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Word without endTuesday, March 8, 2011
Mark 12:13 On the other hand, how easily I am trapped by my own words. When I say, "I love my dog," I might not mean that she and I have deep meaningful conversations, or even that I would die for her. The Pharisees weren't worried about their own words; they wanted to catch Jesus in his. I know that feeling. I'll catch you if I can. If I let myself I can get pretty good at that. And ... what then? I might need to be right to feel good, I guess. But my feelings are shallow and short-lived. I have to be right over and over. Being right is not enough. So ...what then? Jesus did not leave the Pharisees hanging. He answered a better question than the one they asked, and in doing so allowed momentary entry into God's world, where their words and logic only got in the way. Tasting and seeing a bit of God's point of view can be very liberating. In The Naked Now, Richard Rohr writes, "Since you have gained even momentary access" to the mystery of God, then "your reason will have a new freedom and clarity, because it is less needy - it does not need to always be right, self-sufficient, or convinced it possesses the whole picture" (p. 118). When Jesus opens the door to that kind of thought-life, I want to walk right in. You give so lavishly to me, Lord, and your generosity shall endure forever. Let me open my mind and arms and eyes, and receive receive receive. |
Sometimes we expect our words to change things. Blessings, curses, liturgies and rituals represent a community's expectation that words break through what IS to what CAN BE.