Divine Standard Time

Jesus saw a fig tree and He cursed it. He did not do this because He was out of control. He cursed the fig tree because when the Son of Man wants figs, then they should be in season. He was running on Divine Standard Time and the tree was out of sync with goodness.

God of wants to give us joy, infinite happiness. Our shortcomings are impediments to joy. The news is all good if we will only hear it.

Creation can be “wrong” too the way my jet lagged body thinks it is bedtime when I should be speaking to faculty at a college doing education the right way.

My body is out of sync with reality. The deepest reality is the divine time where every desire has a proper satisfaction. There even the worst sinner could find what his heart really wants and not what his battered body tells him he does want. We are cursed like the fig tree, not because we are not fruitful with wisdom, virtue, and joy, but because we settle for small graft when we are offered great treasures freely. We are like the man who cuts ethical corners for a few thousands when simply doing his job would grant him great joy.

And yet, though this is the truth, it is a truth that stings all of us. Our errors are so many and so obvious that we despair. We sign up for Ashley Madison when love, real love, is right in front of us. Joy is the here if we will only stop and see it.

We judge harshly as we sit frustrated with their sins, their pettiness, their ugliness. We are alone staring in frustration at screens in the night as we judge that idiot over there… because in our hearts we know our own failures and idiocy. We are angry to cover our impotence, striking out at others to avoid hating self. We damn the other to avoid the judgment of our hearts that we are wretched, angry, pitiable: we are gollums clinging to a precious that is killing us.

The great alternative is the total happiness of love. We love everyone, including our enemies, our friends, and self. We can then be happy. Joy overflows as grace abounds. We are free!

We need grace. God we need grace, but we will never get it until we acknowledge the truth. God is truth with grace. We can live in that and so find joy.