IN my life as priest and penitent, I have had to deal with the old English proverb that asserts itself with complete assurance: “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” It is a claim that the mind always rules over matter. Is this really true?
There are times when it is helpful to see that all I need to do is to exert my willpower. When I lived in community life with brothers, I was invariably late for meals, always excusing myself. Until one day a brother responded to my apology by saying, I won’t forgive you because you don’t change. This really mustered my willpower, helping me to change my behaviour.
However, many more times I have discovered that even though I explicitly “willed-(not)” things did not change. It reminds me of what St Paul writes: “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.” (Romans 7:15ff)
I found an interesting article “Really? Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way?” by Galen Guengerich Ph.D. from which I quote:
“Etta James, the best blues singer ever, knew more than most people about not having the will and losing her way. Born to a 14-year-old mother who was not interested in children and a father who had long since disappeared, she once described her childhood as a series of one-night stand: she was continually passed from one relative to another.
As an adult, she abused her body almost constantly. The men in her life -managers, singers, and family members alike – frequently took advantage of her: musically, financially, and sexually.
After a withering battle with heroin addiction, Etta launched a comeback with an album titled “The Seven Year Itch”. The most telling song captures the power of her fierce spirit and the aimlessness of her fragile soul.
In “I Got The Will”, she recalls that her mama told her – that if there’s a will, there’s got to be a way. Etta found otherwise: “I got the will, but I can’t find my way now.”
Sometimes in life we have the will, but we cannot find the way. At other times, presumably, we know the way, but we cannot seem to muster the will. In either case, getting from wherever we are to someplace better is our biggest challenge in life. How do we get from here to there? How do we find both the will and the way?”
In this description of the predicament Etta finds herself in, I can see with the help of St Paul where the real problem lies when he writes: “Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer that I do it, but sin which dwells within me.” (Romans 7:20). He even writes about his struggles, during which he begged the Lord three times to take away the thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, and to which the Lord responded saying: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”(2 Corinthians 12:7-9).
Faced with the inner conflict in our life where I take seriously what St Paul says, namely “I am carnal, sold under sin….. and that nothing good dwells within my flesh.” (Romans 7), the invitation of the Lord to all sounds all the more real: “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23).
In the Our Father, we pray “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. This can be a daily reminder of Jesus coming into the world (the vertical bar of the cross), which wants to establish God’s kingdom by confronting our will (the horizontal bar of the cross). Only his grace will conquer our weakness and sin.
Questions:
- Where do you experience that willpower is not always the answer to your struggles?
- What does Jesus ask when he invites us saying: “Follow me”?
This article is written because many confessors lead people to turn to their willpower, rather than to Christ’s grace, saying “where there is a will there is a way out of sin” and “Confession has set you free, exercise it”
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Fr Guido Gockel MHM
A member of St Joseph’s Missionary Society of Mill Hill, headquartered near London, Father Guido was ordained a priest in 1969. Shortly after ordination, he was sent to Malaysia (Sarawak) where he served as a missionary for 18 years.
While on a vacation to Sabah, he was introduced to a group of young people who had become involved in the Charismatic Movement (CCR). This experience helped him to be instrumental in introducing CCR to Miri, Sarawak, where he was assigned to a mission outpost.
Since his first missionary stint of seven years in the early 70’s, he has been back to Malaysia three more postings, and numerous short visits. He has acquired a basic knowledge of “Melayu pasar” and other languages of Sarawak
Catholic Sabah has the privilege of being acquainted with Fr Guido, who has been generous in giving his time to write for a year under the column titled “I’m on My Way” since the launching of the Catholic Sabah online portal in 2020.
With a little encouragement, Fr Guido has agreed to continue to write, and thus Catholic Sabah decided to upload his writings, once every month, in both English and Bahasa Melayu. Father is open to questions, to offer further discussion/explanation. He can be reached through email or whatsapp @ frguidomhm@gmail.com.
