Reading: Mark 8:31-38
"For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it." Mark 8:35
Paradox offers the dominant, logical left brain a task that it cannot complete, and so it reluctantly relents and lets the right intuitive brain take a try at it. That is oversimplified, of course, but in essence, close enough. Our western educational system trains and rewards the left brain - logic, sequential thinking, causal thinking, standardized tests. The right brain deals in symbols and patterns and is the realm of imagination, and thus, of faith ("the conviction of things not seen" Hebrews 11:1). Jesus' parables and teachings are rife with paradox, which prods us out of our usual way of approaching reality. It reminds us that we cannot completely know God, that God is ultimately Mystery, no matter how clever we are, and that the ways of the world are not necessarily the ways of God.
God of the desert, God of the wanderer, teach us to live in the land where we do not know, confident and trusting in your steadfast love. Amen
TAKE THE FIRST STEP IN DOING AN ACT OF LOVE YOU HAVE PUT OFF FOR A LONG TIME.
No comments:
Post a Comment