25 May 2006

A reflection on a new page from "Gravity and Grace" by Joseph Sittler.

St. Augustine, at the beginning of his Confessions, makes a great and beautiful statement: "Thou has made us for thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in thee." Back of that statement lies a proposition which says that the human is created for transcendence. It is the Jewish and Christian belief that we are meant for a selfhood that is more than our own selves - that we are by nature created to envision more than we can accomplish, to long for that which is beyond our possibilities.

What a wonderful insight. When I look around today at so called "people of faith" I find that I am looking at many people who will not "long for that which is beyond our possibilities." Many times, we are seen as people who would rather step back rather than leap forward into lives that are not what they once were and yet they are still in the loving arms of our God. "Rest in thee" has come to mean that we are to stay away from the movement of time and science and the many ways that we continue to move through the changes of the day. It is so important for us to remember that our hearts can rest in God alone no matter what is going on around us. In fact, we can continue to press on for the peace and justice and mercy that may not be visible in the world around us because we know that it is a part of the promise. Too often we use the faith to secure what is or what was and we do not let ourselves step into the people we are able to become - the people we are not yet...but the people that continue to unfold in the image of God.

Connection: Fear not. We are a part of a blossoming new creation that is always available to us so that we can experience the peace that comes as we put our trust in who God calls us to be rather than what we feel safe becoming.

Use us as faithful instruments of your will, O God. Help us to look into that which we cannot see and to dare to walk into the light of your creation that continues to arrive new each day. Amen.