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 the mystery that evokes our religious concern, and it is the mystery where religious thinking must begin. The way of thinking about God in traditional speculation has been “via eminentiae,” a way of proceeding from the known to the unknown. Our starting point is not the known, the finite, the order, but the unknown within the known, the infinite with the finite, the mystery within the order.
All creative thinking comes out of an encounter with the unknown.
Mystery…the unknown…the infinite are not always that which pops up in conversations within the normal movements of the day. But then, I would have to say that as followers of Jesus, as people who are concerned with the ultimate meaning of life, as religious people, these may indeed be a part of all we do throughout the day. It is very often that religious people have looked at the working of a society and started asking ‘what if…?” That question already reveals someone who is beginning to step into the unknown and longing to make it more of the reality of our day. Just think of the communities of faith that started to envision a day when there would be no slavery and this was at and prior to the opening days of the United States. Looking into nothing…seeing something, hearing nothing at all and yet leaning to hear something new, is the beginning of a journey we tend to link quite often to faithful people with vision.
Connection: Trusting what we hear about how our God loves us…beyond what we can imagine or see completely, what does that bring into the everyday patterns and knowledge of this day? It may be good for us to prayerfully consider the importance of what is not yet.
Out of nothing, Lord God, you bring all things. Praise to you for the way the Holy Spirit continues to pull us into life that is not see or heard and yet we know that there is something more beckoning us to enter life. Give us courage to move and think beyond what is so evident. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment