There is perfect virtue to be seen in the constrained violence of God.
I recently heard a speaker present an interesting perspective on violence. The speaker was arguing the point that if a person was not dangerous or not violent, that this in itself was not a virtue. Instead – the speaker reasoned – the virtue came from a person who had the capability of being violent making a choice to not be violent. The virtue came from a person who had the capability of being dangerous in making a choice not to be dangerous.
And I have been reflecting on this idea because it reminds me of God and His Earthly Foster Father, Saint Joseph…
You see, Saint Joseph was a good and chaste man. He chose to live with his holy wife, the Blessed Virgin, and never to consummate or initiate a physical relationship with her. He would not initiate out of respect for her and through his great love for her, out of respect for God as well. And he would do this even though it meant that he would not have biological children of his own with the Blessed Virgin. In some ways, Holy Saint Joseph, was a priest – living chastely with the Blessed Virgin and her Holy Son in poverty and in obedience to the Holy Will of God.
Now, just as there is no virtue in a lack of violence, rather the virtue comes from choosing not to be violent, so too is there no virtue in chastity born of inability. And this implies that Saint Joseph was a normal, virile man – a tradesman and craftsman – who was surely just as capable of a physical relationship with a woman as any other man. And yet – through his virtue – Saint Joseph constrained his ability and held it in check. And this is what we do when we are choosing to live virtuous lives…
And this also reminds me of God Himself. When Christ – God made Man – was crucified, he was hung up on the Cross. When He was there He could have brought Himself down from that Cross. Instead, He remained there – hanging in agony, experiencing in His flesh and on His soul, all the sin of all the world from the beginning of time until its end. He experienced not only the truly terrible sins – the murders and rapes, but also the little ones that cost me nothing to avoid – the unkind thoughts, the snide giggles, the bit of gossip, the white lie. And He stayed on that Cross, just as the dangerous person choses not to be dangerous, because He chose to do it because He is perfect Virtue. He hung unflinching, when He could have destroyed the whole world rather than endure that suffering.
And I have been thinking about that today because it seems that there is perfect virtue to be seen in the constrained violence of God. And I had not really thought of it like that before…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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