Potent Pause 8/27

“When we speak about a movement from slavery to freedom, from scarcity to possession, and from exploitation to justice, we should not think and act as if freedom, possession, and justice are only on one end of the polarities. In fact, in Egypt there existed freedom, possessions, and justice. That is why at times the Hebrews wanted to return to Egypt, and that too is the reason why a desire for full freedom, possession, and justice could grow. You can only desire what you already know or have in some measure.

This, therefore, also means that the search for God is a search for One whom we have already met, and who has already shown us mercy and love. The desire for God makes us aware that we already know God.” 

– Henri Nouwen, !Gracias!

paradox (a sermon by sharlene on july 27, 2008)

For the last month or so, the people of Revolution have been exploring the NT book of Romans, known by many Christians across the world as one of the greatest summaries of Christian belief, via the words of Paul in the first century. The subject matter has been extensive, often deep sometimes difficult, covering such topics as wrongdoing and grace, faith, holiness, sanctification, suffering, evil…subjects you really never want to talk about at a dinner party. But material that really pursues the heart of spiritual understanding. Today, the conclusion of Tour de Romans 2008 (if you will), we will be fleshing out some practical advice that Paul gave the Church which probably is just as controversial now as it was thousands of years ago.

There is this little town in Colorado, about 100 miles from Grand Junction on the western side of the state. Its population is less than 300. Crime is higher than the US average. Median home price is over $200,000. There is the obligatory post office and convenience store of some sort but not much commerce. The town goes by Paradox. In the county that Paradox resides, there are over 500 mines, including but certainly not limited to (at one point at least) uranium mining. Cemeteries number in double digits and the overall feel from the description is deserted and dusty. Now, never having been to Paradox, CO (and if anyone out here has been, feel free to chime in now), I cannot say for certain the quality of the community. However, to me, it feels like a place where you would go but….maybe…never return from. I don’t know – perhaps a plot location from a Stephen King novel. Can’t you imagine the headlines “A delicious desert (dessert if you will) of yellow cake in Paradox”? It makes me wonder if we all are stuck in Paradoxes – a place where we go but never come back from.

Paradoxes are everywhere. By definition a paradox is either a seemingly contradictory statement that may nonetheless be true or an assertion that is essentially self-contradicting or a statement contrary to received opinion. There are logical paradoxes, mathematical paradoxes, chemical/physical and philosophical paradoxes, as well as a little tongue cheek like the buttered cat paradox that combines two popular adages: “A cat will always land on its feet” and “buttered toast always lands butter side down”. The question is what would happen if one attached a piece of buttered toast (butter side up) to the back of a cat and then dropped the cat from a large height. Some argue it would produce an anti-gravity effect.

But that is not the kind of paradox we are going to discuss this morning, unless someone happened to bring a cat and a buttered piece of toast. Like I said, paradoxes are everywhere. Normally we are blind to most of life’s paradoxes – We drive on parkways, park on driveways, pages are left intentionally blank in documents when they are actually not devoid of print. You always find something in the last place you look, a very frustrating reality for the organizationally-challenged people in the world (not unlike myself). We are quite proud of our humility and if there is one thing we can’t stand, it is someone else’s intolerance. We go to war for peace. You press the start button to shut down the computer and we say things such as “Act naturally” or “Seriously, you need to lighten up!” Some of you may be familiar with the popular prose –“The paradox of our time” by Dr. Bob Moorehead which laments the reality that we have bigger houses but smaller families, How we spend more money but have less and buy more things without a counterpart of enjoyment for those things. Moorehead writes, “We have added years to life but not life to years. Now we have more kinds of food but less nutrition than ever. And although we have been to the moon and back and maybe one day to mars, we sure have a difficult time crossing the street and meeting our new neighbors. Paradoxes.

Today’s passage from the book of Romans, chapter 12, could be read, perhaps, as the Great Paradox against human nature. The default in our behavior, if left unchecked and unassisted, is the logic of retribution. Someone cuts you off on the freeway and our instinctual response is probably a curse word, a hand gesture, or, if to the extreme, a punishment that fits the crime [for instance tail-gating or throwing projectile items at other vehicles with the intention of causing damage.] Oddly enough, some therapists in the US see road rage as a medical condition.

Nowhere in Romans 12 do we read “throw a wrench at the car that prevents you from merging onto I35”. Instead, the spiritual suggestion is even more interesting than the “eye for eye” tendency. Some would say more dangerous, as well. The paradox of the road: Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Okay So that means take that deep breath, bite your tongue and relax the tension in your fingers that is begging for you to give the single-finger salute. Anyone else find this difficult when the former reaction seems to be more satisfying?

Some say peaceableness, the antithesis of wrench throwing, is impractical. If the ends you are pursuing are complemented with power, greed, profit and personal empire-building, then these paradoxical perspectives will serve no good function. They tell us to honor one another above ourselves and our perceived conception of need. They suggest living peacefully with everyone, if left to our doing.

The Christian sacred text, along with many other religious writings, provides ample examples in the paradoxical life. Proverbs 24:17 says, Do not rejoice when your enemy falls. And do not let your heart be glad when he or she stumbles. In that same breath, Solomon reminds us “Do not say, “I’ll treat him as he treated me. I’ll pay him back for what he has done to me.” But we really want to throw that wrench. We want others to know, intimately, what they did to us that resulted in such pain, frustration and setback. It’s because of that, paradoxes are so fertile in our world. Psalm 37 says “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for God; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret – it leads only to evil.” We know Jesus lived as a paradox. Of course he did. Sometimes I wonder if Jesus is monitoring our lives, affectionately shaking his head at our somewhat pitiful, albeit honest, attempts to model his behavior. He gave no sharp answers to sharp words. When he was in agony, nothing angry came from his lips. What a challenge – what a paradox. Yet it is true we become that which we practice. If we are merciful to others, mercy finds its way to our lives. If we give grace to each other, grace exponentially grows in our times of need.  When all we see are opportunities for revenge, we will find nothing but harms against us to fulfill that desire.

So what celebrities are practicing this radical paradox? Which of the cool kids are denying their retribution reactions and employing the Good for Evil Theory? Does it have to be promoted on Oprah or endorsed by Bono? Or can we feel compelled by these inverted philosophies because of a pursuit for a higher ideal of ourselves?

Embedded in the Romans passage is Paul’s reason for the paradoxical commitment: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – God’s good, pleasing and perfect will.”  But don’t we wonder occasionally if God’s will is the perfect manifestation of our life and thus a reason to reject conformity and embrace transformation? Especially when the image of God has been wrongly distorted for the nefarious ends of misguided spirituality countless times over. How many of you can think of examples where you have wanted anything but that which is demonstrated as the will of God?  We are certainly not naïve to this reality. I mean, here is a figure that tells you when your right cheek is battered, suggest similar treatment to the left. Someone wants your shirt? I bet your jacket would look nice on them, as well. Give favor not only to those who laugh at your jokes, praise your talents or make you feel welcomed but extend the best of you to those who treat you the worst. For God makes the sun shine on everyone equally, righteous or unrighteous and the truth of the matter is, sometimes we don’t know which category we fall into.

Wendell Berry writes, “Peaceableness is not passive. It is the ability to act to resolve conflict without violence. If it is not a practical and practicable method, it is nothing. As a practicable method, it reduces helplessness. In the face of conflict, the peaceable person may find several solutions, the violent person only one.” That is what Jesus was saying when he volunteered your left cheek for a slapping. Along the way, and much more frequently than we would like, we are faced with individuals that repay evil with our good and hated for our love. Isn’t it interesting how quickly we change our reasoning to “That person doesn’t deserve my friendliness!” or “I knew I was the bigger person in that situation!” But Romans solves that predicament for us immediately “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment.” That really frees up the opportunity for us to practice the Galatians promise which says, “let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not”

I must confess, often I feel weary and I am surprised I haven’t fainted up here yet. Yet I am attracted to the paradoxical life, unabashedly and unswervingly. So what can we do to live out in paradoxical ways sincere love and the harmony between one another that is exemplified in Romans 12? Thomas Merton writes “To love another as a person we must begin by granting her her own autonomy and identity as a person. We have to love her for what she is in herself, and not for what she is to us. We have to love her for her own good, not for the good we get out of her.” This love comes from awareness – the truth of what we actually see and not the memory of what we want to see. There is a great thought experiment by Anthony de Mello that asks us to take seriously the task of seeing. Identify something or someone you dislike and see your prejudice in that act. Same can be done with that which we cling to – an idea, a person, an event – and recognize the suffering, futility, the unfreedom of clinging. Instead look lovingly at human faces and behavior and watch the darkness dispel in your eyes and then you will know what love is, at last.

This sight, this awareness, this transformation, is a paradoxical new vision from the margins – a place not dominated by the majority or the loudest voices in pursuit of wealth and power. It is a place where the people can watch, listen and collectively resist the urge to throw wrenches and repay evil with evil. Jesus has always operated from these margins. His paradoxes have always encouraged that famous Tao parable to our mentality -  to twist and get whole, bend and get straight, be empty and get filled, be worn and get renewed, have little: get much, have much: get baffled – a life of paradoxes.

Potent Pause 7/9

Peace

Thomas Merton

Perhaps peace is not, after all, something you work for, or ‘fight for.’ It is indeed ‘fighting for peace’ that starts all the wars. Peace is something you have or do not have. If you are yourself at peace, then there is at least some peace in the world. Then share your peace with everyone, and everyone will be at peace.

Source: Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander