The Fate of the Stone Roller

"Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him."  Proverbs 26:27

In the famous work entitled the 'Myth of Sisyphus' by Albert Camus the gods have condemned Sisyphus to the endless cycle of rolling a stone uphill to see it roll down, and fetch it without end.  It is his perpetual task. It is what he must do to atone for his sins upon the earth.  He is to bear the fate of absurdity for which the rolling of the stone is his reminder.

The ancient wisdom writers of the Proverbs knew that before there was mythos there was logos.  The writer addresses logos with the above words.  Or as one perceptive writer said he addresses a sphere of action that bespeaks one's destiny.

There are actions from which there is no recourse.  We all know this to be true, and yet there are those who defy commonsense and wisdom, and set themselves out to ruinous journeys. There are journeys, and there are destinies, and such persons confuse the two with course and artless reasons.  Yahweh has designed the world in such a manner that even if the authorities that are in place are righteous or nefarious a person will receive to himself the reward of his actions whether good or bad.

I realize that there are those who believe that they may do whatever they desire but even delusional reality has a terminus.  So, what is the writer addressing in this statement?  It is well known that in Hebrew theology act and consequence are one.  In other words there is unity of action and result.  This is inescapable and intensely sobering.

Those who sin against others will reap the results of their heinous deeds and treachery.  Yes, there may seem to be no immediate consequences to what has been done, but know that the mind of God is not a mind of flesh.  He is the final Judge and he cannot be bought.

I remember reading where one ancient banker in the city of Florence wanted God the Father on his rolls as a debtor.  We humans roll some very interesting stones, and we forget that they roll back with awesome results.

The universe as designed by God is one of cause and effect.  Our actions are creative force. They set in motion events that will carry the power of consequent action.  Here is a powerful quality of the image dei, that is, the image of God in man.  We are creators.  Not in the biblical sense of having fiat creative power that is reserved only for God.

It is interesting today that the clergy in general defer to death as non-being. Sisyphus was sentenced by the gods in the afterlife to a punishment of absurdity.  Today, some clergy teach the absurdity of the afterlife.  We should not listen to such perverted teaching. They have forgotten that theology with an undeveloped eschatology (doctrine of last things) does not satisfy the sin-sick soul, and psychologies are not metaphysically neutral.

Camus wrote of the frightful visage of the one who rolls stones:

"A face that toils so close to stones is already stone itself."

The poet of Psalm 7 wrote:

"He made a pit and dug it out, and has fallen into the ditch he made."  Ps.7:15

The biblical materials state that no one escapes the wrong that he has done.  God does forgive our sin, but we suffer the consequences of our actions.  Therefore we hear anew the prescriptive words of the Iesous when he says "go and sin no more" or give up those sinful practices that deconstructed the integrity of your soul.

Blessings to you.

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