Thursday of the Second Week of Lent
In his third chapter, the prophet Jeremiah writes “cursed is the man who trusts in human beings,” and “blessed is the man who trusts in God.” What does this mean? Set aside, for now, all the modern senses of our English words “curse” and “bless” and look at the Latin roots. To curse, maledicere, is to speak ill of, and to bless, benedicere, is to speak well of. Thus, following Jeremiah, we will speak ill of those who trust in human beings, because human beings eventually make mistakes and eventually fail. They can only be trusted so far. Conversely, we will speak well of those who trust in God, because God never makes mistakes and never fails. He can be trusted in life and in death.
The good God is the one and only God. He stands alone. Goodness, too, stands alone. It is not dependent on evil in any way, and yet, for us, fallen as we are, by studying evil, in some way, we come to better appreciate goodness. It’s the same for blessing and cursing. The God of Heaven is eternally blessed, so blessing is not dependent upon cursing, and yet, for us, by studying cursing, we can come to a better appreciation of blessing.
Our duty, as Christians, should now be more clear. “Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse them” (Romans 12:14). Granted, there is a time to vent a little, and there is a time for criticism and fraternal correction, but, above all, we must train our tongues to speak well (benedicere) of God, who in his goodness stands alone, and to speak well (benedicere) of this world that God has made.