55. How even trivia are related to our union with God
55. HOW EVEN TRIVIA ARE RELATED TO OUR UNION WITH GOD
Even toilet paper?
It would seem that man does not will whatsoever he wills for the last end. For . . . man does not always think of the last end in all that he desires or does. . . .
On the contrary. . . . Man must of necessity desire all, whatsoever he desires, for the last end . . . because the last end stands in the same relation in moving the appetite as the first mover in other movements. Now it is clear that secondary moving causes do not move save inasmuch as they are moved by the first mover. Therefore secondary objects of the appetite do not move the appetite except as ordained to the first object of the appetite, which is the last end.
One need not always be thinking of the last end whenever one desires or does something, but the virtue (effective power) of the first intention, which was in respect of the last end, remains in every desire directed to any object whatever, even though one’s thoughts be not actually directed to the last end. Thus while walking along the road one needs not to be thinking of the end at every step (I-II,1,7).
All schools of modern psychology teach us (as Plato did in Book 9 of the Republic) that there are great depths of unconscious thought and desire as well as the surface level that we are aware of, our conscious thoughts and desires.
On the conscious level, none of us can honestly say that God is in every thought of the mind and every desire of the heart.
How then can Christ expect us to obey the first and greatest commandment, to love God with our whole heart and mind (and soul and strength) (Mt 22:37)? He does not give us impossible commands.
The answer is that He knows the power of the unconscious because He is the world’s best psychologist, since He is the Mind (Logos) of God, Who designed us.
On this level, which is unconscious but real, we can and should will all that we will for God, for our last end. And not just as a kind of pious postscript or afterthought to what we do, but as the moving force and energy of our lives, and of our conscious desires and thoughts, even if this force is unconscious most of the time.
For the end moves the means, and the last end is that which moves all the things that are means to it. If we are monotheists and not polytheists, if we believe in the one God as God, and hope in God as God, and love God as God—i.e., as our one Truth and Good and Beauty, not just as one among many—then we will dedicate to Him our whole desire and thought, our whole heart and mind, and our whole lives, both inner (heart and soul and mind) and outer (“strength”); and this dedication will “work”, will “count”, will make a real difference to everything in our lives, in God’s eyes and therefore in reality (for those are only two ways of saying the same thing).
Renewing this consecration each morning, in your Morning Offering, is an essential and foundational prayer. It is like making love to your spouse not just once but repeatedly: a sacramental making-really-present of the reality that is signified and symbolized by its sign. Life’s greatest secret is incredibly simple. It is just repeating two magic syllables each day to God: the same syllables you said in your wedding vow: “I do.”
And that includes everything in your life. Including toilet paper. If your spouse needs some, you share that too. Nothing is outside your marriage. Nothing is simply secular any more.
Remind yourself of that tremendous and transforming truth many times a day; repeat your Morning Offering, by whatever means works best: perhaps just a gesture, a one-second salute to remind yourself that you are under His command in absolutely everything you do, and you are doing it for Him.