Interdependence, Not Independence Part VI

Christian theology proclaims that the universe and all that is within it was created good. In their creation, things possessed a perfect relationship with each other and with God. Pride, such as the pride of Satan, demolished this order. What was the essence of his pride, what was its root cause? If we examine the situation, we will find that he had a desire for independence from God. Satan wanted to be like God, that is, he wanted to be his own God. He wanted to be the source of his own existence; he wanted to feel totally self-sufficient. His war against God was a war against his own nature. For his nature, as with all created nature, is dependent upon God – that is, it is not, and can never be, self-sufficient. He came into existence by the power of God. By trying to become independent, by trying to deny his own dependence from God, Satan fooled himself. By trying to live out such an existence, all he did was cause himself to suffer.

If we reject God, if we reject our proper relationship with God, we start a process which ends in our own self-destruction. And if we try to seek self-sufficiency, if we desire total independence, then, to be true to such a search, we must end up rejecting the merciful grace of God. And it leads to self-destruction because our very existence is something given to us from God, and so it is something which we cannot accept. We can understand Scripture’s description of the fall of humanity as a mythical presentation of this process. Satan’s lie was that we could become self-sufficient. This was what was behind Satan’s temptation; telling us that we could become like God, he was telling us that we can find a means by which we can possess our own existence without any need for God. Our ego, desiring what Satan offered us, led us to accept Satan’s lie, and to disobey God’s command. By trying to take our own existence entirely into our own hands, by trying to be a god unto ourselves, our condition changed. By disobeying God, we separated ourselves from God, and we lost, in part, our connection to the source of our being; as a result, we became ontologically less than what we were when we were created. We could have humbled ourselves and been healed; instead, after the fall, despite the fact we have become less than what we were, our pride, our ego, continues to push us forward, telling us that just because we have failed so far, it does not mean we are doomed to total failure; we think we can overcome the consequences of the fall by ourselves, leading us further and further away from God.

Once we realize that our own personal destiny is tied with others, and that we could never be self-sufficient, we can begin to grow out of the effects of sin and slowly move towards our proper end. We must seek our place within the organic whole of creation. We must realize that not only by ourselves, but together with the rest of creation as one, we depend upon God for existence. But we must be careful; error is based upon the exaggeration of truth, and the error of self-dependence is based upon a truth which cannot be denied. It is a truth which, when viewed from one perspective, allows independence to be seen as a virtue. We must discern what this is so that we do not, in our attempt to overcome error, create a new one. And so, what is it which makes independence appear to be a good? It is the fact that each person should have a role in their self-determination, in choosing their own activities; it is the fact that we are given free will.

Personal existence is a good, but for it to be of any value, for it to be personal, a person needs to have a will, one which allows them to make choices for their own which lead to their own personal development. Without an element of freedom given to the will, one becomes a slave. Thus, freedom is a good which must be encouraged by society. Everyone has special talents with which they are able to use for the benefit of society, but for them to be of any real, lasting good, such gifts must used freely, and creatively by the ones who possess them, turning what is originally a possession of their own to a gift shared by all. This allows one to find one’s proper place in the world. And by acting in this way, in giving of ourselves, of our talents, to others, we properly form ourselves to be the people we are meant to be. By giving of ourselves, do we truly find ourselves, and find our true happiness. Self-determination with a wrong notion of the self, which seeks to grasp after the self, will only lead to disaster. Self-determination that is free, and willingly releases oneself and all that one has, realizes the fact that being is to be shared, and so can lead to beatitude.