Monday, August 29, 2011

Child of God or King of the Whole World?

I was sitting in my office today between classes and found myself staring at a calendar on the wall. It was the right month, but I realized I really hadn’t noticed the picture. It showed a beautiful little girl resting her chin on her hand. And the eyes… they were alive. How had I missed this, the month was nearly over? Then I saw the words:

“It is better to be the child of God than king of the whole world” (St. Aloysius Gonzaga).

The message struck me. The truth of it settled nicely into my heart. Most often men or women who seek to rule the world are driven by mortal passions as opposed to God’s will. Therefore, even though all existing world leaders are also children of God, they most often do not act like it. Power really does tend to corrupt and as Lord Acton has so famously said, “absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

But wouldn’t it be a tremendous blessing to the world if the leaders of nations actually lived, and believed, and acted like they were children of God? I think so. Sadly, we’ll have to wait for the coming of God’s Only Begotten Son… the One who actually believes that it is better to be the child of God than the king of the whole world.

I hope He comes soon.