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A quote from Virgil’s Aeneid says “the descent to hell is easy.” And no one ever expects their good intentions to turn out bad. That’s the “law of unintended consequences.” It seems we humans are better at coming up with witty quotes than we are at avoiding the mistakes of  our “good intentions” gone bad.

But why is that? Nobody ever thinks their intentions are actually harmful. Most of us think (and, truth be told, we actually do) we act with a sincere heart most of the time. We don’t sit around wondering how to manipulate our surroundings and the people around us with the intentions of destroying our own lives and the lives of those around us. We really don’t want to be unhappy. We really don’t want to end up broken and being our own worst enemy, and yet all our good intentions have a way of never quite playing out like we imagined! Where’s the disconnect? Why is the road to hell paved with… well, you know?

Look at our Gospel Lesson in Mark 8:30-34:

At that time, Jesus charged his disciples to tell no one that he is the Christ. And he began to teach them that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter, and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not on the side of God, but of men.” And he called to him the multitude with his disciples, and said to them, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

Our Lord is telling His disciples that things aren’t going to end up in a pleasant way for Him very soon. He tells His disciples the truth about what is going to happen to Him during what we will eventually call “Holy Week” and St. Peter doesn’t take this well at all. He (I love this image) “took” Jesus. Can you see Peter grabbing the Lord’s arm and pulling Him off to the side to “rebuke” Him? Imagine Peter’s surprise when the Lord reacts as He does! “Get behind me, Satan!” I’m sure Peter is absolutely shocked at how wrong his good intentions turned out to be, so completely wrong that they were actually the enemy of the Lord’s purpose and mission. Peter simply and fatally failed to pay attention AND he also failed to trust the Lord knew what He was doing! Yep, the road to hell is paved with stuff like this!

So, how do we avoid this? Again, it’s simple (just not easy): Love God! It is love for God that keeps me awake to His gentle wisdom for my life. It is love for God that keeps me humble about my own plans and my own ideas. It is love for God that sets me free to trust that current circumstances are all under His care! It is love for God that allows me to actually pay attention to His words and not superimpose my own desires and hopes and dreams on His will for my life. Love keeps me awake to His wisdom. And love is what I must nurture in my everyday life if I am going to avoid paving my own road to hell with my good intentions. Love, ultimately, is discovered not to be a feeling or an emotion, but a willful choice to embrace an honest intimacy with God.  That’s why all of Orthodoxy is about fostering love and intimacy with God in my life. All the prayers, all the incense, all the liturgies, all the fasting disciplines, and the feasting joys, all the lives of the saints, and especially the Mystery of confession; all of this has ONE AIM! And it is shaping my life in such a way that I can love God FIRST and my neighbor as myself. Orthodoxy is the “science” of spiritual labor that produces love for God!

Today, how are your good intentions working out for you? Are your daily practices strengthening your Love for God? As we move toward Bethlehem, we must realize that all the pious practices in our Faith have ONE AIM – Love God and love our neighbor. Living that way makes you Orthodox on Purpose!

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