{"id":8684,"date":"2021-12-18T09:30:53","date_gmt":"2021-12-18T14:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/?p=8684"},"modified":"2021-12-18T09:30:53","modified_gmt":"2021-12-18T14:30:53","slug":"life-as-a-person-who-is-not-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2021\/12\/life-as-a-person-who-is-not-god\/","title":{"rendered":"Life As a Person Who is Not God"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Emily DeArdo, who is not just my hero but also my friend, writes the thing you need to read today, and probably every day<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

This is dangerous garbage. To tell someone who is desperate for healing that they aren\u2019t praying enough, aren\u2019t trusting enough, aren\u2019t doing enough<\/em>\u2014that\u2019s crap! It\u2019s like the people who have told me that the reason I have CF is because I haven\u2019t prayed enough. It smacks of the attitude of \u201cOh, there, there, just do X and all will be FINE!\u201d<\/p>\n

What? No.<\/p>\n

What, precisely, did Jesus \u201cdo\u201d to \u201cearn\u201d his death? Did he not have total trust in God? Did Mary lack faith and prayer, or the willingness to give total praise to God, as she watched her son die?<\/p>\n

Jesus says in the Gospel of John that the blind man is blind because that\u2019s how he\u2019ll glorify God. <\/a><\/p>\n

In my book I write about this dangerous attitude. <\/a> And I also write about how God uses suffering to draw us closer to him, deeper into prayer, and further into a relationship of trust.<\/p>\n

Prayer is not magic. God isn\u2019t a vending machine.<\/p>\n

If you are suffering, do not believe that somehow, you are failing.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Read the whole thing.<\/a>\u00a0 And then bookmark it, or print it out, or make it your start page, or just memorize it, yes?<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

At the root of the \u201cif you would just\u201d spirituality is the idea that we, or some other human, is personally responsible for every bad thing that happens to us.\u00a0 Like many terrible ideas, it\u2019s rooted in a smidgen of truth: Humans do<\/em> have the ability to think and choose and act, and our actions do<\/em> have consequences.\u00a0 We\u00a0do<\/em> cooperate with the will of God.\u00a0 We\u00a0do\u00a0<\/em>have the ability to change the natural and the supernatural world for better or for worse.\u00a0 Prayer\u00a0is<\/em> powerful.<\/p>\n

But, part that\u2019s missing: Our human powers are finite.<\/p>\n

We can do\u00a0some<\/em> things, but we can\u2019t do\u00a0everything<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The flip side of the mystery of suffering is the mystery of free will and cooperation with Grace: God allows us to do real work, to make real decisions that have real eternal consequences, but everything we do is part of the bigger tableau of absolute reliance on God.<\/p>\n

Yes, of course, it is sinful to neglect the real responsibilities that we have towards God, ourselves, and others. Absolutely.\u00a0 But when we play at the \u201cif you would just\u201d game, now we\u2019re stepping into the big-time sin stakes, because we are moving back to the <\/em>original sin: Human pride and consequent idolatry by claiming God\u2019s rights and responsibilities for our own.<\/p>\n

You as a human being have a little bit of power.\u00a0 You are responsible for how you use that power.\u00a0 But you do not have God\u2019s power.\u00a0 Therefore, when you allow yourself to feel guilty or responsible for things that\u00a0you do not actually control<\/em> you are being idolatrous.\u00a0 You\u2019re acting like you are God.\u00a0 And that\u2019s bad for you and will seriously mess you up.<\/p>\n

Luckily, God loves you and knows your weakness and knows when you\u2019re honestly just trying to do the right thing and, you know, you screw it up.\u00a0 Probably has good reasons He didn\u2019t make you omnipotent yesterday afternoon, eh?\u00a0 Acknowledge your sin, confess your sin, resolve not to do it again, allow yourself to experience God\u2019s absolute love for you.\u00a0 Lather, rinse, repeat.\u00a0 Merry Christmas.<\/p>\n

\"Book<\/p>\n

Cover art:\u00a0<\/em>Living Memento Mori<\/a> by Emily M. DeArdo, Ave Maria Press<\/a>.\u00a0 I have no opinion whether <\/em>Die Hard is a Christmas movie, but yes, absolutely, this is a Christmas book.\u00a0 And a Lent book, and an Ordinary Time book.\u00a0 Basically any time you might be an eternal soul animating a mortal and suffering-prone body, this book is for you.\u00a0 Short, readable, down-to-earth, suitable for ordinary pewsitters.\u00a0 Subscribe to Ave Maria\u2019s mailing list and you\u2019ll regularly receive coupons and promo codes; follow @EmDeArdo on Twitter<\/a> and she\u2019ll let you know any time the book goes on sale.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Emily DeArdo, who is not just my hero but also my friend, writes the thing you need to read today, and probably every day: This is dangerous garbage. To tell someone who is desperate for healing that they aren\u2019t praying enough, aren\u2019t trusting enough, aren\u2019t doing enough\u2014that\u2019s crap! It\u2019s like the people who have told […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[115,13,44,205,418,51,482,247,110,6,29,466],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-catholic-qa","category-church-craziness","category-disability-chronic-illness","category-facepalm","category-forgiveness","category-good-things","category-modesty-2","category-rant-o-rama","category-stick-that-corner","category-suffering","category-thinking-topics"],"yoast_head":"\nLife As a Person Who is Not God<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Emily DeArdo, who is not just my hero but also my friend, writes the thing you need to read today, and probably every day: This is dangerous garbage. To\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2021\/12\/life-as-a-person-who-is-not-god\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Life As a Person Who is Not God\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Emily DeArdo, who is not just my hero but also my friend, writes the thing you need to read today, and probably every day: This is dangerous garbage. To\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2021\/12\/life-as-a-person-who-is-not-god\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sticking the Corners\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JenFitz.Writes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-12-18T14:30:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/assets.avemariapress.com\/resize\/products%2FFlat_Covers%2F9781594719677.jpg\/max_width=352.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jennifer Fitz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Jennifer_Fitz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jennifer Fitz\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2021\/12\/life-as-a-person-who-is-not-god\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2021\/12\/life-as-a-person-who-is-not-god\/\",\"name\":\"Life As a Person Who is Not God\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-12-18T14:30:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-12-18T14:30:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/#\/schema\/person\/a1a80a6198996fd8f065088c38a255c3\"},\"description\":\"Emily DeArdo, who is not just my hero but also my friend, writes the thing you need to read today, and probably every day: This is dangerous garbage. To\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2021\/12\/life-as-a-person-who-is-not-god\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2021\/12\/life-as-a-person-who-is-not-god\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2021\/12\/life-as-a-person-who-is-not-god\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Life As a Person Who is Not God\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/\",\"name\":\"Sticking the Corners\",\"description\":\"Live it like you mean it.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/#\/schema\/person\/a1a80a6198996fd8f065088c38a255c3\",\"name\":\"Jennifer Fitz\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3aa95bdcebf0f9f0962d1a672129e152?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3aa95bdcebf0f9f0962d1a672129e152?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jennifer Fitz\"},\"description\":\"Jennifer Fitz is the mother of four fantabulous children, and author of Classroom Management for Catechists. She writes online for Patheos and for the Catholic Conspiracy. When she isn't blogging, teaching, or complaining about something, she likes to play outside.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JenFitz.Writes\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Jennifer_Fitz\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/author\/jenniferfitz\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Life As a Person Who is Not God","description":"Emily DeArdo, who is not just my hero but also my friend, writes the thing you need to read today, and probably every day: This is dangerous garbage. To","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2021\/12\/life-as-a-person-who-is-not-god\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Life As a Person Who is Not God","og_description":"Emily DeArdo, who is not just my hero but also my friend, writes the thing you need to read today, and probably every day: This is dangerous garbage. To","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2021\/12\/life-as-a-person-who-is-not-god\/","og_site_name":"Sticking the Corners","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JenFitz.Writes\/","article_published_time":"2021-12-18T14:30:53+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/assets.avemariapress.com\/resize\/products%2FFlat_Covers%2F9781594719677.jpg\/max_width=352.jpg"}],"author":"Jennifer Fitz","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Jennifer_Fitz","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jennifer Fitz","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2021\/12\/life-as-a-person-who-is-not-god\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2021\/12\/life-as-a-person-who-is-not-god\/","name":"Life As a Person Who is Not God","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-12-18T14:30:53+00:00","dateModified":"2021-12-18T14:30:53+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/#\/schema\/person\/a1a80a6198996fd8f065088c38a255c3"},"description":"Emily DeArdo, who is not just my hero but also my friend, writes the thing you need to read today, and probably every day: This is dangerous garbage. To","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2021\/12\/life-as-a-person-who-is-not-god\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2021\/12\/life-as-a-person-who-is-not-god\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2021\/12\/life-as-a-person-who-is-not-god\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Life As a Person Who is Not God"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/","name":"Sticking the Corners","description":"Live it like you mean it.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/#\/schema\/person\/a1a80a6198996fd8f065088c38a255c3","name":"Jennifer Fitz","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3aa95bdcebf0f9f0962d1a672129e152?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3aa95bdcebf0f9f0962d1a672129e152?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jennifer Fitz"},"description":"Jennifer Fitz is the mother of four fantabulous children, and author of Classroom Management for Catechists. She writes online for Patheos and for the Catholic Conspiracy. When she isn't blogging, teaching, or complaining about something, she likes to play outside.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JenFitz.Writes\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/Jennifer_Fitz"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/author\/jenniferfitz\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1209"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8684\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}