I had a dream the other night. I was in the car and Calvin was there. My consciousness was floating above my head in a unified field of white-yellow shimmering light. The thought in the dream that presented itself was the idea that our calling is to come to peace with seemingly opposite ideas so that they may be unified and not in conflict.
I remember once my mom in speaking about the Bible mentioned how one could find everything in there and its opposite. I am not so sure about everything — some things are pretty clear-cut, but she made a good point. There are many opposites or seemingly contrary ideas, which of course makes it important to examine context and not simply pull a verse out and call it randomly ultimate truth because it aligns with our personal cause. My friend’s mother once spoke about the Bible being the living bible. I like this thought and idea. I have had the experience where a word or a phrase literally comes to life. I know what she means. I do think there is a place and a mystery for something that resonates with our own personal story that may not do so with our neighbor in that moment in time.
All that to say, it is not difficult to thoughtfully consider perhaps Jesus' words to Martha — “You are anxious and troubled about many things” (Luke 10:41) — and understand that busy Martha is missing the subtleties in life, the sweet message and presence of Christ, because she is too busy doing, to notice. Too preoccupied, too caught up. For the naturally slothful person Christ might admonish them on the contrary to get up and do, go help their neighbor — “Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest” (Proverbs 6:6-8). So opposing ideas can both be right and good and grounded in truth. This idea seems to hold a key that gets easily misplaced when trying to unlock the mysteries of those others, or ideas that somehow bother us, or we just can't quite accept as right.
I had an observation the other day while scrolling through Facebook. I pretty much know what to expect from certain people, their political perspectives, or areas of grievance. The idea that came to mind was how people tend to project into the world and feel passionate (and often very righteous) about certain subjects. They want to change these certain aspects of the world. It seemed the more I examined this, the more it seemed to make sense that the very thing they are angry about in the world and trying to change, seems to tie into an aspect of their own being that perhaps is not acting in accordance with a certain moral law, or at peace within, and so the MO is to fix it — not within their own being, but rather by fighting the world.
A priest the other day preached on the passage where Jesus referred to the Syrophoenecian woman as a dog (“It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs” — Mark 7:27). She was in an uproar about this. She even said something to the effect of perhaps Jesus meriting a proverbial slap from the Holy Spirit!! To say that I was shocked was an understatement. Her understanding is: here is a poor woman, and this is how Christ treats her. But the very fact that he uses the words he uses are the exact tool from which she can then show her perfect humility. She does not buck in self-righteousness, but rather persists and in a certain way agrees with Jesus' description. He follows by recognizing the state of her heart and heals her. This priest was offended. She was not OK with this — and yet there is such a powerful and beautiful way to understand this passage. Being caught up in her modern day human understanding of right and wrong, there was no way that reference to a woman as a dog was OK — ever. And yet, if we look at the God-incarnate, sinless God-man and worship he who is the savior of the world, don't we all fall short of that kind of glory? If he is our Master it seems that men, women and children are all in some respect dogs in comparison to the One who is sinless. Masters in fact love their dogs but can recognize a proper order and relationship.
Apparently there is an aspect in Eastern religions where young devotees are given riddles to sit with. They are riddles that bother the mind in the sense that they are paradoxical, and yet there is a place with the right amount of work in wrestling with these riddles where the mind releases the struggle and is enabled to accept the paradox. Or from a Christian perspective, perhaps the Holy Spirit moves the spiritual sludge into clean flowing water, the crooked is made straight. It seems there are two ways to approach those things that prick us, make our stomachs tighten, and our minds begin to whirl. One is to lash out at the world and try to move a mountain and the other maybe to go deep inside and gaze into a reflection that is not the one we want to see — to call on a Savior to illumine the way out, and wait for the Holy Spirit to move the molehill and continue in the dance of life.
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