Friday of the First Week of Lent

Lectionary: 228

Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court.

Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge,
and the judge will hand you over to the guard,
and you will be thrown into prison.
Amen, I say to you,
you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.”

Looking for a better understanding of Karpman’s Drama Triangle, I stumbled (figuratively) into Sartre’s mannequin and read an article about his most important book, Being and Nothingness. Jean-Paul Sartre may be the greatest of the 20^th century atheists, so I don’t necessarily recommend him. After the second devastating "world war" in Europe, many thoughtful people felt utterly hopeless. The best efforts of humankind -- modern technology, big government and a world wide economy -- led only to mass murder. 

Jesus’ teaching, urging his disciples to “settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court,” lends itself to reflections on Being and Nothingness.

If you have never heard of Sartre you might have heard of his famous dictum, “Hell is other people.” He wasn’t just a misanthrope. He took a philosophical view and regarded other people, and especially the attention of another person on oneself, as limiting one’s freedom. I am what I am until someone else tells me something else; then I become less than myself. So I am better off (i.e. more free) with no one around.

Sartre’s mannequin describes the sensation you might have when you think someone is standing very close to you, observing you. You are aware of that person’s presence and acutely aware that he or she is forming opinions about you. You might respond by showing off, flirting, hiding, explaining or resolutely ignoring the stranger. In any case, you have no control of her thoughts; and, because you feel crowded by this other, your own thoughts are running helter-skelter. Then suddenly you realize that person is a mannequin and you have been projecting your fear of judgment onto a plastic dummy. No one has been thinking less or more of you; no one has thought of you at all!

Suddenly your freedom to be yourself, think, feel and act like yourself, snapped back into place. That may be a liberating feeling or a crushingly lonely one.

This odd situation may be more common today than Sartre ever imagined, as computers become more sophisticated. A recent movie, Her, describes a man who falls in love with “Samantha,” a robotic app. I have not seen the movie but we can wonder how far this romance will go before it’s proven to be an illusion. For that matter, how far does any romance go before it's proven to be an illusion of one's own projections? 

Following his line of reasoning, you can understand why Sartre concluded, “If there is a God there shouldn’t be.” Who needs an all-powerful being standing and watching over one's shoulder all the time?

Sartre's philosophy challenges the Christian who revels in obedience to God. Ours is a radically different approach. Firstly, our God is "good, all good, supreme good" and regards us with great respect and loyal affection. The only judgment is largely our own, what we make of God. When the Lord appeared among us, it was we who captured, judged, tormented and crucified him, and not the other way around.  When we thought we had done with him, he rose from the grave and smiled upon us. 

Secondly, we find our freedom in love, affection and service of one another. That freedom allows plenty of room for self-expression, self-identity, self-satisfaction and healthy solitude. I am glad and grateful for who I am; I am glad to be alive in the sight of others and in God's delighted gaze. 

If some despise me, I am not diminished; I simply pray for the reconciliation that must come sooner or later. That's when I decide to "settle on the way to court." 

Sartre's ideal situation is the individual in solitude, but there is no such place. It is only a romantic's notion of what might be better. In the real world, we belong to one another and need one another. I prefer my real interdependence to his ideal solitude despite the challenges of community. We find our heaven through the narrow door of reconciliation with one another. As Dante wrote, "His will is our peace."