In Jack London’s “The Law of Life,” an old man named Koskoosh has been abandoned by his tribe. Too old and too slow to keep up with his people’s seasonal migration, he has been left behind with only a handful of sticks to feed a dwindling fire. When the sticks are gone, he will either freeze or fall prey to a pack of encircling wolves. “He did not complain. It was the way of life, and it was just…It was the law of all flesh” (London, 102). This fatalistic and pessimistic worldview, where the value of human life is measured in terms of its strength and usefulness, is not so different from how many think and operate in the world today. The strong prey upon the weak. The mighty exploit the lowly. The rich devour the poor. We are told that this is just the way things are; it is the law of life. 

At first glance, St. Paul’s instructions to the Colossians about wives being subordinate to husbands and children obeying their parents might seem to uphold this ethos of domination, where the strong rule over the weak. But not so. Before giving his instructions for family life, Paul has already laid out an entirely different framework from that offered by the world, an ethos that is meant to shape the outlook and actions of every Christ follower: “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones…heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience…forgiving one another…And over all these put on love” (v.12-14). Christian life, both in the home and in the larger family of the church, is not meant to be an exercise in power, where husbands lord over wives and parents dominate their children. It certainly was not thus in the Holy Family! Rather, all are to be marked by love, “the bond of perfection.” Inspired by these virtues, every family, no matter how large or small, can become a holy family, where every member is known and valued, where peace and forgiveness dwell, and where love has become the new law of life. 

Reflection by parishioner Kathryn Wilmotte

London, J. (1992). The Collected Jack London (S.J. Kasdin, Ed.). Barnes & Noble Books.