DIGGING FOR HEAVENLY GOLD: THE CHOICE OF GOOD OR EVIL.

This fourth penetration into the depths of the Mystery of Faith does not come without digging and work. At the heart of the Genesis Principle, the first of three Principles, yet one reality, is the most fundamental of human characteristics: What is good and what is bad for me, who, outside of myself, is the final say over what is good or bad for me?

I have two choices. The first one is consistent with who I think I am, though its Achilles’ heel is that truth in any form is not absolute and is always subject to movement through complexity, as well as to the consciousness of my individual self. I think something is true, but then ten years later, I get more information or learn something that causes me to change my assumptions. This is part of the ongoing process of becoming more human, depending on the choices we each make. Good choices build our values and give us the tools to discover purpose, but bad decisions either stop or sidetrack the evolution of what our humanity should be but isn’t. In this scenario of what human nature is, I am the one who makes the choice to do what is good for me. The problem comes when, like our archetypal parents, Adam and Eve, we make the wrong choice. Wrong choices stop the intended movement toward what human nature has as its final attainment (mortal sin) or slow it down and make it more difficult to shift through all the impediments or baggage we carry to determine the chaff from the wheat. (venial sin)

THE GENESIS PRINCIPLE IS GOOD

The Genesis Principle offers what I consider the most profound commentary on what it means to be human, and on the unintended consequences of my being God. But there is more to it than just a mythic approach to why I am human and what I can do to reach my destiny. The Genesis Principle is the observation that there is another option to this notion of good or evil (bad). The Genesis Principle means all matter, including living, organic matter, has within its DNA the blueprints of what that nature is. This Genesis Principle sets up movement from inorganic to organic life. Still, not only that, each atom contains the DNA of its founder, the one who has no boundaries that sets all boundaries of matter, mind, and Spirit. This whole universe is bound by the laws of nature inherent in its purpose, given to it by the energy that exists, dependent upon the code of consciousness and complexity. All that exists must conform to this code of existing. There is no choice, no free will in this universe of matter. Progressive intelligence suggests that, even though nature is totally encombant, within that framework, the movement of complexity and consciousness, as an integral part of its existence, allows for evolution towards a prescribed outcome. All matter, all life, all human existence has a beginning and an ending, the Alpha and Omega that is contained in its progenitor.

The Genesis Principle, containing whatever is wherever it is, is good, not evil. Life can only come from life; love can only come from love; truth can only be absolute as it is absolutely. In this physical universe, everything is harmonious, even as the cosmic formation progresses. They act according to laws (some of which we have not yet discovered) and can ensure consistency among all who exist in this realm. Humans are a part of this universe, but with a critical difference.

In the Teilhard map (unattributed) above, The Genesis Principle contains all matter, past or present, to include inorganic, organic, and whatever else is out there (dark matter or dark energy), and is good because its source is good. The morality of good or evil here is without choice because matter and all living species (except humans) have no choice. All that must conform to its nature; it cannot do otherwise. We call this conformity the natural law, and it is morally good, not evil, because its source is good, good here meaning not a moral sense of what is right but an existential sense that all matter, all living things, all humanity, is in conformity with its purpose. The scope of this Genesis Principle (see Figure 1 above) includes different purposes, depending upon the nature involved. So far, I have identified five natures, based on the Teilhard map above.

• Inorganic matter– all atomic structures that we know about (Lithosphere)
• Organic matter, also called biogenesis (Biosphere)
• Human matter, also called homogenesis (Homosphere)
• Christ changes the paradigm of matter to restore the integrity and harmony to the purpose of all nature
• The realm of absolute truth, the Pneumatosphere, or Spirit of Truth, the highest nature, one which, for lack of a human equivalency, humans call Divine.

The amazing realization that I had about all these natures and their seemingly complex nature is that all creation is so that I (and you) can be one with all that is, all that was. All that will be, through the oneness of the Genesis Principle (The Father), the Christ Principle (Christ), and the Principle of Absolute Truth (Holy Spirit).

The Genesis Principle is the adjustment (the potential, once again, to be good, but with consequences) that fixes the aberration that free choice detoured human nature into a period of dissonance with the rest of the physical universe, which, if you remember, is good by nature.

THE CHRIST PRINCIPLE IS GOOD

The Christ Principle, which merely continues this movement to the next level of the intelligent progression, contains everything that went before it, but now, creates resonance for the dissonance of free choice and the possibility for each person to live our eartly lives at that deepest level of human knowledge, love, and absolute, as much as each one of us has developed our capacity (capacitas dei) to grow in the depth of our awareness. Of note here is that, for evolution to proceed intelligently with complexity and consciousness, there must be a source of energy greater than the one that exists to lift it up to the next level of natural progress. The Christ Principle is a source of energy that, amazingly, did not come from evolution from the natural selection of natural order, from less to that which is more. Instead, it entered into a completely new realm of matter and existence, one in which matter is transformed by the addition of a new but contiguous form of matter. This suggests that, not only does matter have a preordained way of behaving that is good (natural for each nature), but that there is an intrinsic way station at appropriate points in the process to help cosmic consciousness make the leap to the next level of progression, all of which has been preprogrammed by the ultimate energy that existed from before there was an Alpha and after there is an Omega to matter.

THE PRINCIPLE OF ABSOLUTE TRUTH EXISTS OR JUST IS, AND THAT IS GOOD.

This pure energy is, for lack of a better way to say it, alive. In fact, when I look at the total way of the river of matter flows, as it becomes what it is intended to be. The terminus from which it emanates is the way all reality must progress to gradually reveal absolute truths. What good is a reality where there is truth but no one to allow it to that next level of being? Truth as contained within that nature and not shared goes against what that Divine nature seems to indicate. Sharing at this deepest level of energy is itself the fuel that powers and empowers the other natures, rendering that Divine nature unable to contain itself with love and truth. The product of pure knowledge (The Father) and pure love (The Son) produces Divine energy as life. The realm of Heaven is a place where pure energy exists and is served by spirits emanating from the Spirit of Truth. Humans would not thrive in this level of pure energy of knowledge, love, and truth.

In my hypothesis, Heaven is a place created outside of the nature of God, but somewhere where I can exist at the deepest level of my humanity, consistent with my life experiences. As a human bound to the laws of nature and living on earth, I experience life with those attributes attributed to all of my species. I have a reason for a reason and the ability to choose from a variety of behaviors that are good or bad for my humanity. I not only possess those unique qualities enjoyed by all of my species, but I must do so within the framework of my nature. My nature, or what I have experienced of it so far, has three levels of evolution.

Animalistic — Life my species shares with other life forms to varying degrees. At this animal level, the lowest instincts are not normative but the rule. Good or evil at this level for my species is murky and anarchistic, seeking only my survival and letting my emotions dictate my reason. This level is highly prone to sin because the refining power of God is rejected, ignored, or, worst of all, not even considered because of the choices made by that individual. There is a qualitative difference between the animalistic behavior of all living things, of which humans retain some residuals, as outlined in Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and a human being with reasoning and the ability to choose what is good or bad as we continue to move forward in evolution through complexity and consciousness. Our nature, human nature, is not animal nature, but, because we have risen up through that pool of life, our humanity contains characteristics of our animal past, such as the need for safety, security, propagation of the species, and food.

Humanistic — There is a level of reasoning in which good and evil are choices because there is now another alternative to animalistic behavior, a higher development of reality that comes from animal nature but is lifted up to the level of self-awareness and the ability to choose good over evil. Humans are still created good, in terms of being what they were intended to be. Still, humans (not the rest of reality) have no clue what it means to be human and must learn to grow deeper into their humanity through learning, love, and what is genuinely true, not the opinion of an individual.

Adoption as a Son or Daughter of the Father. These quiet longings in the depths of the inner self still nag at me. What is more to life than to know about my purpose? What is love that must be deeper than where I am now? In a world of opinions, what is the absolute truth, with no error? These are longings of a hungry heart, one in the process of discovery. At the same time, I live, but with the urgency of wanting to extend what I have uncovered as treasure with me to the next step, one that is consistent with my humanity, yet at the deepest level of what human nature can exist or experience.

This notion of adoption suggests that I am not God, but rather have the opporunity with the energy of God to move to that deepest level of my humanity in a place expecially designed for my being able to take what I have learned about what it means to be human at my deepest level and continue the movement in which I was immersed with my eartly life.

God allows me to have all those helps and guidelines to reach my deepest potential (each one of us has a unique potential) through the Catholic Church, joining a School of Love that begins with my taking up my cross each day and being able to receive the energy of God as only I can receive it (capacitas dei). To receive this energy, I must choose to place myself in the presence of Christ and wait for the Holy Spirit to overshadow me, as happened to the Blessed Mother. Heaven in my earthly body, while I still have earthly choices, is a place of learning where I am aware of all three levels of my humanity and take steps to store up treasures (God’s not mine) with which I can furnish that unique place Christ prepared for my humanity where I can use what I have discovered on earth to interact with everything that is in Heaven and continue at this next level of cojmplesity and consciousness. I don’t know exactly what Heaven is like, but I do know what I am discovering about Heaven on earth with Jesus’ direction, and I want to take the next step my humanity tells me to take.

Good, as I describe it, is not only morally a choice of behavior, but also means I choose what is necessary for my humanity to evolve to the deepest level of who I can be. Adam and Eve chose evil, even though they did not understand the consequences or the unintended consequences of their actions. This detour, or exception to the rule of what is natural, explains why the choice between good and evil is at the very heart of what it means to be a member of the human race. The book of Genesis describes these states of existence as a Garden of Eden, and then, after the poor choice of Adam and Eve, the same Garden but one with the effects of that original choice, one bad for human nature, as well as morally bad. Humans, by nature, are not bad but flawed, now prone to both good and bad choices. God inserts Divinity into the Old Testament through the Word to change the paradigm from one based solely on human energy to one of a covenant relationship with Absolute Truth. All the Israelites have to do is keep what God told them to do to be in a relationship with God. Let me return to that Teilhard map, and his notion of reality has movement through complexity and consciousness. The Word continues to grow through the Israelites until, like the bubbling over from animality to humanity, this Word now becomes Flesh to dwell among us. Jesus, like His Father in Heaven, is first and foremost a teacher, a prophet, a priest, and a king of all reality. Christ wants to share that with all humanity so that they can fulfill their destiny and restore the purpose for which they exist. Philippians 2:5-12 is my GO-TO phrase about Jesus and also what I have chosen as the cornerstone of who I want to become with the help of Christ Jesus and the energy of the Holy Spirit, my two Advocates while I live.

As a Lay Cistercian, I have gradually become aware that I must go beyond my comfort zone of merely being human, to voluntarily surrender my two most precious qualities, reason and free will to choose good or bad without repercussion, but with consequences for my choices. The Art of Contemplative Practices that I have learned from the Cistercian monks and nuns, along with the incredible insights from other Lay Cistercians at my Gathering Days, has allowed me to see that I must constantly dig for spiritual gold where I am and as I am. I am defined by my choices. In His infinite mercy, Christ is present to me, just waiting there for me to show up and bask in the glow of Divine energy, as I can absorb it (capacitas dei and conversio morae).

God gave us Christ to show us the authentic way to maintain our adoption as heirs to the kingdom of Heaven. Christ authorized the Catholic Church, the living Body of Christ in each age, to hand down what is true about what Christ wanted me (and you) to do, so we could reach that deeper level of our humanity. All of this so that my life again resonates with all reality and is good, despite my romancing original sin as an option.

WHO CHOOSES WHAT IS GOOD OR EVIL?

Good or evil is not only the failure to choose a moral behavior that is consistent with what God reveals to humans through Christ, but, more importantly, the adequation of what is good by the nature of being human with the inclusivity of all matter and movement, of complexity and consciousness.

Human nature is, therefore, good of its very nature because the source of its existence is absolute goodness. This assumption means, and excuse this crude simile, that we are made in the image and likeness of that from which we originated.

Matter is good, and since matter grows in complexity and consciousness, what flows from that movement, such as inorganic and organic matter, life in all its forms (including humans), and finally, the end product of all this evolution, the human species. Nature inscribes its characteristics, which are imprinted as DNA from the energy from which it emanated. Reality becomes the unfolding of each nature as is uniquely different with different characteristics and thus different laws or prescriptions on how it behaves within its boundaries, and even more so, how each of the three natures (physical, mental, and spiritual) interacts with the other.

If matter in all its dimensions is intrinsically good, the question becomes, “Why are all humans, who have the infused ability to choose moral good from moral evil from the source, choosing what is bad for them, when what is good for their nature is in constant dissonance with what they have opted for as being good for them, behaviorally?” Why do humans who are good by nature corrupt this natural flow of reality by choosing what is bad for the fulfillment of their destiny for which they were intended?

Humans, by nature, are good, but because of where they emanated (animality), they keep some of those residual emotions and needs, while now possessing a new challenge to humans, and all natures, the ability of the individual to reason what is good or evil, and to choose what they think is best for them in the moment.

These are the first attempts by the authors of the book of Genesis and the Pentateuch to answer the questions of:

• What is the purpose of life?
• What is the purpose of my life within that purpose of life?
• What does reality look like?
• How does it all fit together?
• What does it mean to love fiercely?
• You know you are going to die; now what?

To restore or redeem humanity’s (Adam and Eve) choice of what is good, suitable for what my body tells me makes me happy and fulfilled in the moment, but which is actually an aberration that does not lead to my behaviors being in resonance with the good possessed by my human nature,

All that is good exists so that I may deal with the mystery of what it means to be human. God is that reinforcement of what I should do as I live out my existence to fulfill my nature and not fall victim to the mindset that I am the ultimate arbiter of what is good for me. This is all the more confusing since, in reality, I am that ultimate intelligence that chooses what is good or evil. The difference here is that what I choose does not emanate from my human nature with all its flaws, but from the abandonment of my false self to accept what God says is good for me. Choice remains intact, but what is chosen comes from a nature outside of my own, but to which I give my consent. “Thy will be one on earth as it is in heaven.”

THE DEVIL, YOU SAY.

Just as there is good which is the source of all natures, and choosing good means being on the way where what is true is beyond human contamination so that the life I lead while on this earth will actually allow me to fulfill what my nature intended– to know, to love, and to serve God in this world and to be happy with God in the next, (Baltimore Catechism, Question 6), there is also a second choice, one that is not just the opposite of good but the absence of it. This primacy of human choice has two elements.

• First, if, as we observe from our daily struggles to know what is good for me from God versus what I think is good for me as I feel it, then having only one choice is no choice at all. Evil, then, in the context of the preference given to only humans, because the rest of humans are good and have no options other than being what they are intended to be, is either good or something else, in the context of which I write, it is the choice of God being at the center of all reality or, its alternative, I am.
• Secondly, it is not only who chooses what is good for me at the level where I alone make a decision to do it one way or another, but also WHAT is selected. A reminder here that evil is seen as an aberration in the natural flow of reality from Alpha to Omega as it moves through time with complexity and ever-growing awareness or consciousness.

Humans, having that boost from outside their nature, freely given from the interaction of pure knowledge and pure love, which produces absolute truth coming from a higher and more powerful nature, thus lifting them up to the highest potential of their humanity, have two choices for a reason, or they have reason as an intrinsic part of what makes up their humanity. Why? It is to choose to realize that God is God and I am me. Not God. he limitations of being human as a consequence of selecting the self over the source of our humanity (that which is) is an act that must be freely given, and without repercussion for the ability to choose; however, an unintended consequence to any choice is WHAT is selected, and that option does have accountability. His accountability takes the form of being measured by the one who is the author of all reality and against whom all matter must bend the knee in acknowledgement (Philippians 2:5-12).

As I stated above, there is moral evil, such as breaking a commandment or one of the Seven Deadly Sins, because God is the source of goodness and truth. Now, there is the alternative in that choice between what God says is good for me and those behaviors which, if I do them, will eventually clog up my humanity with blockage just like it might do to an artery to my heart.

Enter the Devil and free choice. Once again, that archetypal story of Genesis, an account of who chooses good or evil and what that constitutes good or evil for our human nature, has the serpent (not a person like God or Adam and Eve) not choosing what is right for Adam and Eve, but rather suggesting that if they want to be the one to choose good or evil and have that power, they should eat of the forbidden fruit of the tree of life. This is an insight into the broader dynamics of free choice, or even of natural incumbency. There seems to be a cosmic struggle between what is good (natural evolution) of matter and an aberration that is the result of humans being given the free will to choose between what God says is suitable for the fulfillment of our nature, and what I actually choose based on my animalistic needs and self-fulfillment tendencies. Evil, meaning I select an alternative choice to who God is, and, consequently, who I am as intended by my nature, seems like the natural selection. Still, it is false because there is no connection or entanglement from me to who God is.

Before the story of the Fall of humanity from its intended purpose, there is a precursor that has an effect on the mystery of what it means to be human. In a meta-archetype, Pure energy is its innate goodness, which is alive (at least as much as human intelligence can describe it). It is a nature unto itself, and one that produces so much energy from the interaction of pure knowledge and pure love, that it is itself pure truth or that which is because it is. Enter the concept of Lucifer, described in the story as one who battled Michael and was cast out of Heaven for his ego and desire to be the god-ruler of the earth. Gain, free choice of what is good, becomes an aberration or sin (missing the mark) that is personified by our concept of Satan as the Prince of Darkness. Ike Satan, who prowls the earth seeking whom he may devour, Michael and the others who are faithful must do battle (struggle) with overcoming evil, which, in this case, is an evil which is not the opposite of good as much as a choice to fight against the natural order of things and the supremacy of nature. Quite literally, this is a choice of the dissonance of all reality, one whose deep roots are grounded in the truth of what is, and the conscious and knowing selection of what is false under the guise of what actually is because it is.

If I grow deeper still in the awareness that comes from being present to the Holy Spirit, there is a subtle con job that Satan plays on those who are naive to what is playing out each time humans make a choice for their ego rather than that of the harmony and resonance of who God is.

The sophisticated ploy of sin is to lead each of us as individuals to think that we are the final arbiter of what is good and evil, and that the world, our emotions, and our needs are the fulfillment of human nature rather than a power greater than ourselves. The intended and unintended consequences of the choices we make about what we think is good for us can be life-or-death. In the book of Genesis, that most profound of all mythic commentaries on what it means to be human, Satan is a living presence even in the Garden of Eden, silently waiting to seduce humans into giving their consent to the supremacy of Satan over God.

Here is an interesting twist on Satan. With the Devil, there is a continuous choice of evil over good. This is fueled by the Seven Deadly Sins, not the Love of Christ, and consumes Satan in perpetual rage or dissonance from that which he was created to serve others. The Devil is described as the ruler of the earth, or at least a wannabe, in several places. Read these passages and make your own conclusions. All translations are from USCCB at http://www.usccb.org

• The Temptation of Jesus.^*
• 1^a Filled with the holy Spirit,^* Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert
• 2for forty days,^* to be tempted by the Devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over, he was hungry.^b
• 3The Devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
• 4Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’”^c
• 5Then he took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant.
• 6The Devil said to him, “I shall give to you all this power and their glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I may give it to whomever I wish.^d
• 7All this will be yours, if you worship me.”
• 8Jesus said to him in reply, “It is written:
• ‘You shall worship the Lord, your God,
• and him alone shall you serve.’”^e
• 9^* Then he led him to Jerusalem, made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here,
• 10for it is written:
• ‘He will command his angels concerning you,
• to guard you,’^f
• 11and:
• ‘With their hands they will support you,
• lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”^g
• 12 Jesus said to him in reply, “It also says, ‘You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.’”^h
• 13^* When the Devil had finished every temptation, he departed from him for a time.”

The second passage comes from John 14:30, which speaks of a “ruler of the earth,” most interpret as Satan. Jesus says that he has no power over me. This suggests that, when there was a cosmic struggle, Satan chose to covet his own kingdom of earth, the classic sin of pride at the core of what makes humans so vulnerable. Satan is a fallen spirit who chose poorly, in a way, and inadvertently became the archetype of the tragic outcome for humans, as personified by the same poor choice of Adam and Eve. The unintended consequence of making the wrong choice is to live out that consequence, since you made it.

Satan thinks the earth is his kingdom, another delusion based on envy and hatred of God. I show up for a couple of years and realize that I must make the same choice as Adam and Eve: not only what is good or evil, but who is the template for goodness. That same snake is present throughout my lifetime, even when I smugly think I am strong enough to do it without God, still whispering in my ear about how great I am and that I can make those choices of good and evil. After all, says Satan, you are the only one who can choose, so why not choose me? The struggle comes when I only listen to the murmurs of Satan and fail to place myself in the presence of Christ to listen to what is good for my humanity and my morality. The wages of sin, says Scripture, are death.

Satan not only wants me to fail and so Christ to fail, but, if I have a way that does not lead to my being human, even though it looks like a fairytale, the Devil gets a double surge of satisfaction knowing that I joined the kingdom of earth and probably won’t be able to reach what my human nature intended. Here is the sneaky part. The Devil laughs at Jesus, and this justifies and inflames the hatred of what reality is and his conquest of humanity, one person at a time. If Jesus is the good shepherd and will give his life to save the sheep, then the Devil is the lion, going about the world, seeking whom he will devour, who will open the door to the possibility that the earth is the final ending to the evolution of humanity as intended by nature.

So, while I am the nexus of all reality, because I have reason and the ability to choose what is right or wrong, to reach that next level of my humanity, one destined for me since the beginning, I must choose God as the core of my being, my center, and call upon the name of the Lord each day to have mercy on my crude attempts to love others as He loves me. “I believe,” says St. Thomas Aquinas, “help my unbelief.”

Jesus came, not to destroy the Law and the Prophets, but to bring them to that next step of movement caused by complexity and consciousness. The Catholic Church is the Body of Christ here and now, so I have multiple ways to be present to Christ and to receive the energy of the Holy Spirit as I accept it. (capacitas dei). The sign of contradiction shows up again. How can God, who is pure goodness, become corruptible human nature, much less hand over authority on earth to the Church as it is in Heaven?

The core of understanding who I am is not to be seduced into wasting my time trying to prove who God is, but rather listen to the whispers of the lion tamer who both checks the Devil but also is my Magister Noster (Lord and Teacher) of how I can become stronger through, with, and in Christ to be what nature initially intended me to be.

Eucharist and going to Church on Sunday have less meaning than a person who carries the Real Presence of Christ in the tabernacle of their heart and professes through their good works that Jesus is Lord of their life. Each person may be Catholic, but each person must sacrifice their humanity on the altar of the cross to join with Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit, to proclaim that all reality proclaims the greatness and goodness of God, to the Glory of the Father. If you don’t have Christ in your heart when you receive Communion, you may miss the whispers Jesus is speaking to you in the upper room of your inner self.

Walking the Catholic way will cost you everything you have and may seem like a rocky road. Still, it leads to absolute truths for you and me to ponder in our hearts, so that the life I lead now has the purpose and energy to help me become what my humanity prepared me to enjoy. And you know what? The Devil knows all of this and is enraged that you found the only way to redeem that poor choice of Adam and Eve.

I advise not joining the Catholic Church because it is a sign of contradiction and demands growing more in Christ Jesus and less in your false self (capacitas dei) by converting your heart to beat in sync with that of Christ. It is not as though we don’t have role models. All the Saints (you and I are saints with a lowercase s) proclaim that Jesus is Lord, God, living and true, present in the Eucharist, so that I can carry him in that Temple of the Holy Spirit in the Holy of Holies and serve others as Christ did.

God gave humanity the Pentateuch and Prophets to tell us we are adopted as a race. God gave humanity Jesus to allow everyone to have a restored power (redeemed) to be able to claim adoption as sons and daughters of the Father. The Holy Spirit overshadowed the Apostles, and still does today (sum umbra alarum suarum) under the shadow or shade of his wings. It’s all meant for me to realize what it means to follow the Catholic Way (Christ’s Way) and know the truth beyond the hysterics of human rationalism, so that we can be what our nature intended and inherit the kingdom of Heaven on earth and after death, a continuation of that with Christ.

That in all things, may God be glorified. — St. Benedict