The opening text will come from a book by Abraham Joshua Heschel (God in Search of Man - A Philosophy of Judaism). As you are able to see by the title, the language may be a bit dated and therefore, I will, when able, make the language inclusive.
It is not from experience but from our inability to experience what is given to our mind that certainty of the realness of God is derived…
Our certainty is the result of wonder and radical amazement, of awe before the mystery and meaning of the totality of life beyond our rational discerning. Faith is the response to the mystery, shot through with meaning; the response to a challenge which no one can for ever ignore… Faith is an act of (a person) who transcending (him/herself) responds to (God) who transcends the world.
It doesn’t seem right to say that “certainty is the result of wonder and radical amazement.” What about data…the facts…concrete reality!?! And yet, the parade of saints throughout the Hebrew and Christian scriptures is filled with the stories of people who were certain…even to the point of taking on amazing stand or entering amazing adventures. Abraham and Sarah did not venture off to the promised-land because they saw a scroll that was the deed to some property along the River Jordan. They did not become physical lovers at a very old age and barren because they were both tested and both now fertile. They were certain of what God was saying. They were moved by radical amazement. This is not a “dead reality” in our day. We too can step off into this day certain of the resurrected life that is available for us now. We can move deep within the meaning of this day as it is filled by the mystery of God eternally for us…always and forever.
Connection: What are we waiting for…!?! When you think about it, there is a powerful, mysterious, wonder-filled, and amazing statement of the possibilities available to us when we make the simple affirmation: This is the day that the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it.
Lord, with your amazing grace you grab hold of our lives and bring about great transformations within all that we do and all that we are. Encourage us to lift up our eyes and so that we may be filled with awe and in that awe awakened to new life. Amen.
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