N
nuntym
Guest
I just had an epiphany today, and I need some CAF opinions about it. I do not know if this was asked and answered already, because when I entered “free will” on the search button, there were LOTS of results. Also, I hope I am posting in the right forum. Just please be light on the philosophical jargon 
So this is the epiphany: Almost everything that was “given” to us by God was actually just lent to us. Like stewards of the properties of a master, at the end of the world these gifts will be taken from us and we shall be made accountable for what we had done with what was given to us.
There is one exception: our free will. Just a few hours ago I realized that free will is the only thing of us that God does not directly affect nor does He take it away from us.
Our bodies and all the other physical attributes of ours are affected and even destroyed by Divine Providence. Grace, God can and does take away. Oh sure, free will can be temporarily incapacitated by sleep and anything else that can impair decision making, but then, it is not taken away, but incapacitated, still with us. And even physiologically or physically permanent incapacitation of free will (e.g. permanent coma) is only temporary, for when we die it is returned to us in the afterlife. In fact, death actually perfects free will: all the dead, whether in heaven, purgatory, or hell, have perfect wills. Faith and hope are gifts of the Lord, but they are taken away both in the beatific vision and hell. Free will is never ever taken away from us.
On the other hand, no one can make our decisions for us, ever. Not even the Lord can. Well, He can, but he does not want to. That is why the image of Jesus knocking at the door of our hearts (Rev 3:20) is so poignant: it is only ourselves who can kick Jesus out of our hearts; it is only ourselves who can take Him in. Our other mental faculties—emotions, imagination, understanding, memory etc.—not only can God affect, but also other factors can: by drugs, chemicals, trauma, information, demons, etc. Also, all these other faculties we have no total control. How many of us have the wish of having total control of our imagination so that we do not get distracted! Of our memory so that we don’t forget the good memories, and forget the horrible ones! Of our emotions so that we’re happy all the time!
Of course, one may object for the cases wherein someone made decisions while his capacity to make decisions are impaired, for example the use of drugs like “truth serum” (sodium pentathol) and alcohol. Well, as I said before, in those cases free will was not taken away but incapacitated: free will is intact, because it was not used in the first place.
So therefore, of all the things we have, only free will is really free, really truly ours, never to be taken away.
And this is also the reason why love is the greatest virtue there is. Love is not an emotion, but an act of the will for the good of someone. That is, you will the good of someone. You give your free will, the only thing that is truly yours, for the good of someone else. Love is the ultimate sacrifice, the ultimate giving, for you give away what even God does not take away from you.
So, is this epiphany correct? Free will is really, truly ours by God’s design, never to be taken away?
Also, are there any other gifts of God to us that God does not take away (aside from love, that is
)?
So this is the epiphany: Almost everything that was “given” to us by God was actually just lent to us. Like stewards of the properties of a master, at the end of the world these gifts will be taken from us and we shall be made accountable for what we had done with what was given to us.
There is one exception: our free will. Just a few hours ago I realized that free will is the only thing of us that God does not directly affect nor does He take it away from us.
Our bodies and all the other physical attributes of ours are affected and even destroyed by Divine Providence. Grace, God can and does take away. Oh sure, free will can be temporarily incapacitated by sleep and anything else that can impair decision making, but then, it is not taken away, but incapacitated, still with us. And even physiologically or physically permanent incapacitation of free will (e.g. permanent coma) is only temporary, for when we die it is returned to us in the afterlife. In fact, death actually perfects free will: all the dead, whether in heaven, purgatory, or hell, have perfect wills. Faith and hope are gifts of the Lord, but they are taken away both in the beatific vision and hell. Free will is never ever taken away from us.
On the other hand, no one can make our decisions for us, ever. Not even the Lord can. Well, He can, but he does not want to. That is why the image of Jesus knocking at the door of our hearts (Rev 3:20) is so poignant: it is only ourselves who can kick Jesus out of our hearts; it is only ourselves who can take Him in. Our other mental faculties—emotions, imagination, understanding, memory etc.—not only can God affect, but also other factors can: by drugs, chemicals, trauma, information, demons, etc. Also, all these other faculties we have no total control. How many of us have the wish of having total control of our imagination so that we do not get distracted! Of our memory so that we don’t forget the good memories, and forget the horrible ones! Of our emotions so that we’re happy all the time!
Of course, one may object for the cases wherein someone made decisions while his capacity to make decisions are impaired, for example the use of drugs like “truth serum” (sodium pentathol) and alcohol. Well, as I said before, in those cases free will was not taken away but incapacitated: free will is intact, because it was not used in the first place.
So therefore, of all the things we have, only free will is really free, really truly ours, never to be taken away.
And this is also the reason why love is the greatest virtue there is. Love is not an emotion, but an act of the will for the good of someone. That is, you will the good of someone. You give your free will, the only thing that is truly yours, for the good of someone else. Love is the ultimate sacrifice, the ultimate giving, for you give away what even God does not take away from you.
So, is this epiphany correct? Free will is really, truly ours by God’s design, never to be taken away?
Also, are there any other gifts of God to us that God does not take away (aside from love, that is
)?
