Tom McGrath is in fine fettle but is still digging himself out of an email mountain. We will get back to the Blog-alogue, I hope and pray, but in the meantime… Regular readers will know how much I love the poetry of Mary Oliver. Here are a few lines from Mysteries, Yes:
Let me keep my distance, always, from those
who think they have the answers.
Let me keep company always with those who say
“Look!” and laugh in astonishment,
and bow their heads.
The gift of wonder is a pearl of great price.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Eric 05.27.09 at 11:56 am
On May 25 the commentary presented on the day’s readings on the Creighton University online ministry, talked about Christians who are sure that they know all the answers. The theology professor who wrote it said that certitude is a barrier to a humble faith in a God of surprises and new possibilities. We exchanged email. In her reply she said that faith is the opposite of certainly, not the opposite of doubt. Her view is that it is a humble community of self-emptying love that draws others to genuine faith.
Maybe the Spirit is inspiring you and her to present similar messages to drive home His/Her message to those of us who are slow to learn.
Michele 05.27.09 at 5:54 pm
Sometimes I wish I could be a sure as those who ‘know’ what it is to be Catholic, to be a believer, or know what the ‘right’ decision is….they give an aura of ‘being in the inner circle.’ Then almost immediately I remember the times I was certain about something and what resulted when I tried to make everyone else accept my certainty. I try to remember the mantra “I got it…I lost it…I got it…I lost it…” which is the way of the Israelites, the disciples, the Church through history.
Now I try to imagine whatever I believe as resting on open hands where the Spirit, prayer, the community, life will be able to transform it/recreate.
Paul 05.28.09 at 6:49 am
Eric,
If you consider yourself “slow to learn,” then I am the one sitting on a stool in the corner with the dunce cap perched precariously on top of my head.
We all take time to learn (and relearn) and come to terms with what the professor called the “God of surprises and new possibilities.” All I know is this: blind faith is usually also dumb faith and deaf faith and I’m not convinced that’s the best kind of faith. As one of the quotes in “Words of Widom” section of the blog has it, “Unshakable faith is faith that has been shaken.”
Paul
Paul 05.28.09 at 6:52 am
Michele,
I’m with you 100%. Love, love, love your final sentence and will steal it unashamedly for future use.
Because I am less spiritually evolved than you are, I am also more judgmental and I keep telling myself that those who behave as “real Catholics” from the “inner circle” are just repressing their doubts more radically than the rest of us!
Paul
Marg 05.29.09 at 5:32 am
Good Morning!
Although I have never achieved the “inner circle”, I have often marveled at those that I believe have. I don’t think doubt is the absence of faith. I think doubt is only the head trying to overcome the heart. If my head would just be still sometimes. . .! We don’t speak of doubts, us “outer circle” folks because we believe them to be unique to us. I just keep telling my head to shut up. Nobody on this planet is immune to doubt. I’d like to think about love of God more and let my heart speak up once in a while. There will always be questioning minds.
M.
Paul 06.01.09 at 3:12 pm
Marg,
Sorry it’s taken me so long to get back to you. I was traveling this weekend. I know exactly what you mean about telling your head to shut up. I do that all the time and I’m glad there’s someone else doing it too!
Paul