There is enough insanity in life

I am giving myself away, when I say that I was hit by a line, spoken by a detective in Law and Order: SVU.  I really don't care, for Olivia's line just instantaneously struck me.  What was the line? 

Well, she said to a fellow detective - "I have enough insanity in my life.  I need stability." 

I can identify with that, for it so speaks to me and my world.  And this especially speaks to me during Lent, a time of personal struggle in the spirtual desert, where I purposely and happily place myself.  . 

From a distance, my life may look purposeful and calm.  I trust it is purposeful, but it is surely not as it may seem from the outside.  Such is life for every person on this planet.  We all share in the human struggle and the chaos of our world.  I know my own share of daily insanity.  I appreciate that it reflects the crazy world we live in and have to deal with. 

Then, during the past week, I was asked a question by a friend - How does the Catholic Church view the human person?  Easy enough for me to answer, I thought.   However, it made me think more deeply, allowing me a healthy, reality check on life.  So I was grateful for the question, as it put before me the perspective on life that I ever need to remember.  The world may be crazy, but ....  I may experience my share of insanity, living in this world, but .....  The bottom line firmly remains that every human person enjoys equal and absolute worth, deserving dignity and respect, for we are all created and loved equally by God. 

Here was my response. 

"The Catholic Church’s understanding and value of the human person  is based on the teaching of Jesus in the gospels.  In his life, Jesus stood up and acted for the good of those excluded within the society of his time.  His actions showed that all, especially those seen as of less worth or having no place in society, had value and were of equal standing in the eyes of God, and so in society.  Jesus did so in the face of opposition by the religious leadership of his day.

So the Catholic Church follows, and thus shows dignity and respect to all, upholding their worth in society.  On this key theme within the Christian faith, the motto may be that of the pandemic – “Leave no one behind”.   

My friend thought this a good response to her search.  As for me, it says it all in my dealing with my own insanity in living, in this world.   Stability is found in knowing and loving God, and reaching out to our world in love, as best we can.  Insanity is real but it never rules the day.  Life is so much more.