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| If these dolls could talk, what stories would they tell? |
teach me your paths,
guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.
The secular mind, when it thinks of God at all, supposes God's ways are too mysterious for the mind of man. As Alexander Pope said,
Know then thyself, presume not God to scan;
The proper study of Mankind is Man.
Many rational philosophers have lost all interest in God, leaving the conversation open to irrationality. But God's ways are not necessarily irrational or inaccessible. The wisdom of the cross, of which Saint Paul speaks, is not nonsense; rather it is a deeper insight into reality through the mystery of the cross.
Can sorrow be comforting? Can enemies be forgiven? Can tragedy, shame or guilt be integrated into a harmonious understanding of one's life? Can death make life more beautiful and meaningful? Is death both ending and beginning? Is it true that the door to freedom is through obedience and that willfulness leads only to slavery? Only the mystery of the cross can answer such questions.
But first we should say a word about mystery. In modern parlance, mysteries should be solved. The mystery genre of TV shows, movies and novels lead to a reasonable, sometimes predictable, solution. Even horror films and novels often discover a solution. (I found the one Steven King novel I read very disappointing for that reason. His afterlife is just another dimension from which dead people pester living people! Horror, it seems to me, should leave us delightfully anxious about opening that closet door or venturing into the basement.)
But we seem to be cautiously entering a post-secular, post-scientific age when people want a mysterious edge to their experience of life. Young people fancy themselves Goth and dabble in the black arts, although Gothic architecture introduced brilliant, rapturous light into medieval churches. Romantic images of warriors, princesses and dragons populate both past and future fantasies. People openly speculate about ghosts. (One Veteran told me "There's an app for that!" It will detect ghosts within a few feet of your smartphone.) People swear they have been visited by angels and many attest to life-in-death experiences when they saw a brilliant light as they lay dying in a hospital.
Science, of course, has no answer for these speculative ideas. It plods on its weary way, predicting climate change while millions blithely ignore them. At one time scientists were the high priests of our culture; but, despite their astonishing and ongoing technological breakthroughs, people continue to believe that evolution is only a theory and smoking won't hurt my lungs and peach pits cure cancer. Perhaps they want their mystery back and that's why they cling to biblical fundamentalism, conspiracy theories and other nonsense. They want the thrill of unknown, uncontrollable forces lurking under the bed.
Our faith teaches us the mysterious wisdom of the cross. It is neither "blind faith" nor foolish naivete. Rather, the cross teaches us the ways of God. Taking up our crosses daily, as Jesus directs us, we learn to accept the things we cannot change, to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference. We stop asking "Why did this happen?" and learn to wait in silence for grace to comfort, heal and make sense of life.
God's wisdom -- a mysterious, hidden wisdom (I Cor 2:7) -- is both practical and visionary. It honors the immediate crisis without ignoring the long term consequences. We can discuss birth control, marriage and health care, confident that reasonable people of good will understand "natural law." Wisdom helps the stressed individual to care for herself even as she tends to the needs of those around her. It foresees ways for a nation to care for its poor, sick, disabled, aging and unborn without financial ruin. It navigates diplomatic relations with less powerful nations frankly and without arrogance.
God's wisdom is not given to the cowardly, lazy or stupid; it demands courage, willingness, commitment and surrender. It sometimes must reveal skeletons hidden in those dark closets, but it also promises light to a people who live in darkness.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.