27 March 2014
Thursday of the Third Week of Lent
In today’s gospel Jesus identifies the key to understanding a fundamental problem: “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house.”
In one of those peppy presentations about collaborative effort, one common acronym is TEAM: Together Everyone Achieves More. Of course one of the hazards of a philosophical education is that it teaches you to think. My first question with this acronym is always more what? The “what,” the fundamental value which drives the choices, is the most important issue since that directs the effort. Make the value clear and it is amazing how things fall in line.
So often what really brings down a company, school, or an individual are divided allegiances. If decisions are implementations of values, and if an institution or an individual has multiple values that are radically different, then it will not take long for the kingdom to crash.
And of course that is the reason St. Ignatius has the first principle and foundation, to secure the idea that God is the ultimate value so that all decisions are made in light of those values identified by our faith.
And of course lent is the time when we try to look at some of those values that conflict with what we really know are our fundamental values.