It is in some tough times sufficient to be obedient. But to be obedient isn't the point even though we can find examples and stories of people being and being lauded for their obedience.
Rather than obedience for obedience's sake, the idea is faithfulness. Faithfulness we can imagine as a prolonged - even life long orientation or alignment. Faithfulness then arises from one's own values, one's own appreciation for life and goodness. The primary objective then is to join with God, to first accept and then to nurture his life, his values, and his desires as your own.
As we begin, obedience in the moment is necessary as we grapple with accepting a new orientation toward virtue and letting go or realigning our practices of defensiveness, of distancing, of being superior. This change can be hard - it is hard - for us. Often it can seem that unquestioning obedience is the point and this can frustrate and dissuade us from our pursuit of virtue.
But underlying this expectation of, and our struggle in obedience is our desire to be reformed and realigned with something greater, something broader, something deeper than we have. With practice, our obedience becomes transformed into faithfulness, characterized by ownership and interior strength. Through obedience we become, and in becoming we are faithful.
In being transformed our faithfulness becomes actual and we leave behind the beginning struggles, the doubts, the not wanting to when faced with obstacles, attacks, and frustrations. This does not mean that any particular task, situation or need to persevere is easy or painless. It does mean that we can place the pain in its proper context and remain faithful through it. While the idea of obedience may not go away entirely, it becomes less apparent as in our becoming, we know and we want to do; we want to be who we are becoming. In this way, the demand for obedience, the experience of having to obey resolves into who we are as faithful ones, faithful to that which we are.
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