Man with no guile

I’m referring to St. Bartholomew, also known as Nathanael, one of the apostles. Let’s reprise his amusing story…

“Philip sought out Nathanael and told him, ‘We have found the one Moses spoke of in the law—the prophets too—Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth.’ Nathanael’s response to that was, ‘Can anything good come from Nazareth?’ and Philip replied, ‘Come, see for yourself.’

“When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he remarked: ‘This man is a real Israelite. There is no guile in him.’ ‘How do you know me?’ Nathanael asked him. ‘Before Philip called you,’ Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree.’

“‘Rabbi,’ said Nathanael, ‘you are the Son of God, you are the king of Israel.’ Jesus responded: ‘Do you believe just because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You will see much greater things than that.’” (Jn 1,45-50)

Every time I read this story, I never fail to get both amused and moved. The human touch is just so palpable you can feel it right from the start to the end.

Nathanael embodies the ordinary person who, in spite of warts and all, still has that basic, irreducible trait of exposing his heart, no matter how defective, to the truth. He does not run away nor hide from it.

He is truly a man with no guile, no pretensions, no need for covering. Except for the normal need for discretion and modesty, he is completely transparent. What you see is what you get.

More, he is willing and eager to know the truth, and to make the necessary changes and adjustments that such truth would require of him. He is humble enough to accept things as they are, never bending them to make the pieces fit his own ideas. Rather, the contrary.

That’s why you immediately feel good every time you meet such persons. They always exude such welcome and wholesome aura about themselves in spite of their imperfections. They contribute in making society more at peace and in harmony.

Children are such persons, though their being guileless is due to their innocence and lack of exposure to the world. When you see such quality in a person who is already exposed to the world, then you really feel good.

I consider this point most relevant these days, since this quality is getting very rare, even approaching the point of extinction. The other day, CNN reported that among the most hated expressions nowadays is the word “Absolutely.”

That’s because that term is now used “ad infinitum,” “ad nauseam,” even by people who are caught lying “in flagrante delicto,” that is, in the act. Everyone now seems to use that word, such that it has been strained to the limits, drained and made to bleed to death, emptied of its true meaning.

Especially in the media, in the exchanges of opinions, the truth has been warped and deformed into different shapes, stretched or shrunk depending on circumstances by people who have become unreliable experts in opinion-making.

They can say a lot of words, and still miss the truth—and the charity that always goes with truth. Christian standards put these two values inseparably together. Frankness without charity is never the truth, just as charity without the truth is never charity.

More than serving the truth, what many opinion-makers work for seems to be their own self-interest. They are more concerned about their being considered right by people than about getting to the truth, that is, getting to God, since in the end all truths stem from and lead to God.

Let’s remember and imitate St. Bartholomew in his simplicity of heart and sincerity. His story shows that before we look for the truth, it is God first, Truth himself, who looks for us.

Once we find it, let’s earnestly engage ourselves to it, never playing around with it to serve our self-interest, but rather conforming ourselves steadily to its requirements.

This is when we can see more things, just as our Lord said: “Blessed are your eyes because they see…. For amen I say to you, many prophets and just men have desired to see the things you see, and have not seen them…” (Mt 13,16-17)

Otherwise, we will get our just deserts. Let’s remember St. Paul’s warning: “Because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved, God therefore shall send them the operation of error, to believe lying.” (2 Thes 2,10)