What is the root cause of walls?

A poet once said, “strong fences make good neighbors”.  Do we agree with this?

Walls like we have in our homes function for our good, mostly to keep us warm and sheltered from the elements. These are good walls.  They come from good causes, and they do good things for us.  They also participate in our security, because we have locked doors and windows in our walls.

The security part is the bothersome one.  Walls can do the “good” part of their jobs without the locks.

We have walls with locks in our world due to the need for security.

But what causes this need for security?

Look at some famous walls in history. 

The walls of Jericho; protected against attacks from enemies.  

The great china wall; protected against attacks from Mongolia.

The walls of Jerusalem; protected against invasion from without.

The Berlin wall; segregated and isolated the people from democracy.

The sad truth is that all of these walls and all such other walls have a sense of negativity about them. They provide security, which we often perceive as good, but the security is needed to protect against harm or evil.  Lacking the propensity for harm or evil there would be no need for security, would there?

So what is the root of the harm and evil?  More walls!

Yes, but not material walls.  These walls are invisible to the eye.  People build them.  They are security walls frequently.  They can also be walls of isolation.  Mostly, they are concocted by our own minds.  Let me name a few:

Walls of prejudice:

Segregation is less obvious now, at least in this country.  How does our prejudice keep us separate from “certain people”?  Where is our neighborly love, as Jesus commands?

Walls of pride:

Do we barricade against someone trying to help us with a little constructive criticism?  Are we too proud to accept this kind of help?  Are we proud of our country?  Why do so many foreign peoples seem to hate us?  Is it from our pride or theirs?  Perhaps both?

Walls of hatred:

Has a family member or friend wronged us?  Do we still replay the scene and fume about it? Do we avoid them?  Do we “hate” them?

Walls of embarrassment:

What did you do?  What did your friend do?  Are you embarrassed by your association with him or her?  Do your avoid him or her?

Walls of failure:

Have you tried to heal the differences, but give up?  Have you failed!  Have you tried seventy times seven times, as Jesus prescribes?

Walls of envy:

Are our relationships strained because our neighbor has more than we do?  A better car?  Nicer house?  Newer furniture?  More money? …

Walls of selfishness:

Have you heard it said that in some way or other selfishness is the root of all sin?  Do we put ourselves first above other’s needs?  Do we put our self first above God’s desires for us?

Walls of self-righteousness:

Do we get a warm feeling inside when we gloat about our piety?  Do we pity all the others who don’t appear to love God as we do?  Do we toot our horn when we do a charitable act?

Walls of sinful habits:

We may not like to agree, but sins are walls or barricades between us and our God.  They are also a source of walls between us and our neighbor.  Are they our sins, or our neighbor’s that might keep a wall between us?

Walls of gossip:

Have you ever been the object of gossip?  Have you ever approached a few folks who suddenly get quiet when they see you?  A very interesting wall indeed.  Have you been in the group talking about a friend with less than Christian charity?

Walls of un-forgiveness:

Of course you know that the walls of sin are torn down by God’s forgiveness of us.  How many walls of trespasses by our neighbor are needed to be torn down by our forgiveness of them?

Walls of … well, you can probably name a lot more.

These are often very solid walls, in spite of their lack of material.  They often are visible to others in our actions and attitudes, even when we cannot seem to see them ourselves.

These walls are the root walls to all material walls.

Just think, if everyone in the world tore down all of their personal walls, there would be no need for the material walls.  The evil one would have no place to stand in the world.  There would be no war.  There would be no crime.  There would be no hate or need for isolation.

How can that happen?  There is only one way.  People can tear down their walls through God’s forgiveness and graces of help.  It took the help of God to tear down the walls of Jericho.  (Jos 5:13 to Jos 6:20) 

I like to think that it took the help of God to tear down the walls of Berlin too.  The Lord knows that many, many prayers were said to this end.

We must pray for the graces to tear down our own walls.  In place of walls, we need love of God and of our neighbor.  We need community. We need to help each other.  We need the Church to guide us in God’s ways and words.  We need the sacraments, especially the sacrament of penance.  We need to put loving God above all other needs of our own.