I have often heard it said that there is no resurrection without crucifixion. I thought this meant we had to take the bad with the good. But that’s not right, not even close. Christ on the cross is “life giving.” It is a pouring out of unconditional love, for each of us and for humanity. He gave his life so we might have ours. A life redeemed, renewed and restored to the beauty of creation itself. Christ looked down from the cross and through the eyes of Christ crucified he said, “Forgive them Father, for they know not what they are doing.” Forgive them for what they have done and forgive them for the errors they made. Christ crucified looked horrible, seemed shameful and it appeared to be the end. It wasn’t, it was just the beginning, the beginning of new life, a life reunited and reunified with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Let this sink into your heart so it may foster the love, joy and peace the Lord gives us. God bless you.
Eric my friend RIP
Funny how things seem to pop up, forgotten moments which are now important. I remember back in 2002 I was having a particularly difficult time. My wife went back to Florida. I was in Pennsylvania working a job, she had enough of my craziness. She wished me well, said I would just have to go through what I was going through by myself; she couldn’t do it. I knew it and understood, I didn’t like it but I understood. Shortly after that, I remember one afternoon there was a bird flying through the work site which was on the Delaware River. I don’t know if it was a shore bird or what, I couldn’t tell at the time, I don’t remember much about it except when it tilted its belly to the sun, in the light of the sun shine, the light reflected off the bottom of its wing and in that nanosecond, I saw something, a glimpse of something really beautiful. It was years later, literally 10 years later, that I understood what I saw. It was because of Bishop Barron’s homily; he described what was objectively valuable and what was subjectively satisfying. I didn’t know I was having one of those objectively valuable experiences at the time, I certainly wouldn’t have phrased it that way but that’s what it was. There are those times when we see something in nature, have a realization given as a grace which changes our lives, when the event is incidental and the experience monumental.
Know you are on my prayer list. Your Brother in Christ.
I hope this letter finds you in good spirits.
This morning, I was looking back at the day in South Carolina while I was driving through the mountains watching the sun shine through the trees and the leaves were blowing and the shadows were dancing across the hood of my car. It was truly beautiful. Reminded me of the day on the Delaware River, that magic moment when the world became objectively beautiful. I know now what a valuable experience these moments hold for us. I can see in my mind’s eye the morning looking over the Atlantic Ocean when I realized that I’m the only one on the planet that’s seeing the sun glistening across the water the way it is right now, right here. It’ll never happen that way again, it’s only happened like that one time, this time. Now I realize in those moments, I’m part of that cosmic concert, sometimes I’m playing an instrument, sometimes I’m just listening to the orchestra. it’s all good. Blessings for all of us. Your friend in Christ
The Human Experience
In our world today there is a tension between science and the human experience. What is this clash and why is it there?
I suppose historically, here in the West, you could go back and say the potential tension has always existed. In Greek and then Roman times, we can look at their ideas and endeavors, what we find is intellectual curiosity deeply rooted in the human experience. Being a naturalist, a scientist, a historian, a philosopher or theologian, was one homogeneous approach to the observable world. Their world view gave us the scientific method, an approach which aimed to resolve, quantify, and understand a world without the technical expertise that we have today. Without microscopes and telescopes and other instruments the ancients saw what they could see. This led them to ask, what is it, what is it made of, what does it do and what is its final purpose? Fast forward to the Early Modern Period, we find peoples getting away from those Greek models and paradigms. The advancements in all the natural sciences such as metallurgy, chemistry, and the like, produced results far beyond the Greek’s and Roman’s original conclusions. Science had risen to a point which surpasses the theorized versions of the complexities of connections which many older civilizations considered real and possible.
We can broaden this idea, for a moment, and look at other contemporary paradigms. Let’s consider an institution which becomes more important than the individual. This is often described as “institutionalization.” The term highlights the prioritizing of the institution’s goals and their best interest above those of the individual. It also, refers to the process when a concept or a social role or a moral value within the organization becomes so powerful it over shadows the individual’s well-being and their rights. This is what happened to science. Science devolved into scientism.
So, the point being, we live in a society now which has taken science beyond the human experience. Here are two every day examples. Somewhere, somebody said, “I’m cold,” and somebody else said, “Well, how cold are you?” They thought about it for a moment and said, “I don’t know, I’m really cold.” Then someone else said, “Well let’s find out. We can figure out a way to measure how cold it is;” and so, we got Celsius, Fahrenheit and Kelvins. We also got a lot of technical terms describing thermal physical activities, heat equations and a myriad of interrelated connections. Now, we have all this information about being cold. We can measure the cold, we can explain it and we can demonstrate it. But remember, it all started with the human experience of being cold.
Next, let’s watch someone wandering into my kitchen and asking, “Why is that water boiling?” I respond by saying, “I put the water in the container, and I applied heat to it. Since the water was contained and the temperature started to rise the water molecules got agitated and started rubbing together. The more they rub together the more friction is created and the more heat I applied to it, the more the water reacts to all those stimuli. The water starts to boil. So, is that the answer to, why the water is boiling?” No, that’s not the answer!! The answer is, I’m making tea. It is the human experience we’ve taken out of science.
I understand this because science has gone far beyond the human experience. I can’t see the electrons circling around an atom. I can’t see them, and I can’t demonstrate what this might be like. But the lab scientists can. In the lab they can manipulate these electrons. They can go to the Super Collider and smash atoms together and see the reactions. They can measure the heat produced, the particles created, and watch the electrons knocked out of their orbit. Obviously, we have the atomic bomb to demonstrate what I’m talking about. In everyday terms, I can’t look at the stars and see infrared light. I can only see the optical range of human visual light. But telescopes can. Science has taken a step beyond the human experience, and in the scientist minds this step is somehow greater than the human experience. There’s a disconnect.
A deep seated disconnect which goes right to the point; what is our core reality? We are either a created creature or we are something else. All of us believers know we are created creatures. We don’t have to go beyond the human experience to understand this fundamental truth. We can appreciate scientific endeavors, the discoveries and benefits of science within the human experience. Science is compatible and complementary with philosophy and theology. Science is a rational and logical discipline in pursuit of finite answers. Theology is a discipline which is also logical and rational which is in pursuit of answers which lay beyond the definitive. Science is a quest which goes deeper and deeper into the natural world and so does theology. Science tells us that everything which can be known will be known. Theology tells us that everything which can be known is already known, and paradoxically theology tells us the mystery of faith is inexhaustible. Here, science follows right along with theology in pursuit of an ever-expanding ceaseless query of questions after questions. Science wants to tell us there are solutions to these questions which have sound mathematical proofs. Theology tells us there are no solutions to our questioning. There are, however, incremental steps along the trajectory which points to the undeniable truth. Ours is a journey along this trajectory. We are not looking for definitive answers in an infinite universe, nor are we trying to encapsulate the truth. However, if we choose our words carefully, they can point towards the truth. Science gives us an ever-changing view of the truth. Every time scientists discover a new instrument for measuring and, every time the perspective is reformulated, the results are different. This is a never-ending tread mill of data leading to information, and information leading to knowledge. Theology steps off this tread mill and into a linear projection. Beginning here and now, each of us will journey from knowledge to wisdom, self-awareness, self-realization, consciousness, and the absolute God.
Affirmation of Faith
Oh Lord, You made me an element in Your creation. You designed me and created me so I might absorb, radiate and reflect the light, the energy, and goodness of Your Graces. Open my heart so I may absorb all You are giving. Give me the strength and courage to radiate everything I have been given. And, on those days when I’m not up to the task of being Your servant, at least, let me reflect all that You are.