Contemplate the Mystery

2/7/2013

The mysteries of the faith are degraded if they are made into an object of affirmation and negation, when in reality they should be an object of contemplation.

--Simone Weil

"Mystery isn't something that is gradually evaporating. It grows along with knowledge."

--Flannery O'Connor

I have remembered these lines dozens of times over the years. With them came my first experiences of contemplation. By chewing on these quotes I came to appreciate how the contemplative stance is an active, dynamic way of seeing.

To affirm or negate is to stand in judgment–to come to a conclusion. To contemplate is to kneel in openness and silence before that which cannot be understood conceptually. Like an iceberg, the vast majority of God's ways are largely hidden from our perception. "Watching and waiting" without comprehending is our daily reality in relation to God. It doesn't seem too strong to say that in regards to the mystery we are either contemplatives or presumptuous fools.

We are what we eat and we become like that to which we give our attention. So it is with contemplation. It is only by maintaining a loving gaze on the Great Mystery rather than merely affirming some conceptual truth and moving on with our business, that we grow into the vastness of God.

4 Comments

Armin

2/24/2013 06:57:08 am

How do you determine for yourself whether to actively seek conclusive answers or to more passively rest in contemplation? I see value in both, but they require different energy. Does this not require a judgement on your part to size up the odds of successful conclusion.

For example, in considering the models of Christ's atonement, there is value in contemplation on each, but even more value in coming to to a correct conclusion. Knowing God more fully and experiencing His love for us more fully is at stake.

David

2/24/2013 09:02:31 am

First of all, thanks for engaging in conversation. I hope to use this site for collaborative exploration of the many questions brought up by our life in Christ. Also, I'm glad you asked these questions, because I wasn't asking them. And that's what saves me from attention blindness.

As for how I determine when I need to come to a conclusion, my approach is to keep asking the question until the light dawns. I wait for revelation. I know that the sacred texts and tradition are "revelation," and so there are answers already in existence, but many of them are unsatisfactory or problematic in one way or another, so I end up asking the question again in a different way.

Another issue is when conclusions don't cause transformation. Then I figure I don't really have an answer, I haven't experienced the truth that sets me free. So I keep contemplating the mysteries of the faith in the hope that the spirit of God will change me from the inside out.

Just to be clear, how I should live from day to day is not that complicated. I know what I ought to do and I do that to the best of my ability. In effect, I'm even contemplating my ordinary interactions in light of my blindness. I do them as best as I can, but my best is extremely limited and so I do it knowing this and expecting my lived life to be revelation of who I am in God and what God is doing in me.

I don't see that I have to judge the legitimacy of these revelations, nor do I feel that I have to come to a conclusion about the mysteries of my life in Christ. Every conclusion is provisional upon further revelation. So I live in the question and feel that it keeps me close to the light. When I come to conclusions, on the other hand, I feel that I move a step away from the question which is itself what keeps me in proximity to God. It's as if my questions are my relationship to an unfathomable God. And as in John 15, I believe that abiding in the mystery is what leads to fruit.

As for the differing atonement models, I was pleased to discover rather late in life that there were several of them. I had been stuck with just one explanation which has become increasingly problematic as I have come to understand and appreciate the legitimacy of the postmodern critique of modern epistemology.

Each atonement narrative feels like a different facet to the diamond of God's sacrificial love. It seems to me that all metaphors reveal and conceal the unspeakable truth, they exist to contemplated. And since we become like that to which we give our attention, the transformation comes from the contemplation. If I come to a conclusion, I feel that I stop looking into the face of God.

Of course I say all this with an open hand, expecting it to be incomplete and hoping in the ongoing conversation to keep me looking...

2/27/2013 01:08:47 am

Thanks for your clear and thoughtful response. While always deep and sincere, "clear" is not always my description for your writings. Of course, I can be an 8th grader among grad students.

I agree that the mystery of God is without limits. One revelation prepares me better to receive the next one, and so on. But, there is always more mystery begging to be joyfully contemplated. Revelation can come to me from reading the heavies from my chosen tradition. This revelation sinks in better in the midst of prayerful contemplation of the subject.

What you describe appears to be a pursuit of life in Christ without much trust in a church, a movement, a tradition, a school of thought, etc. to guide you into the deeper thruths. Is it fair to say you have little hope of finding revelation in these traditional paths? If true, are you at peace with this or do you wish there was a trust worthy well to draw upon?

p.s. Posting on forums is not common for me. You and I have much history of dialogue, but I post so as not to be too insider-ish. Good or bad approach?

2/27/2013 12:16:34 pm

Yes, thanks for postng here, I want this to be a place for conversation. So you're helping create my dream.

Responding to something particular like your questions really helps me think (and write) more clearly. And here you have another good question. And my answer is no, I do expect and have always found revelation in all the Christian traditions or streams, as they are sometimes called. I just find the act of coming to a conclusions problematic.

Becaue of this conversation and all the meditating I've been doing on related subjects, I've been doing a lot of writing. Here's something I wrote this morning about the problem of knowledge. You know, it's one thing to know about love and another thing to actually love. So it is with theology, the point isn't to know, but to love God.

Knowledge vs. Wonder

What do we do with the many different interpretations of scripture?
The answer to this dilemma is recognizing the temptation inherent in both interpretation and tradition. Which is the arrogance of having the right answer. Which results in the end of humble, childlike receptivity. The end of learning, of revelation, of relationship.

The alternative?

As mentioned, begin by recognizing the temptation. Then recognize the mystery at the core of everything from the quark to the incarnation to the experience of love. Whatever form your awe and wonder take after such contemplation is bound to be at least mostly divine inspiration.

I guess I'm saying that scripture and tradition are not ends in themselves, but are meant to point at the creative mystery that is God. And there are many "Doctors of the Church" who speak of encountering God directly which sets everything right. The Biblical sense of knowing which is very intimate and leads to compassion and right action. I see contemplation as opening to this sort of contact where it is no longer I who live but Christ. Whatever that means... LIke all this stuff it can only be experienced, received, a gift given to those who desire it and open up to it. It's all about desiring not knowing.

I seem to be going on and on, so I'll stop for now.

Blessings

Contemplate the Mystery

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David Norling

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