My disclaimer from the first part of this series stands. Please see God's Vision of Love I for the context of these talks. They flow into one another and draw on the previous material, so it is important to read them in succession for the full context.
Also, I have little time right now, so I'm only posting the bulleted version of the talk, rather than the more filled-in style of the first lecture. Hopefully I'll have time to come back to it at another date.
"Called to Be Holy"
The Invitation
o As we have pointed out, Christ is the key to man coming to know his true value and dignity. As we read last week from Gaudiem et Spes (Joy and Hope), Jesus “reveals man to himself.” Only in the one whose image we have been fashioned will we come to really understand our own selves!
o Because of this goodness that constitutes us, we are given a very specific invitation. As we said last week, God desires an intimate relationship with us (he breathed life into man).
o By virtue of our Creator and our human nature, which is essentially good, though damaged by sin, we are invited to share in a new life, a life with God, a life in the Spirit, a life in Christ.
The Gift
o We know that God has “given” us life. But he has also given us everything else. The world has been created for man (remember in Genesis when God brings every creature before man to be named? And then later in Genesis God tells man to have dominion over all the created world). This is amazing!
o Not only has God given us the world and ourselves, but he’s given us himself. So we have everything by his generous goodness.
o We have to realize the beauty of this gift. God gives freely. As we said last week, he has no need of us as we do him. He did not create because he wanted little servants to fan him! He created in love.
o This is a kind of love we must take our whole lives to learn. It is the love that constitutes the Theology of the Body! The love that gave us our original dignity. The love that fashioned us in the likeness of the one, true and perfect Lover.
o The gift of our existence is free, even as this love is free. If what is given is free as it is given, it will remain free.
What is this Freedom?
o Our culture will tell us that “freedom” is one of two things – either it is a freedom from something (as in, you are free to skip work because you feel like it) or a freedom of choice (as in, you are not required to do anything. You have the choice to be here this morning or not to be here next week, essentially.
o It is not that these “ideas” or “senses” of freedom are not accurate to some extent, but that they are inadequate, not enough, not the whole truth. They are cheaper versions of what freedom is, as given by God.
o Much like our misunderstanding of the truth of love, the truth of our sexuality, etc… our idea of what freedom is has been sold short because we have not come to know it in light of the love of our Creator.
o Freedom is therefore not a freedom from, but a freedom for. This is what is revealed to us by God, that he exists totally and wholly for an other – that is the Trinitarian divine life! Father, Son and Spirit, all fully and freely giving themselves to one another, completely and eternally.
Gift and Freedom
o Consider this: if you give a gift to someone at Christmas, typically you give it to him or her totally. Most of the time they understand that you mean it to be theirs. They do not have to consult you on whether or not they can wear the sweater or ride the bike, etc..
o Likewise, if you give them something that comes from the heart – perhaps you knew they were hoping to get a certain set of dvds, or you knit them a scarf, etc… - the gift retains some of the giver within it. For example, my friend Matthew gave me and our other close friends mugs for Christmas one year – now we cannot drink our coffee without thinking of him.
o So God gives ourselves, fully and freely. We have free will, and can accept or reject all of his goodness. Yet, we are so personally formed by Him, that we can say what remains in the gift of the giver is very good, the image and likeness of God.
The Response to the Invitation
o So understanding that we are so good, as we learned last week about the original states of human nature, and also knowing that Christ has come to offer us something even greater, this new life in him, and understanding that we are given everything as a free and total gift…we come to the point where we decide how to answer that invitation
o What is amazing is that the Theology of the Body teaches us that since this gift of freedom for another is so inscribed in the very nature of man, it is expressed in his body in a very specific way.
o This is where John Paul II teaches about a “language of the body.” Recall last week when we said that we are embodied souls, and that our internal and external selves are intrinsically connected and cannot be separated? We also said that we then expressed what was taking place internally specifically through the body – our facial expressions, our words, our actions.
o So when the Pope speaks of a language, he means that our intentions, desires, hopes, etc… are expressed through our body, and in the context of our sexuality, our freedom and our love are also expressed.
o Two main points are thus: to live in freedom for the other IN the body, and to speak in TRUTH in the body.
o What takes place in the intimacy of the unity of a man and woman in sexual union or conjugal union is a communion and a communication. Each speaks to the other, by their bodies. The trust that must be present. The openness. The faith in the other person to be acting in love and truth. The genuine love that exists between them, not only in an appreciation for the others’ body (which is good) but for the other as a whole, for his or her person – this all communicates an authentic gift. It communicates that “I give myself to you”.
o The opposite of this gift of self in freedom and authentic love would be what we sadly see promoted all over our culture today – lying with the body. There are so many ways that men and women communicate that does not include the whole person, but reduces the other to an object of pleasure or to only certain aspects of the person that are appealing. Whether a certain aspect of the body or an intellect or humor, we still often refuse to see others as integrated wholes. Therefore, when we give ourselves to them, we often withhold something. We often do not understand ourselves as wholes either. And we often expect that to be alright. The worst is when the communication of a lie is mutually agreed upon. Both parties are ok with this usury mentality. Whether it is too much work or commitment to know the other more fully, or whether they are not free to really be giving themselves totally in such an act, or whether it is selfishness that is driving them to keep back parts of themselves from the other, couples very often will not communicate in freedom and truth.
Once again, to close with the Quote from Guadiem et Spes -
“The truth is that only in the mystery of the incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light. For Adam, the first man, was a figure of Him Who was to come, namely Christ the Lord. Christ, the final Adam, by the revelation of the mystery of the Father and His love, fully reveals man to man himself and makes his supreme calling clear. It is not surprising, then, that in Him all the aforementioned truths find their root and attain their crown.” – G et S, 22
If you have any questions/comments, please let me know. Thanks!
Showing posts with label freedom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label freedom. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Most Holy Spirit, Enflame Us
I want to be where the light is.
"Behind and before you encircle me and rest your hand upon me. Such knowledge is beyond me, far too lofty for me to reach. Where can I hide from your spirit? From your presence, where can I flee? If I ascend to the heavens, you are there; if I lie down in Sheol, you are there too. If I fly with the wings of dawn and alight beyond the sea, Even there your hand will guide me, your right hand hold me fast. If I say, "Surely darkness shall hide me, and night shall be my light" -- Darkness is not dark for you, and night shines as the day. Darkness and light are but one." Psalm 139:5-12
"What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." Jn 1:3-5
"I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!" Lk 12:49
There are perhaps too many things to say about love. About zeal. About passion. About what the truth should mean to us and for us. There are so many aspects of what it means to be consumed by the Holy Fire.
Saints upon saints have found all that they need to lay down their very lives for the sake of Christ the King within the sweetness of the Holy Spirit's intoxication. All the courage and zeal that could be found within a heart are necessarily enflamed when the soul seeks to be so filled and so consumed with Him.
There should always be a two-fold aspect to this burning, similar to what we hear about in the story of the widow with seven sons who all die rather than forsake their faith. It is about humility and purgation, and then it is about faith and trust. This is the process of a life entrusted to Our Lord in the Spirit, and especially if we are also dedicated and consecrated to his holy Mother, Mary. She who had no sin and who was the most humble was able to live in the greatest faith and deepest trust any human has ever known. She is our perfect model, for she is the most perfect imitator of her Son, and she is truly Spouse of the Spirit. Daughter, Spouse and Mother of God! Gifts completely unasked for, unmerited, simply given and accepted and loved and cared for and cherished in this pure Virgin's Heart.
Sorry, getting on a bit of a tangent (which is nearly unavoidable for me when I think about Our Lady), but back to the consuming fire! I am reading through the preparation for Consecration to Mary by St. Louis de Montfort, and yesterday's reflection spoke of the willingness to see ourselves as dust. Do we really want to know how sinful we are? Could we even handle it? I often fear I can't. If you love someone you want to make them happy, and to know that you are constantly failing to do this - it's a little disheartening. But only when it is conceived in that fashion. The TRUTH is that we are loved, infinitely, undeservingly, unconditionally, passionately, powerfully, purely, freely, consistently, faithfully, enduringly, perfectly. Yes, we will always fall short of this love. Yes, we will continue to sin. No, that will never separate us from his love if we are always seeking his mercy and striving to do better! He does not lose his children. We may wander off, but he always knows where we are, and he comes for us himself when we need him.
So to address our sinfulness, to acknowledge it, to look at ourselves... this is important. And ick! It is never fun. But we cannot fear what is brought to our souls by Perfect Love. If we invite Him in, ask to be cleansed, seek forgiveness, admit our failure and are truly contrite - how quickly he will heal us! And this is something we should do often, daily. Of course, the Sacrament of Reconciliation is absolutely necessary and should be frequented often, especially (and immediately) if there is any danger of mortal sin. But even outside of the beauty and gift of efficacious grace that comes to us through the Sacrament, we should daily be willing to acknowledge our weakness and seek the grace to be made whole once more.
This is what is so wonderful about the simple prayer of "Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love..." To be warmed. To allow the fingers hot with the heat of holy love to melt away the ice from our hearts, to heal the aching wounds of our soul, to purge the darkness that clings to our mind, to burn within us so that there is no room for what is not of Him.
What would this world be like if we were all little St. Thereses or St. Francises or St. Pauls? What if "zeal for His house" truly consumed us? What if we could not stand still! What if all of our energies were constantly burning up for the sake of his Kingdom here on earth! If every breath was a prayer. Every struggle made a sacrifice. Every long day of work made an offering. Every tedious task made on behalf of those in need. Every boring conversation, every disservice done to us, every rude driver or unkind coworker or terrible day of traffic given up in love for another. What if every thought that was tempted to hate or jealousy was caught in time and turned to mercy and love? What if every darkness that invaded, every lie that tried to take us hostage, every temptation to self-love over self-gift was conquered at the door by the blaze of Love within our hearts!? We would not recognize our world.
How empty our lives often are. How hallow they become. Day in and out we fall away from community and family. Day by day we walk more on the path of solitude hoping to escape all the demands that threaten our meager existence, threaten to shatter our already-broken peace. Moment by moment we become more self-satisfied, more complacent, more accepting of our pitiful state. No longer does the realization of our humble presence make us weep! No longer do we lower our heads in shame. More often it is the safety of disinterestedness or indifference that blankets our ugliness. We do not grasp at crowns, but we do not balk at the image in the mirror. We are what we are, let it be.
World! Brothers and sisters, my friends, myself - Christ wept over us. He wept because we were not on fire. He wept because we were lukewarm, and were to be spit out of the mouth rather than ingested into the Fire of the Trinity. We cannot accept this! Why should we? Why would we prefer chains to freedom? Why would we like our putrid pens when we have the open door staring us in the face? "And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God." Jn 3:19-21 We cannot remain still! We cannot be at home in the dark. We were not created for it. We were meant to see. We cannot be satisfied with blindness. Right before the verses I just shared from John Christ says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him." Jn 3:16-17 This is the hope, the victory, the mercy, the truth, the delight, the joy, the life that is offered to us all! Oh, that we would not hesitate to take it.
Let us pray to be burned up. To have the grace to look at ourselves in truth, the grace to ask for the grace to look at ourselves in truth. Let us pray that we can be truly contrite, and be healed of our infirmary. Let us pray that we can learn to build up habits of virtue in our lives, and habits of prayer, so that when the enemy comes for us we shall stand in the light. Let us be thankful, always and in everything, even in our trials and failures, because they too lead us back to his Heart, back into the Fire of the Holy Spirit. Let us never lose faith.
Thomas a Kempis said,
“Love flies, runs, and rejoices; it is free and nothing can hold it back.”
"Behind and before you encircle me and rest your hand upon me. Such knowledge is beyond me, far too lofty for me to reach. Where can I hide from your spirit? From your presence, where can I flee? If I ascend to the heavens, you are there; if I lie down in Sheol, you are there too. If I fly with the wings of dawn and alight beyond the sea, Even there your hand will guide me, your right hand hold me fast. If I say, "Surely darkness shall hide me, and night shall be my light" -- Darkness is not dark for you, and night shines as the day. Darkness and light are but one." Psalm 139:5-12
"What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." Jn 1:3-5
"I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!" Lk 12:49
There are perhaps too many things to say about love. About zeal. About passion. About what the truth should mean to us and for us. There are so many aspects of what it means to be consumed by the Holy Fire.
Saints upon saints have found all that they need to lay down their very lives for the sake of Christ the King within the sweetness of the Holy Spirit's intoxication. All the courage and zeal that could be found within a heart are necessarily enflamed when the soul seeks to be so filled and so consumed with Him.
There should always be a two-fold aspect to this burning, similar to what we hear about in the story of the widow with seven sons who all die rather than forsake their faith. It is about humility and purgation, and then it is about faith and trust. This is the process of a life entrusted to Our Lord in the Spirit, and especially if we are also dedicated and consecrated to his holy Mother, Mary. She who had no sin and who was the most humble was able to live in the greatest faith and deepest trust any human has ever known. She is our perfect model, for she is the most perfect imitator of her Son, and she is truly Spouse of the Spirit. Daughter, Spouse and Mother of God! Gifts completely unasked for, unmerited, simply given and accepted and loved and cared for and cherished in this pure Virgin's Heart.
Sorry, getting on a bit of a tangent (which is nearly unavoidable for me when I think about Our Lady), but back to the consuming fire! I am reading through the preparation for Consecration to Mary by St. Louis de Montfort, and yesterday's reflection spoke of the willingness to see ourselves as dust. Do we really want to know how sinful we are? Could we even handle it? I often fear I can't. If you love someone you want to make them happy, and to know that you are constantly failing to do this - it's a little disheartening. But only when it is conceived in that fashion. The TRUTH is that we are loved, infinitely, undeservingly, unconditionally, passionately, powerfully, purely, freely, consistently, faithfully, enduringly, perfectly. Yes, we will always fall short of this love. Yes, we will continue to sin. No, that will never separate us from his love if we are always seeking his mercy and striving to do better! He does not lose his children. We may wander off, but he always knows where we are, and he comes for us himself when we need him.
So to address our sinfulness, to acknowledge it, to look at ourselves... this is important. And ick! It is never fun. But we cannot fear what is brought to our souls by Perfect Love. If we invite Him in, ask to be cleansed, seek forgiveness, admit our failure and are truly contrite - how quickly he will heal us! And this is something we should do often, daily. Of course, the Sacrament of Reconciliation is absolutely necessary and should be frequented often, especially (and immediately) if there is any danger of mortal sin. But even outside of the beauty and gift of efficacious grace that comes to us through the Sacrament, we should daily be willing to acknowledge our weakness and seek the grace to be made whole once more.
This is what is so wonderful about the simple prayer of "Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love..." To be warmed. To allow the fingers hot with the heat of holy love to melt away the ice from our hearts, to heal the aching wounds of our soul, to purge the darkness that clings to our mind, to burn within us so that there is no room for what is not of Him.
What would this world be like if we were all little St. Thereses or St. Francises or St. Pauls? What if "zeal for His house" truly consumed us? What if we could not stand still! What if all of our energies were constantly burning up for the sake of his Kingdom here on earth! If every breath was a prayer. Every struggle made a sacrifice. Every long day of work made an offering. Every tedious task made on behalf of those in need. Every boring conversation, every disservice done to us, every rude driver or unkind coworker or terrible day of traffic given up in love for another. What if every thought that was tempted to hate or jealousy was caught in time and turned to mercy and love? What if every darkness that invaded, every lie that tried to take us hostage, every temptation to self-love over self-gift was conquered at the door by the blaze of Love within our hearts!? We would not recognize our world.
How empty our lives often are. How hallow they become. Day in and out we fall away from community and family. Day by day we walk more on the path of solitude hoping to escape all the demands that threaten our meager existence, threaten to shatter our already-broken peace. Moment by moment we become more self-satisfied, more complacent, more accepting of our pitiful state. No longer does the realization of our humble presence make us weep! No longer do we lower our heads in shame. More often it is the safety of disinterestedness or indifference that blankets our ugliness. We do not grasp at crowns, but we do not balk at the image in the mirror. We are what we are, let it be.
World! Brothers and sisters, my friends, myself - Christ wept over us. He wept because we were not on fire. He wept because we were lukewarm, and were to be spit out of the mouth rather than ingested into the Fire of the Trinity. We cannot accept this! Why should we? Why would we prefer chains to freedom? Why would we like our putrid pens when we have the open door staring us in the face? "And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God." Jn 3:19-21 We cannot remain still! We cannot be at home in the dark. We were not created for it. We were meant to see. We cannot be satisfied with blindness. Right before the verses I just shared from John Christ says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him." Jn 3:16-17 This is the hope, the victory, the mercy, the truth, the delight, the joy, the life that is offered to us all! Oh, that we would not hesitate to take it.
Let us pray to be burned up. To have the grace to look at ourselves in truth, the grace to ask for the grace to look at ourselves in truth. Let us pray that we can be truly contrite, and be healed of our infirmary. Let us pray that we can learn to build up habits of virtue in our lives, and habits of prayer, so that when the enemy comes for us we shall stand in the light. Let us be thankful, always and in everything, even in our trials and failures, because they too lead us back to his Heart, back into the Fire of the Holy Spirit. Let us never lose faith.
Thomas a Kempis said,
“Love flies, runs, and rejoices; it is free and nothing can hold it back.”
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Adequate Anthropology III
This may be a little redundant (for the blog), but I want to discuss "giftedness" of the person. There are many aspects of John Paul II's Theology of the Body that are without a doubt "fundamental" to his whole teaching and absolutely necessary for understanding what he means by an "adequate anthropology," but this may be the most basic.
There are three levels of "gift" that I want to cover - first and foremost, being a gift. Secondly, awareness of and caring for the "gift," and thirdly, giving the "gift."
Along with this discussion will come a deeply interwoven concept of freedom, so I think it best to very simply lay out what that term will mean in this discussion. Freedom, in true form with Catholic teaching and with the Holy Father, is not a "right" as such nor an asserted "ability to choose." Freedom is a gift from God, inscribed in our very make up. Culturally, it is often considered that we are free when we have options to choose from one thing or another, and that we can pick what we desire without coersion. However, this is not the truth of freedom, but an instance in which this interior aspect of personhood is displayed. The law itself cannot give or take away this aspect of being. We are free by our very natures. Free, that is, to exist, and to exist specifically as a gift. Simply by existing, we are free. Again, we will discuss this, so just come along with me on this point. We are free to exist as a gift, and free to give the gift. This is the basic relationship of all living things.
We exist in relation to others. We exist in relation to the world. Our existence begins with the relationship of a father and mother and it develops in relation specifically to our mother, and it continues in the world in family and the wider community as we grow. So if freedom is within our nature, and nature is dramatially and intrinsically relational, freedom itself is a character of this relationality. We are free, in essence, for others.
We are not primarily "free" in the cultural sense of from something. A freedom premised on from will be in a never-ending struggle to "claim" itself - an uphill battle that cannot be won. We will never be "free" in that way because we can never be so solely self-sufficient that we can completely remove ourselves from all the world and all other beings. If this were the case, and we could be so removed, then we would truly have no forms of coersion that would "move" our "freedoms" one way or the other. But this cannot be what freedom means, because we are created and exist in relation. It makes no logical sense to say it is inscribed in our being, which is relational by nature, and then say that it means "to-be-removed-from-relation."
Ok, hopefully you followed that. Or some of that. Main point to grasp would be that we are free when we can be, with others and for others, as we are, in ourselves. A lack of freedom would be violence done to us, incarceration, slavery, etc.. but these are examples in the sense that they hinder or destroy our human dignity and personhood, and not because "we didn't choose this." I hope that's generally evident. Freedom, true, God-given freedom, is the ability to become who we are created to be, to find fulfillment, to give and receive in life so that we are drawn ever-closer to God and eternal beatitude. (For further reading and a better explanation, see http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_06081993_veritatis-splendor_en.html.)
Let's get to the "gift-giving" and perhaps it will all become more clear.
So, number one, being a gift. Maybe this is obvious... seems like it should be. However, I had never reflected on it in this sense until reading some of Hans Urs von Balthasar (Unless You Become Like This Child - http://www.ignatius.com/Products/UYB-P/unless-you-become-like-this-child.aspx). The idea Balthasar uncovers is taken up by John Paul II, later by Benedict XVI, and I am sure by many theologians of the day. Give him the credit, but let us speak of what he unveiled. Our beginning, where we come from, our origin... it is not "our own." We do not will ourselves into existence. In fact, we cannot do anything about it. Coming-to-be isn't an option. We simply are. One day, all this cold are infiltrates our warm little bubble and we have no choice but to breath in with our infant lungs. There is nothing we can do but acknowledge that we come directly and specifically from another. We could debate the meaning of the "other" - whether we mean here the parents or the mother or a Creator (the Creator) - but in any case we cannot contest our from-other-ness.
Being from another is a dramatic state. We must, in some way, retain something of the other who brought us into being, and yet simultaneously be our own individual beings. How does this work? The only logical case is a gift. To be created and then enslaved to the other would be terrible. To be created and be only an extension of the other would also be serverly insufficient. We are our own. Parents can certainly attest to the experience of a child who comes, quite literally, from their own flesh, and yet is wholly other and separate, a unique and individual being. So again, the only logical answer is a gift. Gifts are given in love. They retain some "something" of the giver in their nature as a gift (ie, ugly Christmas sweater from Aunt Lulu communicates Aunt Lulu's thoughtfulness, even if it isn't fashionable, or even wearable). Again, the sight, smell, sound, or encounter with the gift any time after it has been given will necessarily remind us of the giver. Yet, though the giver comes to us in a way through the gift, the gift is now ours and not theirs. It has been given to us freely by the other (no strings attached) and fully (no part kept back). We are this type of gift. God, in creating us, gives us something unique and beautiful, our own nature, our own being. We retain some presence of him within us, but we are created with free will, and are able to accept this gift of being and maintain it.
This is the second aspect of gift. To recognize that we do exist in this fashion, and to also see within it the need to care for it and preserve it. The basic disposition of a heart that recognizes a gift given to them freely and fully is one of gratitude. We are grateful because we have become aware that what we have, even who we are, is not primarily our own. We are indebted, though indirectly. The gift of existing was given fully, and therefore we do not have to return anything to the giver per se. Yet, our hearts (hopefully) are disposed to appreciation when we realize we possess something we do not deserve by our own merits. We did nothing to receive this great gift. We simply received it. In like manner, we are compelled to give back. Not coerced, not forced, not demanded, etc... Invited. We are invited, by the nature of the goodness of the gift and of the giver, to give back. The invitation lies inscribed in the gift. I made you a chocolate cake... you thank me. Did you have to? Did I threaten to take the cake back and eat it myself if you weren't thankful? No. That's silly. But just the same, you do appreciate it. Now multiply that by a gazillion, because the nature of the gift of a cake is drastically less than that of existence, of your very being. So typically, it is safe to say, once we receive this gift freely and fully, we come to realize we have received it, and we are delighted, surprised, happy, thankful, even in awe - and would like to give something back in return.
The third aspect of gift is then giving back. A key here is that we cannot give what we do not first have. I would love to give my parents the money to fix up our house, go on nice trips to holy places in Europe, and maybe pay off my college loans for me since it's a little too self-centered to give myself that gift directly. However, seeing as how I do not have that money, nor am likely to any time soon, I am not going to be able to give them that gift. IF you don't have something, THEN you can't give it. Right? Right.
So since your being was given freely and fully, you do possess it, and in the sense that you can give it (in various levels or amounts) to another. This is a giving that builds with time and understanding. We can "give" our hearts or selves to God, for example, but then do so more fully than we did the year before a year later. A year after that, we may yet again be able to surrender or offer to the One we love some other aspect of ourselves. It is often the case that life, as it moves forward, brings experiences of understanding ourselves more deeply than before, and therefore reveals aspects of our interior or exterior that we were not aware of previously. The deeper our awareness, the more fully we can offer. It is not to say that I am holding something back from my parents when I say I love them as a child, but that when I tell them I love them now, it encompasses all of the memories and experiences and sacrafices that have become a part of our history together. I love them in each of those moments held in mind and heart, culminating in that one instance of "I love you" on the phone on Sunday evening. Are you following?
Another example - I love my friends. I love the friends I have been close to for a long period of time in a profound way because we have more time through which we have come to know and understand one another. So I give them the gift of my friendship, my comradery, my appreciation, my love. I receive the gift of their friendship, their appreciation, their love. Moreover, not only do we hold in mind all of the past experiences in our relationship in our moment of appreciation and love, but we hold in mind the promise of the future as well. Love stretches its arms very wide. It draws horizons backward and forward. So although I cannot guarantee that I will be there for them in the coming year in all of my listening-on-the-phone and prayer-throughout-the-day and good-times-spent-together, etc.. I certainly can intend that I will be there and hope that I will be there and give them the promise of that support to the extent that I can keep it. This is what comes with self-awareness, or a self-possession-for-the-sake-of-gift.
Maybe you are ready to tear your hair out because I'm STILL talking... I'm actually taking a break from writing and finishing this later. Take a coffee break, that's fine.
Ok, the final stretch, the last 10 yards...
If you didn't catch on to where I was going with gift-giving, let me lay it out flat. Giftedness is essential in these three dimensions:
1. Per understanding of existence. Being a gift, coming to the world as a gift, is vital to who you are. Nae, it is epitomizing. It has to be the whole of our self-awareness and self-knowledge and self-love. You are a gift! You live in the freedom of a gift. You came to being because someone loved you. Someone loved you, and they gave you existence (to be clear, I mean God here). You are a child of God because he desired you to exist, willed you to be, and gave you life (I'm not discrediting your parents' participation in this by any means). The premise of your-being-in-the-world is because of a loving gift.
2. The way you relate to the world. Being a gift requires (by the nature of giftedness) an appreciation and love to be returned to life and others, and above all, to the giver, God. We are creatures in-relation at all times, and being in relation as gift means that we can receive and appreciate others and give ourselves to them in the various capacities appropriate through life.
3. Marriage! Haha, you knew that was coming, right?
John Paul II writes about "the language of the body" and the "spousal meaning of the body" in The Theology of the Body. These are intrinsic elements to personhood. We cannot explain them here because this is an obnoxiously long post. But what can be said it that when you can look at your spouse and know that he or she is a gift from God, to himself or herself and also to you, you can be joyful and thankful. In return, you can recognize yourself as a gift from God to yourself and also to your spouse. You are able to give yourself because of this awareness of where you come from and where you are going. There is no room for confusion or doubt in the gift because you know who the Giver is. You are able to receive the gift of the other and return the gift in the proper love that dwells in the heart that has God as the center of life. When your being is for another, for the Lord, it is easy to order all other things in this light. The priority of your spouse comes directly in line with your love and worship of God. The two of you together embark on a vocation to love and serve the Lord through and with one another. This is all necessarily based on an understanding of one another as children of God, existing as gift.
I hope that made sense, or at least some of it. I'm not even sure I know what I was saying... I'll come back to the language of the body and spousal meaning, those can be the next topics because they are certainly important. Thanks for bearing with me! Keep praying that we are able to be ever-more renewed in our understanding of the beauty of life and the profound gift of love given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord.
There are three levels of "gift" that I want to cover - first and foremost, being a gift. Secondly, awareness of and caring for the "gift," and thirdly, giving the "gift."
Along with this discussion will come a deeply interwoven concept of freedom, so I think it best to very simply lay out what that term will mean in this discussion. Freedom, in true form with Catholic teaching and with the Holy Father, is not a "right" as such nor an asserted "ability to choose." Freedom is a gift from God, inscribed in our very make up. Culturally, it is often considered that we are free when we have options to choose from one thing or another, and that we can pick what we desire without coersion. However, this is not the truth of freedom, but an instance in which this interior aspect of personhood is displayed. The law itself cannot give or take away this aspect of being. We are free by our very natures. Free, that is, to exist, and to exist specifically as a gift. Simply by existing, we are free. Again, we will discuss this, so just come along with me on this point. We are free to exist as a gift, and free to give the gift. This is the basic relationship of all living things.
We exist in relation to others. We exist in relation to the world. Our existence begins with the relationship of a father and mother and it develops in relation specifically to our mother, and it continues in the world in family and the wider community as we grow. So if freedom is within our nature, and nature is dramatially and intrinsically relational, freedom itself is a character of this relationality. We are free, in essence, for others.
We are not primarily "free" in the cultural sense of from something. A freedom premised on from will be in a never-ending struggle to "claim" itself - an uphill battle that cannot be won. We will never be "free" in that way because we can never be so solely self-sufficient that we can completely remove ourselves from all the world and all other beings. If this were the case, and we could be so removed, then we would truly have no forms of coersion that would "move" our "freedoms" one way or the other. But this cannot be what freedom means, because we are created and exist in relation. It makes no logical sense to say it is inscribed in our being, which is relational by nature, and then say that it means "to-be-removed-from-relation."
Ok, hopefully you followed that. Or some of that. Main point to grasp would be that we are free when we can be, with others and for others, as we are, in ourselves. A lack of freedom would be violence done to us, incarceration, slavery, etc.. but these are examples in the sense that they hinder or destroy our human dignity and personhood, and not because "we didn't choose this." I hope that's generally evident. Freedom, true, God-given freedom, is the ability to become who we are created to be, to find fulfillment, to give and receive in life so that we are drawn ever-closer to God and eternal beatitude. (For further reading and a better explanation, see http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_06081993_veritatis-splendor_en.html.)
Let's get to the "gift-giving" and perhaps it will all become more clear.
So, number one, being a gift. Maybe this is obvious... seems like it should be. However, I had never reflected on it in this sense until reading some of Hans Urs von Balthasar (Unless You Become Like This Child - http://www.ignatius.com/Products/UYB-P/unless-you-become-like-this-child.aspx). The idea Balthasar uncovers is taken up by John Paul II, later by Benedict XVI, and I am sure by many theologians of the day. Give him the credit, but let us speak of what he unveiled. Our beginning, where we come from, our origin... it is not "our own." We do not will ourselves into existence. In fact, we cannot do anything about it. Coming-to-be isn't an option. We simply are. One day, all this cold are infiltrates our warm little bubble and we have no choice but to breath in with our infant lungs. There is nothing we can do but acknowledge that we come directly and specifically from another. We could debate the meaning of the "other" - whether we mean here the parents or the mother or a Creator (the Creator) - but in any case we cannot contest our from-other-ness.
Being from another is a dramatic state. We must, in some way, retain something of the other who brought us into being, and yet simultaneously be our own individual beings. How does this work? The only logical case is a gift. To be created and then enslaved to the other would be terrible. To be created and be only an extension of the other would also be serverly insufficient. We are our own. Parents can certainly attest to the experience of a child who comes, quite literally, from their own flesh, and yet is wholly other and separate, a unique and individual being. So again, the only logical answer is a gift. Gifts are given in love. They retain some "something" of the giver in their nature as a gift (ie, ugly Christmas sweater from Aunt Lulu communicates Aunt Lulu's thoughtfulness, even if it isn't fashionable, or even wearable). Again, the sight, smell, sound, or encounter with the gift any time after it has been given will necessarily remind us of the giver. Yet, though the giver comes to us in a way through the gift, the gift is now ours and not theirs. It has been given to us freely by the other (no strings attached) and fully (no part kept back). We are this type of gift. God, in creating us, gives us something unique and beautiful, our own nature, our own being. We retain some presence of him within us, but we are created with free will, and are able to accept this gift of being and maintain it.
This is the second aspect of gift. To recognize that we do exist in this fashion, and to also see within it the need to care for it and preserve it. The basic disposition of a heart that recognizes a gift given to them freely and fully is one of gratitude. We are grateful because we have become aware that what we have, even who we are, is not primarily our own. We are indebted, though indirectly. The gift of existing was given fully, and therefore we do not have to return anything to the giver per se. Yet, our hearts (hopefully) are disposed to appreciation when we realize we possess something we do not deserve by our own merits. We did nothing to receive this great gift. We simply received it. In like manner, we are compelled to give back. Not coerced, not forced, not demanded, etc... Invited. We are invited, by the nature of the goodness of the gift and of the giver, to give back. The invitation lies inscribed in the gift. I made you a chocolate cake... you thank me. Did you have to? Did I threaten to take the cake back and eat it myself if you weren't thankful? No. That's silly. But just the same, you do appreciate it. Now multiply that by a gazillion, because the nature of the gift of a cake is drastically less than that of existence, of your very being. So typically, it is safe to say, once we receive this gift freely and fully, we come to realize we have received it, and we are delighted, surprised, happy, thankful, even in awe - and would like to give something back in return.
The third aspect of gift is then giving back. A key here is that we cannot give what we do not first have. I would love to give my parents the money to fix up our house, go on nice trips to holy places in Europe, and maybe pay off my college loans for me since it's a little too self-centered to give myself that gift directly. However, seeing as how I do not have that money, nor am likely to any time soon, I am not going to be able to give them that gift. IF you don't have something, THEN you can't give it. Right? Right.
So since your being was given freely and fully, you do possess it, and in the sense that you can give it (in various levels or amounts) to another. This is a giving that builds with time and understanding. We can "give" our hearts or selves to God, for example, but then do so more fully than we did the year before a year later. A year after that, we may yet again be able to surrender or offer to the One we love some other aspect of ourselves. It is often the case that life, as it moves forward, brings experiences of understanding ourselves more deeply than before, and therefore reveals aspects of our interior or exterior that we were not aware of previously. The deeper our awareness, the more fully we can offer. It is not to say that I am holding something back from my parents when I say I love them as a child, but that when I tell them I love them now, it encompasses all of the memories and experiences and sacrafices that have become a part of our history together. I love them in each of those moments held in mind and heart, culminating in that one instance of "I love you" on the phone on Sunday evening. Are you following?
Another example - I love my friends. I love the friends I have been close to for a long period of time in a profound way because we have more time through which we have come to know and understand one another. So I give them the gift of my friendship, my comradery, my appreciation, my love. I receive the gift of their friendship, their appreciation, their love. Moreover, not only do we hold in mind all of the past experiences in our relationship in our moment of appreciation and love, but we hold in mind the promise of the future as well. Love stretches its arms very wide. It draws horizons backward and forward. So although I cannot guarantee that I will be there for them in the coming year in all of my listening-on-the-phone and prayer-throughout-the-day and good-times-spent-together, etc.. I certainly can intend that I will be there and hope that I will be there and give them the promise of that support to the extent that I can keep it. This is what comes with self-awareness, or a self-possession-for-the-sake-of-gift.
Maybe you are ready to tear your hair out because I'm STILL talking... I'm actually taking a break from writing and finishing this later. Take a coffee break, that's fine.
Ok, the final stretch, the last 10 yards...
If you didn't catch on to where I was going with gift-giving, let me lay it out flat. Giftedness is essential in these three dimensions:
1. Per understanding of existence. Being a gift, coming to the world as a gift, is vital to who you are. Nae, it is epitomizing. It has to be the whole of our self-awareness and self-knowledge and self-love. You are a gift! You live in the freedom of a gift. You came to being because someone loved you. Someone loved you, and they gave you existence (to be clear, I mean God here). You are a child of God because he desired you to exist, willed you to be, and gave you life (I'm not discrediting your parents' participation in this by any means). The premise of your-being-in-the-world is because of a loving gift.
2. The way you relate to the world. Being a gift requires (by the nature of giftedness) an appreciation and love to be returned to life and others, and above all, to the giver, God. We are creatures in-relation at all times, and being in relation as gift means that we can receive and appreciate others and give ourselves to them in the various capacities appropriate through life.
3. Marriage! Haha, you knew that was coming, right?
John Paul II writes about "the language of the body" and the "spousal meaning of the body" in The Theology of the Body. These are intrinsic elements to personhood. We cannot explain them here because this is an obnoxiously long post. But what can be said it that when you can look at your spouse and know that he or she is a gift from God, to himself or herself and also to you, you can be joyful and thankful. In return, you can recognize yourself as a gift from God to yourself and also to your spouse. You are able to give yourself because of this awareness of where you come from and where you are going. There is no room for confusion or doubt in the gift because you know who the Giver is. You are able to receive the gift of the other and return the gift in the proper love that dwells in the heart that has God as the center of life. When your being is for another, for the Lord, it is easy to order all other things in this light. The priority of your spouse comes directly in line with your love and worship of God. The two of you together embark on a vocation to love and serve the Lord through and with one another. This is all necessarily based on an understanding of one another as children of God, existing as gift.
I hope that made sense, or at least some of it. I'm not even sure I know what I was saying... I'll come back to the language of the body and spousal meaning, those can be the next topics because they are certainly important. Thanks for bearing with me! Keep praying that we are able to be ever-more renewed in our understanding of the beauty of life and the profound gift of love given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Adequate Anthropology I
"Love. Above all things, I believe in love. Love is like oxygen. Love is a many-splendored thing. Love lifts us up where we belong. All you need is love!"
... thank you Ewan McGregor for your stunning performance, and please ignore that some parts of that movie are less-than-tasteful. We're talking about a message here!
Currently, in real life, I am a student and one of my classes entails going through the entire work of Pope John Paul II's "Man and Woman He Created Them, A Theology of the Body." This is a great undertaking (that's 663 pages of John Paul II's depth), and it will hopefully reap great rewards (I LOVE it). As it is, I enjoyed having a structure to the blog (the series on the Beatitudes) and so I'm going to attempt to have a series of posts about love, humanity, sexuality, anthropology, etc...
I don't plan to go in order because to attempt to explain the topic in fullness would be to recopy the entire work and basically reiterate all of my class. I do not wish to do that here. Rather, I want to highlight small sections or even just statements that spoke to me specifically, and discuss them here.
So in that context, beginning with a quote from Moulin Rouge may seem a little... heretical? But in truth, this is exactly what the Holy Father was speaking to - our world, our educated average person, hungry and seeking for an adequate understanding of human sexuality. We've tried a lot of things, and nothing has worked. The Holy Father wished to give us more. Now it is for us to bring it to the world and shine its light in the dark places of the mind.
As with the Beatitudes series, I have named these and will number them accordingly to make it easier to follow. "Adequate Anthropology" is a term the Pope uses consistently in his work, and it is what I want to use as a guiding post for the reflections I share (not to mention that I love alliteration and assonance).
So now that you've had the "veggies and buttered bread" details (sorry that it is impossible for me to write without them... this is why J.R.R. Tolkien and I would have been great friends), let's move on to the meat.
"A wife's grace delights her husband, and her knowledge strengthens his bones" (Sir. 26:18).
Let's step back and read that line from Genesis that hopefully came to your mind just now.
Adam: "This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called 'woman,' for out of 'her man' this one has been taken" (Gen. 2:23).
The term "knowledge" in Scripture, especially in the Old Testament, often referred to a much deeper "knowing" than a simple awareness of the existence of the object in question. Moreover, when speaking about a person, it was assumed that "to know" someone implied an intimate, and typically physically intimate, knowledge. This is important here.
When we reread Sirach in light of this word's meaning, it would seem to imply that what Adam said from the beginning of time still holds true for men and women years later, even after the first fall and original sin. However, original sin created a space, a separation, a division, between man and God, man and the natural world, and even man with himself. Therefore, it also created a division between man and woman. So how can we understand Sirach then? If a 'knowledge' of his wife is a fulfillment of his person, a meeting or encounter that enables him to rejoice and to more fully know himself as well... wouldn't it seem contradictory to that divided state sin ushered in?
First, let's discuss this "delight" that is expressed in both verses. In Genesis, Adam's cry is one of rejoicing. Finally, after all the other possible 'helpmates' that God has presented, he has discovered one who is truly for and of himself. John Paul II would also say that in this discovery man comes to discover something of himself as well. This makes sense when you consider that, until the point of this encounter, man had known himself to be alone. He was in solitude with God, and this relationship, unique to what we can imagine now, was good-but-different. When man was face to face with woman, what he found was one he could be in-relation-with, as he was with God, but yet in a different way. There was a level of analogy between the giving-of-self that was naturally in place between God and man and the giving-of-self that was possible between man and woman. Now, clearly, the disanalogy is greater, for God is transcendent love, surpassing all made things, perfection of perfections, etc... you understand I am trying to protect the importance of God's so-much-more-than-us-ness. However, the actual seeing, the physical revelation of the woman to the man, was an experience not of lust or of need, but one of freedom. Man was able to give himself to this creature in a way he could not do so with any other. This creature, this woman, could receive his gift of self. She could understand him. She could see him in return. She could value him for the person he was. She could give back, her whole self, just as freely. They were able to know more about themselves in this relationship, for each came to know how they could give, who they could give.
It would be too much for me to wholly explain the "adequate anthropology" of how they were free to give themselves fully to each other in a perfectly pure and holy way, but I will at least try to sketch the bare bones (catch that? you're quick).
Remember, this is "original nakedness" we're speaking of. They were "naked without shame" because there was no sin yet. Without sin, there was no concupiscence, no lust, no greed. They were able to see one another in the physical flesh, naked before each other, and yet simultaneously see and love the whole person, the full self that was before them, the entire "other" being that was Eve or Adam. Surely they felt desire for the other, but this desire was holy because it was in no way divided or reduced or objectified. They did not yearn for each other as if the other were a satisfaction for a need, but they yearned for each other as their one-who-receives-me-wholly-as-I-am-and-returns-himself/herself-to-me-in-equal-freedom-and-love. They were simply, "one flesh."
So hopefully you get the gist of it, just try to imagine what loving another would be like if we never had to doubt them, never had to wonder if their love was real. These two had no fear. They were forever. They were total. It was that easy.
So Adam's rejoicing was certainly a holy and full delight! I mean, I know I'd be throwing a party. (I'd still like to throw a party if I ever get close to that, lol.) Sirach does seem to speak of just such a delight. He writes that a man's bones are strengthened by a holy wife. He cannot mean that separated from a two-become-one-flesh relationship, clearly. So what happened to man and woman after the fall? What happens to us? We, very sadly, often cannot stand naked-without-shame. We, rather unfortunately, are aware that our revelation of self is typically exploited. We are sensitive to the fact that man does lust, and struggles to love in truth and freedom. We are aware that our bodies will often be seen only as bodies. We can sense that the whole person (being ourselves) is not shining through or even being sought... if we're a naked body, we're a naked body. Why?
Well, as I have discussed, that would be sin's fault (thanks a lot satan, you really screwed that up). So concupiscence leaves man weak, open to temptation, without the "sight" that enables him to see the whole person, the true person, the one person. Man has lost the ability to not-reduce the other. We fail, so often, to not-compartmentalize. We typically cannot see another without objectifying them to some degree.
Cue grace! Now, remember that Sirach is writing pre-Incarnation, so we'll have to go back to that, but for those of us living in the post-Incarnation-and-Death-and-Resurrection-era (thank you Jesus), we have some help. It is true, we are going to fail. Sin happens. (I prefer that to the statement "life happens." Spread the words.) We will fall, and we will suffer from the consequences. That is the sad state of things. However, Christ gave us such wonderful gifts with his Church and the faith we profess! Through Scripture, prayer, a devotion to purity of heart and mind (especially through Our Lady), and of course through the Sacraments, we are able to bring our broken hearts to him that they would be made new. We can allow the Holy Spirit to live in us, and through this, to transform us in our daily work. This can enable us to build up virtuous habits in our lives, such as the gift of seeing others in purity and truth, rather than in reductive and usury ways.
As an aside, for married couples this challenge both still exists and the freedom is still possible. Simply because we are "married" doesn't give us the full freedom to be totally naked-without-shame, unfortunately. However, the sacrament does give a gift of grace, and through a life of consistent returning to our Lord, we are able to make marriages that are pure and holy. The fact of the matter is that until we are in our risen bodies with the Lord at the second coming, we probably won't fully understand what it was like to love one another so freely. However, we can come very close, and our relationships-in-love-and-truth should begin here and now with friends, coworkers, family, random people on the street. Asking the Lord for the eyes to see another as the whole person, mind, body, spirit, soul, heart, will, actions, thoughts, etc... is vital.
We must believe that a wholly-integrated-person is the only one we can love properly, and be loved in return by properly. You cannot give yourself, fully, to another, forever till death do us part, unless you are able to be seen as your full and whole self. Likewise, you cannot receive another, forever till death do us part, if you cannot see him or her as a whole and full self. We must never fear the body or think it bad - that is just as silly as thinking our minds or hearts are bad. We aren't here for reduction or disintegration! We're here for unification and wholeness! It is Manichaean to hold the physical in contempt or think it evil, and it is an incorrect idea. We simply must seek to know the flesh as the revelation of the entire person, and nothing less.
As far as Sirach is concerned, I think it is fair to say that this author, guided by the Holy Spirit, writes in anticipation of the time when Christ will give us a new covenant, a new law, a new spirit, to allow us to experience a holiness that is worthy of the dignity of mankind. This is why we are seeking to understand what an adequate anthropology is. We are beginning on the basis that man is good, so very good, as God created him, and that his dignity and goodness are reiterated throughout Scripture, most especially obvious in the Incarnation of Christ, God-made-man. If we exist in an image of this perfect One who is Love, than surely we should be only grateful that he would reveal to us this more-perfect existence that we can participate in, one which enables us to know what true love is.
Let us hope and pray to always know and love in truth and purity, to see each person as the whole self, and to hold them in our hearts with purity and gratitude. Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful, and enkindle in them the fire of your love! O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee! Amen.
... thank you Ewan McGregor for your stunning performance, and please ignore that some parts of that movie are less-than-tasteful. We're talking about a message here!
Currently, in real life, I am a student and one of my classes entails going through the entire work of Pope John Paul II's "Man and Woman He Created Them, A Theology of the Body." This is a great undertaking (that's 663 pages of John Paul II's depth), and it will hopefully reap great rewards (I LOVE it). As it is, I enjoyed having a structure to the blog (the series on the Beatitudes) and so I'm going to attempt to have a series of posts about love, humanity, sexuality, anthropology, etc...
I don't plan to go in order because to attempt to explain the topic in fullness would be to recopy the entire work and basically reiterate all of my class. I do not wish to do that here. Rather, I want to highlight small sections or even just statements that spoke to me specifically, and discuss them here.
So in that context, beginning with a quote from Moulin Rouge may seem a little... heretical? But in truth, this is exactly what the Holy Father was speaking to - our world, our educated average person, hungry and seeking for an adequate understanding of human sexuality. We've tried a lot of things, and nothing has worked. The Holy Father wished to give us more. Now it is for us to bring it to the world and shine its light in the dark places of the mind.
As with the Beatitudes series, I have named these and will number them accordingly to make it easier to follow. "Adequate Anthropology" is a term the Pope uses consistently in his work, and it is what I want to use as a guiding post for the reflections I share (not to mention that I love alliteration and assonance).
So now that you've had the "veggies and buttered bread" details (sorry that it is impossible for me to write without them... this is why J.R.R. Tolkien and I would have been great friends), let's move on to the meat.
"A wife's grace delights her husband, and her knowledge strengthens his bones" (Sir. 26:18).
Let's step back and read that line from Genesis that hopefully came to your mind just now.
Adam: "This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called 'woman,' for out of 'her man' this one has been taken" (Gen. 2:23).
The term "knowledge" in Scripture, especially in the Old Testament, often referred to a much deeper "knowing" than a simple awareness of the existence of the object in question. Moreover, when speaking about a person, it was assumed that "to know" someone implied an intimate, and typically physically intimate, knowledge. This is important here.
When we reread Sirach in light of this word's meaning, it would seem to imply that what Adam said from the beginning of time still holds true for men and women years later, even after the first fall and original sin. However, original sin created a space, a separation, a division, between man and God, man and the natural world, and even man with himself. Therefore, it also created a division between man and woman. So how can we understand Sirach then? If a 'knowledge' of his wife is a fulfillment of his person, a meeting or encounter that enables him to rejoice and to more fully know himself as well... wouldn't it seem contradictory to that divided state sin ushered in?
First, let's discuss this "delight" that is expressed in both verses. In Genesis, Adam's cry is one of rejoicing. Finally, after all the other possible 'helpmates' that God has presented, he has discovered one who is truly for and of himself. John Paul II would also say that in this discovery man comes to discover something of himself as well. This makes sense when you consider that, until the point of this encounter, man had known himself to be alone. He was in solitude with God, and this relationship, unique to what we can imagine now, was good-but-different. When man was face to face with woman, what he found was one he could be in-relation-with, as he was with God, but yet in a different way. There was a level of analogy between the giving-of-self that was naturally in place between God and man and the giving-of-self that was possible between man and woman. Now, clearly, the disanalogy is greater, for God is transcendent love, surpassing all made things, perfection of perfections, etc... you understand I am trying to protect the importance of God's so-much-more-than-us-ness. However, the actual seeing, the physical revelation of the woman to the man, was an experience not of lust or of need, but one of freedom. Man was able to give himself to this creature in a way he could not do so with any other. This creature, this woman, could receive his gift of self. She could understand him. She could see him in return. She could value him for the person he was. She could give back, her whole self, just as freely. They were able to know more about themselves in this relationship, for each came to know how they could give, who they could give.
It would be too much for me to wholly explain the "adequate anthropology" of how they were free to give themselves fully to each other in a perfectly pure and holy way, but I will at least try to sketch the bare bones (catch that? you're quick).
Remember, this is "original nakedness" we're speaking of. They were "naked without shame" because there was no sin yet. Without sin, there was no concupiscence, no lust, no greed. They were able to see one another in the physical flesh, naked before each other, and yet simultaneously see and love the whole person, the full self that was before them, the entire "other" being that was Eve or Adam. Surely they felt desire for the other, but this desire was holy because it was in no way divided or reduced or objectified. They did not yearn for each other as if the other were a satisfaction for a need, but they yearned for each other as their one-who-receives-me-wholly-as-I-am-and-returns-himself/herself-to-me-in-equal-freedom-and-love. They were simply, "one flesh."
So hopefully you get the gist of it, just try to imagine what loving another would be like if we never had to doubt them, never had to wonder if their love was real. These two had no fear. They were forever. They were total. It was that easy.
So Adam's rejoicing was certainly a holy and full delight! I mean, I know I'd be throwing a party. (I'd still like to throw a party if I ever get close to that, lol.) Sirach does seem to speak of just such a delight. He writes that a man's bones are strengthened by a holy wife. He cannot mean that separated from a two-become-one-flesh relationship, clearly. So what happened to man and woman after the fall? What happens to us? We, very sadly, often cannot stand naked-without-shame. We, rather unfortunately, are aware that our revelation of self is typically exploited. We are sensitive to the fact that man does lust, and struggles to love in truth and freedom. We are aware that our bodies will often be seen only as bodies. We can sense that the whole person (being ourselves) is not shining through or even being sought... if we're a naked body, we're a naked body. Why?
Well, as I have discussed, that would be sin's fault (thanks a lot satan, you really screwed that up). So concupiscence leaves man weak, open to temptation, without the "sight" that enables him to see the whole person, the true person, the one person. Man has lost the ability to not-reduce the other. We fail, so often, to not-compartmentalize. We typically cannot see another without objectifying them to some degree.
Cue grace! Now, remember that Sirach is writing pre-Incarnation, so we'll have to go back to that, but for those of us living in the post-Incarnation-and-Death-and-Resurrection-era (thank you Jesus), we have some help. It is true, we are going to fail. Sin happens. (I prefer that to the statement "life happens." Spread the words.) We will fall, and we will suffer from the consequences. That is the sad state of things. However, Christ gave us such wonderful gifts with his Church and the faith we profess! Through Scripture, prayer, a devotion to purity of heart and mind (especially through Our Lady), and of course through the Sacraments, we are able to bring our broken hearts to him that they would be made new. We can allow the Holy Spirit to live in us, and through this, to transform us in our daily work. This can enable us to build up virtuous habits in our lives, such as the gift of seeing others in purity and truth, rather than in reductive and usury ways.
As an aside, for married couples this challenge both still exists and the freedom is still possible. Simply because we are "married" doesn't give us the full freedom to be totally naked-without-shame, unfortunately. However, the sacrament does give a gift of grace, and through a life of consistent returning to our Lord, we are able to make marriages that are pure and holy. The fact of the matter is that until we are in our risen bodies with the Lord at the second coming, we probably won't fully understand what it was like to love one another so freely. However, we can come very close, and our relationships-in-love-and-truth should begin here and now with friends, coworkers, family, random people on the street. Asking the Lord for the eyes to see another as the whole person, mind, body, spirit, soul, heart, will, actions, thoughts, etc... is vital.
We must believe that a wholly-integrated-person is the only one we can love properly, and be loved in return by properly. You cannot give yourself, fully, to another, forever till death do us part, unless you are able to be seen as your full and whole self. Likewise, you cannot receive another, forever till death do us part, if you cannot see him or her as a whole and full self. We must never fear the body or think it bad - that is just as silly as thinking our minds or hearts are bad. We aren't here for reduction or disintegration! We're here for unification and wholeness! It is Manichaean to hold the physical in contempt or think it evil, and it is an incorrect idea. We simply must seek to know the flesh as the revelation of the entire person, and nothing less.
As far as Sirach is concerned, I think it is fair to say that this author, guided by the Holy Spirit, writes in anticipation of the time when Christ will give us a new covenant, a new law, a new spirit, to allow us to experience a holiness that is worthy of the dignity of mankind. This is why we are seeking to understand what an adequate anthropology is. We are beginning on the basis that man is good, so very good, as God created him, and that his dignity and goodness are reiterated throughout Scripture, most especially obvious in the Incarnation of Christ, God-made-man. If we exist in an image of this perfect One who is Love, than surely we should be only grateful that he would reveal to us this more-perfect existence that we can participate in, one which enables us to know what true love is.
Let us hope and pray to always know and love in truth and purity, to see each person as the whole self, and to hold them in our hearts with purity and gratitude. Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful, and enkindle in them the fire of your love! O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee! Amen.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Steppin into some Shoes
I'm turning 24 soon.
It's right around the corner. This is the first time since I turned 21 that I can remember being really excited to grow older. It's stupid, I know, but 22 and 23 were years where there was a lingering attachment to the things of "youth" (especially college). Not that I feel any less free to be silly or childlike - in fact, all the more reason to keep a childish spirit! Yet, I do feel very confident that growing up a little more is a healthy and good thing.
We all say, "when I grow up I want to be..." Often we discover that those plans didn't come through, and where we are is not where we planned in our 8 year old minds. What I'm discovering, and what I think most of us know all along inside, is that it isn't so much the what of our lives, but the who, that is the defining character. It makes far greater sense, when you think about it, to measure our lives according to our personal growth and human development over our physical or material accomplishments in our society. The social maze has walls, limits, boundaries, etc... Certain degrees mean you can do certain things, specific work experience means you can move on to a better place, etc... It really is the game of Life out there, where you start with your little car and hope that you end up with the family, the job, the high salary, etc...
The game of Life, however, does not include personal strength, growth, virtues, or even happiness. It does not reveal to us how our internal castle is what we really spend our time on, where we really put our work into. Many "great" people in history have said things like "they can take my home or my family or my wealth but they cannot take my faith." The point is that there is an impenetrable fortress within each and every one of us, and it is our hearts, our minds, our wills, our dreams and hopes, our desires, our fears, our loves. We can choose to build the gardens and towers and halls of this fortress, or we can neglect it and allow the flowers to whither and the halls to decay. It only makes sense to continue to build it up, to foster it and till the soil, because within our hearts we cannot reach boundaries - there are infinite leagues to cover, infinite heights to climb, infinite depths to discover. In the world we will eventually be defeated, if not by the systems in place then by our own old age and eventual inability to work or even function. We remain limitless on the inside, able to ever-access the beauty and freedom of love.
So as I approach another year of life, I reflect on the dreams I've held for myself. I consider how many have not been accomplish, but how some have that I never imagined at all. I am surprised by my life as it is - this isn't what I had anticipated. Yet, I am grateful, for the steady building of my interior castle continues, and has perhaps been made more easy and more successful by the many steps that have lead me to this job I work and the classes I take and the people I live with.
What I resolve myself to for this coming year is to never measure myself by the ruler of the world. I am going to always fall short compared to some, and ever look impressive compared to others. It makes no sense and it is more often defeating than encouraging. I like to dream big and I do not want to stop. I want to trust my heart with all the reckless abandon I can muster, and throw myself into the winds of hope to see where I fly.
I know I am going to face greater stresses, bigger challenges, deeper wounds and harder climbs as life moves forward. I have greater responsibilities and more cares every day. These cannot control me or dominate my thoughts, however, and I implore others to do the same. Cast all the fear and anxiety away. Give it in faith to the Lord. It is not only the only way to live freely, but also the only way to grow as we ought. We need to ever remain God's little children, who trust and expect him to provide for our every need, both in the order of grace and in the order of the world. He will never leave us orphans, and so in confidence we should strive ever more to apply our whole hearts to every thing, every person, every challenge, every moment, every day.
I am going to be stepping into some new shoes very soon, and I plan on running with them.
It's right around the corner. This is the first time since I turned 21 that I can remember being really excited to grow older. It's stupid, I know, but 22 and 23 were years where there was a lingering attachment to the things of "youth" (especially college). Not that I feel any less free to be silly or childlike - in fact, all the more reason to keep a childish spirit! Yet, I do feel very confident that growing up a little more is a healthy and good thing.
We all say, "when I grow up I want to be..." Often we discover that those plans didn't come through, and where we are is not where we planned in our 8 year old minds. What I'm discovering, and what I think most of us know all along inside, is that it isn't so much the what of our lives, but the who, that is the defining character. It makes far greater sense, when you think about it, to measure our lives according to our personal growth and human development over our physical or material accomplishments in our society. The social maze has walls, limits, boundaries, etc... Certain degrees mean you can do certain things, specific work experience means you can move on to a better place, etc... It really is the game of Life out there, where you start with your little car and hope that you end up with the family, the job, the high salary, etc...
The game of Life, however, does not include personal strength, growth, virtues, or even happiness. It does not reveal to us how our internal castle is what we really spend our time on, where we really put our work into. Many "great" people in history have said things like "they can take my home or my family or my wealth but they cannot take my faith." The point is that there is an impenetrable fortress within each and every one of us, and it is our hearts, our minds, our wills, our dreams and hopes, our desires, our fears, our loves. We can choose to build the gardens and towers and halls of this fortress, or we can neglect it and allow the flowers to whither and the halls to decay. It only makes sense to continue to build it up, to foster it and till the soil, because within our hearts we cannot reach boundaries - there are infinite leagues to cover, infinite heights to climb, infinite depths to discover. In the world we will eventually be defeated, if not by the systems in place then by our own old age and eventual inability to work or even function. We remain limitless on the inside, able to ever-access the beauty and freedom of love.
So as I approach another year of life, I reflect on the dreams I've held for myself. I consider how many have not been accomplish, but how some have that I never imagined at all. I am surprised by my life as it is - this isn't what I had anticipated. Yet, I am grateful, for the steady building of my interior castle continues, and has perhaps been made more easy and more successful by the many steps that have lead me to this job I work and the classes I take and the people I live with.
What I resolve myself to for this coming year is to never measure myself by the ruler of the world. I am going to always fall short compared to some, and ever look impressive compared to others. It makes no sense and it is more often defeating than encouraging. I like to dream big and I do not want to stop. I want to trust my heart with all the reckless abandon I can muster, and throw myself into the winds of hope to see where I fly.
I know I am going to face greater stresses, bigger challenges, deeper wounds and harder climbs as life moves forward. I have greater responsibilities and more cares every day. These cannot control me or dominate my thoughts, however, and I implore others to do the same. Cast all the fear and anxiety away. Give it in faith to the Lord. It is not only the only way to live freely, but also the only way to grow as we ought. We need to ever remain God's little children, who trust and expect him to provide for our every need, both in the order of grace and in the order of the world. He will never leave us orphans, and so in confidence we should strive ever more to apply our whole hearts to every thing, every person, every challenge, every moment, every day.
I am going to be stepping into some new shoes very soon, and I plan on running with them.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Chastity Help
These are just a few brief references, but you will be amazed at how many sites are out there with information, support and guidance. If you aren't sure where you are going or what is right, give the truth some time to sink in. There is freedom in living this lifestyle. Practically speaking, you can't have any surprise diseases, infections or a pregnancy that you aren't prepared for. Internally speaking, your self-respect and belief in your own dignity will dramatially increase. Holistically speaking, you will see that these "restrictions" on your behaviors are actually paths to joy and again, freedom, because you are not serving yourself or allowing anything to control you but are making a choice for your own good and the good, love and respect for others.
http://www.omsoul.com/chastity-what-are-you-saying-yes-to.php
http://www.theologyofthebody.net/
http://www.christopherwest.com/
http://www.chastity.com/
http://www.liteenfreedom.org/
Feel free to add others, the more the merrier :)
http://www.omsoul.com/chastity-what-are-you-saying-yes-to.php
http://www.theologyofthebody.net/
http://www.christopherwest.com/
http://www.chastity.com/
http://www.liteenfreedom.org/
Feel free to add others, the more the merrier :)
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