Family Dysfunction & Divine Paradoxes

After reading Ryan Patrick Budd’s recent book, Salvation Stories: Family, Failure, and God’s Saving Work in Scripture, one is moved to ponder the effects of mankind’s rebellion against God’s commands. You’ll start to correlate the curses pronounced on Adam and Eve due to their disobedience with the interpersonal dysfunction we express from our adverse family relations.

One of the curses on Eve affected her relationship dynamic with her husband, and the curse on Adam is related to his role as a provider (see Genesis 3:16-19). This transpires not only on them but also on their descendants. How many people act out their brokenness through relationships and distracting pursuits?

In a secularized culture, people won’t consider God as the foundation of their everyday lives. If our sense of safety, adequacy, autonomy, inner peace, or acceptance has been diminished by childhood abuse and neglect, and we look to the secular world for healing, we’ll be lured into the disappointing chase for power, prestige, lascivious indulgence, adulation, or whatever profane idol that makes us forget about carrying our cross. Before you know it, that bright, shiny “precious” ends up being a destructive agent of vice.

Our cultural failure to recognize our fallen nature brings me to acknowledge a quote by Alphonse Ratisbonne (1814-1884), a Jewish aristocrat who had a mystical experience that converted him to the Catholic Church. One of the things revealed to him was the serious matter of sin: “Will you not raise your eyes to the Savior of the world, whose blood erased the stain of original sin? Oh, how hideous is the imprint of that stain! It renders completely unrecognizable the creature made in the image of God.”

You can even say that how we relate to each other becomes increasingly ungodly from the consequence of sin. “It wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity” (CCC 1849).

I’m not going to give away the final chapter, but Budd nicely describes that God provided a reversal for the curses. You’ll be reminded that we are part of His family, and what He generously gives us is more than adequate for our waywardness.

People who’ve never studied biblical curses would most likely consider these teachings about blessings and curses as ancient superstition. However, if you observe degenerate cultural trends through a religious lens, you’ll eventually notice that rebelling against God’s moral laws does bring forth a corrupting influence on everyday functioning and human interactions. If the folly of secular idol worship isn’t convincing enough, take note of communities all over the world plagued by rebellious subcultures; you’ll notice the curses of poverty, failure, and family breakdown (see Deuteronomy 28:17, 29, 41). In countries where there is a prevalence of occult activity and pagan worship, you’ll also see Third World poverty and failure, as well as oppression (28:29,32). Keeping these scriptural lessons in mind made me appreciate Budd’s last chapter more.

Much of Salvation Stories is about the imperfections of about a dozen Old Testament families, and despite their major conflicts and moral failings, they were instrumental in God’s plan for salvation. From the time of the Patriarchs to the Exile, we see “that God makes all things work together for good for those who love Him and who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). If you read all these biblical accounts, you’ll be astounded by God’s faithfulness to His people. An appropriate response on the part of humanity is all it takes to get back in alignment with Him.

One of the most moving accounts in Scripture that Budd covers is the repentance of Joseph’s brothers after they had sold him to slavery. The mercy Joseph shows his brothers foretells the mercy of Christ on all our sins. A contrite heart is the most proper response one can express after a fall from grace; “a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Psalm 51:17). Repentance opens the way to healing our sacred bonds.

Joseph, being merciful, brings to mind the fifth Beatitude; and going through the rest of the book, you may also be reminded of the other Beatitudes: Abraham was meek towards Lot; Hannah became poor in spirit; David mourned and also was persecuted for righteousness’ sake; Jonathan (son of Saul) wanted the peacemaker role even while in the throes of ugly politics; Ruth could be described as hungry and thirsty for righteousness—she would not abandon her widowed mother-in-law despite being put in the predicament of gleaning for food; and Tobias was pure in heart, marrying “with sincerity” and not out of lust.

The more you meditate on these virtuous deeds, the more you see that blessed responses can transform a fallen, upside-down world right-side up. The Beatitudes are “the paradoxical promises that sustain hope in the midst of tribulations; they proclaim the blessings and rewards already secured, however dimly, for Christ’s disciples” (CCC 1717).

The relationship lessons in Salvation Stories are good reminders during times of family disharmony or when struggling to maintain our spiritual optimism. It was also good to be reminded that the effects of curses are not set in stone and that blessings are pronounced upon the human family when we live in accordance with God’s will.

Editor’s Note: Salvation Stories: Family, Failure, and God’s Saving Work in Scripture by Ryan Patrick Budd is available from the St. Paul Center.

Photo by Andrik Langfield on Unsplash