“My only request for my memorial service is that it should be short; do not mention any of my accomplishments or say that I was a good man, simply say that I was a man who strove to be good.” Prasanna Patel said to his grand-daughter.

“But Papa, you are the best man I know. If you are not a good man, then there are no good men on earth.”

“Child, you can only tell if a man is good by the nature of his innermost thoughts, therefore in most cases only the man who can read the thoughts of another can call him good. Even a man who risks his life for another cannot be called a good man if his action was prompted by the desire to be seen as a hero. The incorrect use of the designation “good man” narrows the scope of fulfillment for what it means to be good; being good means being spiritually mature for entry into the land of the pure spirits.  So please promise me not to call me a good man after I am gone.” He pleaded.

Did Christ Die For Our Sins?

In the early 1960’s, St. Jude’s Orphanage took care of the motherless children of Lome, Togo. The children had a strict academic regimen and were also fed spiritually through daily bible study  with Father Kuntz. One day Fr. Kuntz talked about the necessity of Christ’s suffering on the cross for the forgiveness of sin which terribly confused 15 year old Edem.

“How does the death of one pure man wipe out the sins of a thousand guilty men? How does that work?”

“Well Edem,” Fr. Kuntz responded.  “Imagine a boy who does something so evil that he cannot atone for his actions himself. His Lord who loves him and sees his suffering sends One who is pure and strong to take on the suffering of this weak boy who no longer has the power to overcome his guilt and find his way back to his Lord.”

“So Jesus was this pure One who was sent to take on the suffering by the most brutal death? It seems unjust. I still do not understand Fr. Kuntz.”

“The Lord so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son all the way down to earth to show us misguided human beings the way back to Him and with His suffering on the Cross, He atoned for the sins of all who believe in Him.”

“I see, I think I understand better now, Edem interjected. Like you said, The Creator saw all the suffering in the world so He sent His pure Son to show us the way to a joyful existence. By telling us to “Love thy neighbor as thyself” He gave us the key to atoning for our guilt and finding our way back to Him. Fr. Kuntz, could it be that it is through living in accordance with Jesus’ teaching that forgiveness of sins lie? Not through His death on the cross? Could it be that His death was simply a consequence of man’s wickedness? I ask because I do not think it is the Will of The Creator; it lacks justice.

Fr. Kuntz who simply imbibed this idea of a forgiveness of sin through the death on the cross without thoroughly examining it reflected on the 15 year old’s words. Jesus’ words on the cross, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do” reverberated within him. Could these words buttress the fallacy of this idea of the necessity of His brutal death on the cross? He dismissed his students and went outside for further reflection.

Sergio Gomez moved to Reynosa, one of the most dangerous cities in Mexico, to complete his degree in philosophy at the Universidad México Americana del Norte A.C. Despite the constant threat of danger in the area, Sergio remained indifferent and indolent; he took no measures to protect himself and his precious possessions.

One day, he left his house without locking his door and returned to a vandalized house. All his valuable items were stolen, the most valuable being his Mac laptop which contained 12 months’ worth of field data for his research project. All he had worked for, all he needed for his degree was on that laptop. His inability to protect what was most important led to his failure of the course because he could not make up the research project before the semester’s end. He had no choice but to repeat the course.

It would be unwise for a man who lives in a dangerous neighborhood to leave his door opened but we do the exact same thing when we take no steps to guard ourselves from the dark influences that surround the earth. It is clear to anyone with open eyes that the earth is surrounded predominantly by base currents. Look to the media, government, corporations, schools, fashion, and society as a whole- where is there to be found anything leading the spirit upwards?

As with Sergio, our time on earth can be likened to a brief schooling period and in order to complete our development in the allotted time, the spirit has to be protected from these base currents through constant vigilance and an inward resistance to anything detrimental to spiritual ascent.