Happy Faults

"Man disobeying, Disloyal breaks his fealty, and sins Against the high supremacy of heaven, Affecting Godhead, and so losing all ... " —John Milton, Paradise Lost

I first learned the phrase felix culpa in my 10th grade English class. We were reading John Milton’s classic epic poem, Paradise Lost, which tells the biblical story of Adam and Eve and the Fall of Man.

As you might have guessed, felix culpa is Latin. It translates into “happy fault,” or “fortunate fall,” and has come to be used to describe the paradox of a negative event producing positive effects. In the case of Adam and Eve, the famous duo’s decision to disobey God brought about humanity’s banishment from Eden, separated us from our Creator, and ushered sin and death into the world. It was, as they say, a bummer.

But, the felix to that culpa was that God didn’t abandon His plan to have an eternal relationship with us, as well as a glorious, sinless kingdom on this earth.[1] To the contrary, He sent His only Son, who was perfect in every regard, to erase our sin and shame by offering Himself as a spotless sacrifice one Passover day some 2,000 year ago. Jesus’ act of total submission to the Father’s will, and unshakable love for mankind, paid the price for our sins, both original and personal. This is the Gospel – good news in Greek – and it is a felix message indeed.

“Abashed the devil stood and felt how awful goodness is and saw Virtue in her shape how lovely: and pined his loss”
― John Milton, Paradise Lost

The last eighteen months have been full of “culpas” (blame, guilt, faults, offenses, failures, accusations), wouldn’t you say? For most of us, the primary misfortune, for lack of a better word, was COVID, and all the political, socioeconomic, and social implications that are bound up in that single, life-altering word.

Forgive me for the hyberbolic nature of this analogy, but prior to COVID, our world here in the U.S. was a relative Garden of Eden. No masks or shots or lockdowns or mandates. No health screenings or temperature checks before entering a business. No weird looks when you sneezed in public or failed to pull out your Purell after shaking someone’s hand. No divisive, inflammatory rhetoric barking at us from the media or our social media feeds (okay, that’s a lie, but it sure seems like there was far less of it pre-COVID…).

You get the gist.

Suddenly, in March of 2020, just after my family and I celebrated my son’s first birthday in complete normalcy, it’s as if a shadow was cast over the whole world as we went into lockdown, and the very air we breathed felt different, heavy and dense with the worries and fears of millions. Businesses and churches closed, many of which never opened again. Rates of depression and suicidal ideations soared. Alcohol consumption and substance use increased. There were thousands of deaths. Thousands of funerals. Thousands of hurting, grieving human beings.

And yet…

And yet, there is, outside the Garden, bright glimpses of beauty, and the fresh-morning fragrance of blessings somehow abloom in the dusk of desolation. Though there is no, as there was not for Adam, a turning back of the clock, there is a way to move forward, and to do so with joy and gratitude, as well as newfound wisdom and compassion for one another.

If Adam and Eve had never eaten of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they would never have tasted death or endured the harsh consequences of sin, and the world would have been populated in the peaceful, painless manner God intended.

But, as is God’s way, the sin-stained mire of the Fall turned to clay inside His mighty hands. With it, He built the grace-paved bridge which leads straight to Himself, and shaped the glorious story of redemption that will soon conclude with the return of Christ to reclaim His kingdom … the ultimate knight in shining armor.

“Jesus Christ became Incarnate for one purpose, to make a way back to God that man might stand before Him as He was created to do, the friend and lover of God Himself.” — Oswald Chambers

COVID-19 has also, I believe, been used by God to create remarkable, if not chillingly poignant, things. Here are a few of the felix (fortunate, fruit-bearing, successful, propitious, favorable) things that I have observed in my own life since March of 2020:

I got off social media (I wrote a whole series on this, Part I of which you can find HERE).

I learned to be even more skeptical and critical of the media.

I learned that there are powerful people in high places that don’t care about you or me, but only in increasing their own wealth, power, and influence.

I learned that there are amazing people in low places whom God is using to proclaim truth, dispel myths, allay fears, and expose darkness.

I got more serious about my and my family’s health and education.

I began thanking God for the “little things” a whole lot more.

I began seeking out more genuine friendships and letting go of those that were not so genuine.

I got more comfortable with having unpopular opinions and priorities.

I began to read my Bible more and share it more often with others.

I began to appreciate the incredible community of people my husband and I have around us at the gym, people we truly do consider family and pray for every single day.

If I were God (that’s not something I recommend anyone ever say, by the way), I’m sure I would have prevented the Fall from ever happening. And I definitely would have stopped the virus – all viruses – as well as all violence and starvation and death.

But I’m not God, hallelujah. I am not all-knowing, nor am I perfect and righteous in all my ways.

I cannot call things into being, nor declare the end from the beginning. [2]

I can neither count the stars, nor the hairs on your head.[3]

I do not know when a sparrow falls or when a fig tree withers.[4]

I am just a woman, a woman who was born in sin and saved by grace.

By that grace, I can see that even amid the fury, discord, and unrest of this world, joy and hope abound, for that is the profound goodness of the Gospel; because of the cross of Christ, we know the grave is powerless, and we are urged to peer far beyond the blood-stained borders of this world and to perceive the faultless silhouette of the next.

There is a reason we love happy endings in novels, autobiographies, films, and news stories… We were hardwired to long for the ultimate happy ending that will make all others pale in comparison. We will see that the veritable epic that is humanity’s tortuous course through the centuries was a spectacular felix culpa, and moreover, that our lives are filled with fortunate outcomes that came from dreadful origins.

“Be like stars; instead of cursing the darkness, shine.” – Matshona Dhliwayo

[1] See Revelation 21

[2] Romans 4:17; Isaiah 46:10

[3] Psalm 147:4; Luke 12:7

[4] Matthew 10:29; Matthew 21:19