase, bumbling around trying to create something that maybe they've seen a couple times on display in the store.
To me, this makes little sense when, included in the package, are detailed instructions on how the product is best assembled. Intuitively, it makes sense that if the designer has included directions, they will provide the path of least resistance to the desired end.
I think the same holds true when we talk about the purportedly restrictive rules the Church has ever espoused. The Church has no hidden agenda - she gains very little from the obedience of her congregation. More often that not, her teachings result in persecution rather than pleasure. And yet she continues to espouse them.
Because they make sense.
See, if I believe that I have been uniquely crafted by God, and if I also believe that He has not only created me, but also set before me guidelines within which to live my life (communicted through His Church), then I naturally I think it logical to follow them - or at the very least, to give them the time of day. So quickly today the teachings of the Church are easily dismissed on the basis of being old-fashioned, or just because they depart from the norm of society today. But before they can be dismissed, I think they need to be tested.
In my 22 years of life, I've lived a life in line with the Church's teachings, and I've lived a life that rejects her instruction. And I say without hesitation that the former has brought me exceedingly more joy, peace and warmth-in-my-soul satisfaction than the latter.
And this really shouldn't come as much of a surprise.
The One who has created us, and placed in our hearts a deep desire for happiness, for real joy, knows what it is that will fill us. Our God has not rejected the superfluous pleasures of society so that we would lead lives of misery. It is such the opposite. He has seen how they tease the spirit. He has seen the brokeness that's left when they're gone. He knows the high they provide - but He also knows the depth of the residual low.
And He demands better for His beloved.
So we're called to a life pursuant of everlasting joy. The road map has been set before us by the Church. It isn't meant to oppress us, and it certainly isn't meant to lead us through lives of misery. The Church espouses a life of freedom. It encourages a self-discipline that allows the human person to take control of their own lives, to be free from the slavery of our passions; discerning that, when we experience this freedom, we will find great joy.
As a human family, we are all walking this life looking for happiness. We can either bumble our way around and hope to one day end up there - or we can recognize the treasure of the Church's teachings and jump on the express train.
