I Believe in the Complexity of the Human Condition

There is this exquisite line in the Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis: “You come of the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve and that is both honor enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor in earth.” Lewis has captured something true for me about the human condition here. There is this beautiful complexity that mixes together the ways we fall short and the transformation we still get to experience and extend to others when we encounter God’s love.

Many of us experienced the full Passion story of Jesus during the Liturgy of the Word on Palm Sunday, and it will also unfold again for us throughout the week’s services. We shall see human beings at their worst and human beings at their best. Disciples fall asleep, Judas betrays his friend, an unnamed enslaved person loses an ear, Peter denies his friend, and Jesus suffers capital punishment at the hands of the Roman empire. This is also the week where Simon carries the cross of a stranger, a criminal asks for forgiveness, and the women find the tomb of Jesus empty and believe—even when they are not believed, at first.

I believe, especially during this thin place of Holy Week, in the complexity of the human condition, in our capacity to harm others (and ourselves) and in our capacity to also be testaments of God’s love. And if that doesn’t cause us to bow our shoulders and hold our heads high, I’m not sure what else would.