In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!
At meals and
during matins we have meditative readings. Over the past several years a number
of these readings have been drawn from the writings of Richard Rohr, a
Franciscan who founded the Center for Action and Contemplation in New Mexico. He writes on a wide range of
topics, yet he frequently returns to his favorite theme: the pitfalls of
dualistic thinking. We can easily engage in dualistic thinking without
realizing it. I was brought up to think that way. Things are right or wrong,
good or bad, safe or dangerous, acceptable or unacceptable. People are with us
or against us, its us or them, friend or foe. Well you get the idea. This is a
world-wide phenomenon which is brought home to us daily in the news. Wars,
social unrest, violence, and intolerance abound: the products of dualistic
thinking. The pedigree is ancient. However, our computer age has reinforced this
tendency. The computer is the paragon of dualistic thinking. Whether or not one
wants to ascribe thinking to a computer, the way it operates is by making
millions of choices between two possibilities. It must choose and only one is
right, the other wrong.
So, when St
Paul writes to Timothy and tells him that “everything created by God is good,
nothing is to be rejected,” [1 Tim 4:4] one might interpret this as an early
attempt to break out of the dualistic paradigm. Paul was warning against people
spreading an interpretation of the Gospel at variance with his; for example, that
marriage and some foods were bad.
Even John the
Baptist’s call to repent is for everyone. Sure, he gives the Pharisees and
Sadducees a hard time, but he still baptizes them and warns them of the coming
of the one who will baptize with the holy spirit and fire [Mt 3:11]. Sometimes
it takes passion to break the spell of indifference. Isn’t that what the
prophet Malachi is saying when he calls on people to prepare for the coming of
the Lord? “Who will endure the day of his coming? ... Who can stand when he
appears? For he is like the refiner’s fire.” [Mal 3:2] Whenever I hear Malachi’s
text I think of the famous aria from Handel’s Messiah: “For he is like a
refiner’s fire.” There’s more to Messiah than the Halleluiah chorus!
The unfortunate
reality is most people stand pat and pay no attention to this call for
repentance; a call to rethink the way we treat each other and the way we treat
the earth. What a wonderful coincidence that the Feast of Theophany comes at
the beginning of the New Year. This is the time for New Year’s resolutions.
It’s not a time for recriminations against ourselves or others about what may
have been done in the past. It’s a new beginning. Let’s take advantage of it.
Where to start?
Start with
Genesis where we are told that everything is good in God’s creation [Gen 1:13].
If we now notice that we often act as if much in God’s creation is expendable,
this is our new opportunity to turn that behavior around. So, what can we do in
our little corner of God’s earth to make a difference? We can be welcoming to
all who come our way, longtime friends and strangers to befriend. We can
remember to do our part in recycling and caring for the earth, our one and only
home. We can try to take in other peoples’ points of view as opportunities to
expand our vision and grow in understanding rather than push those ideas away
as if they were threats to our very existence. Notice, much of what is involved
here is a change in thinking and a change of heart. It’s not an impossible
task. It doesn’t require an academic degree, heavy lifting or a new workout
regime. It simply requires us to remember that God is love, God created us and
all that is around us in love and asks us to receive it in love and to respond
to it lovingly. When the refiner’s fire clears away all the debris that has
covered over God’s love in our hearts, we have our new opportunity to nurture
and care for God’s precious gift. Then God’s glory will truly be revealed to
all.
Glory be to Jesus Christ!
