Prompt 6: June 1, 2021
I had a friend who fell victim to good intentions. A system of belief allowed the University to forfeit truth for its own aims, to selectively lower its admission standards, to encourage the student’s financial suicide, to rope the student into an aimless remedial curriculum, to revoke the pretense of eligibility, and to have the audacity to incorporate these recruiting methods into standard practice. Last I heard from him, he hasn’t recovered.
Our intentions, however selfless or noble, can get the best of us. A high mindedness without specificity can invite destruction. And it will, if we confuse whose will we are after. We believe, as we recite, in God the Father Almighty; maker of Heaven and Earth. He is the author of reality, and our rejection of that majesty for our mortal conception of ‘good’ is what often creates the worst conditions of hell on earth. Truth is the only expression we can muster to honor the infinitude of the Good work of God (trinity). We have nothing better than that! It is a shame we don’t often appreciate what truth actually affords us.
The term verschlimmerbessen was introduced to me by my old boss during a casual linguistics lesson. A term that english would clumsily translate to: to try to do good, but to make a situation worse than if you hadn’t intervened. I was new to the faith and the zeal of my spiritual adolescence had made that phenomenon all too familiar. I imagine I am not the only one who has stung himself. There are questions-a-plenty for a topic like this:
- What personal experiences have we not fully realized by considering verschlimmerbessen?
- What role does humility play in our prevention of verschlimmerbessen?
- How do our legal codes account for verschlimmerbessen?
- Where has the church trespassed through verschlimmerbessen?
- Where is grace found in verschlimmerbessen?
The thread is open. Create boldly, and may the Spirit guide us all.
Afterthoughts
My accusations of the University are only supported by my anecdotal experiences– Nullius In Verba
I obviously don’t know how to use the word verschlimmerbessen, so I’ll let Luke Lesslie respond back with a full critique of my linguistic butchery.