“Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us;
he sets himself against our doings,
Reproaches us for transgressions of the law
and charges us with violations of our training.”
Wisdom 2:12
When we are faced with the truth, and we are in the wrong,
how often is our natural reaction to lash out in anger? We do not want to be
wrong. We do not want others to know we are wrong. And we certainly do not want
others to tell us that we are wrong! So what do we do? We pick on, or make fun
of, the “goody two shoes” who is telling us we are wrong. Why? “Because he is obnoxious to us.” Or
because he is calling us to a higher standard than we are currently calling
ourselves to, and we want to rebel against that.
“To us he is the censure of our thoughts;
merely to see him is a hardship for us,
Because his life is not like that of others,
and different are his ways.”
Wisdom 2:14-15
We all have holy, virtuous, good people in our lives. You
know who they are. The people who make you want to be a better person. And I am
sure we have all experienced at one time or another, a time when we may have
done something wrong, or said something wrong, in the presence of someone whom
we admire like that. How do you feel? Ashamed. Little. Like a disappointment,
maybe.
Darkness and light cannot occupy the same space. It is
impossible – darkness is the absence of light. In the same way, good and evil
cannot occupy the same space. When someone is living in sin, and is actively
choosing that, even just to be in the presence of someone living a life of
virtue is difficult. Because they know that they were made for more than that.
That they are better than that.
We should strive to be this kind of person – whose “life is
not like that of others.” Not in a negative way, but in the way that causes
other people to want to be better. In the way that calls our friends to a
higher standard. Proverbs 27:17 tells us: “Iron sharpens iron, and one man
sharpens another.” We need each other to grow in holiness and virtue. So be the
kind of man or woman that helps to sharpen your friends! Live an extraordinary
life. Be a saint!
-Katie DiFato
