1 Corinthians 2: 14, 15
14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 15 But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. 16 For who has known the mind of the LORD, that he will instruct him?
Today I read about Elijah
I wondered, ''Is this for real?''
Jesus is noted to be like no one else in history, as he died, then resurrected and never died again. But 'even greater' Mary his mother and Elijah, never died at all.
Or is it greater? Jesus died and rose and ceased to die all by His power.
Elijah and Mary were given the glory of such distinction of life without death. But how glorious it is to never die.
But, ''Is this for real?''
What is lost in all this is the mysterious wonder of God. We will never understand ! We have sciences which we can not learn more than the attributes of creation itself.
We have philosophy which we can find reason by deductive equations, and discover rational truths, but we can not find the answer of the supernatural.
The Middle Ages are often looked down upon these days by modern minds, in relation to their world view. The superstitions and ignorance of the Middle Ages is critiqued adamantly.
Truth is, it was the Middle Ages that gave us the system of universities. To think them as ignorant, is itself an ignorant thought.
What is splendid of the Middle Ages is that it seemed to have a great respect for mystery and power of God. That anything is possible in creation by the Creator.
You see beauty and splendid majesty in the culture.
Why is knighthood even today glorified? Because the pageantry captivates the imagination.
It is in the imagination of the Middle Ages that is so wonderful. Just look to the churches built in the Middle Ages to the modern churches today. I prefer the Middle Aged churches, I do not think I am alone, nor in any form of a minority with that opinion.
See what glory there was. Why do we plague our vision today? Where has this glory gone?
I think, that is the greatest difference between us and the Saints.
The Saints, no matter how studied, no matter which age they live in, had so much trust in God, that they found themselves a spirituality where they do not dare question, but submit their will to God and His powers.
A Saint would not question God, would not question His Glory or the Glory of His Creation.
A Saint is a painstakingly loyal servant and slave of power and mystery.
In 1 Corinithians (1: 18-31, 2 )there is a great notion of faith and belief in the majesty. Yet, we are not to have faith without reason as in Isaiah 45: 18-19 says, invites us to seek Him in chaos.
Isaiah 45:18-19: For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it a chaos, he formed it to be inhabited!): "I am the LORD, and there is no other. I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, `Seek me in chaos.' I the LORD speak the truth, I declare what is right.
Further reflection on the matter:
Jesus says we are to love as a child.
I play a game with my son, something I just started recently.
When he is talking I tell him to that he is quiet, when he is silent I say, 'shh' you are loud.'
He cracks up.
But why does he see the contradiction? Because I told him first that loud means boisterous, and quiet means silent.
So he first believes me, and does not question me when I say what I say.
Only when he believes in my first order of definition, does he see the contradiction as he still has faith in my first words. If he is faithful, why does he not believe my words of contradiction?
He simply he believes in me, because he knows me, trusts me, loves me.
Eventhough it is still my words which speaks to him, he still must follow his faith in me to understand me. To understand that I am speaking in contradictory terms, so he laughs at me for joking with him. The contradiction does not rattle his faith. He believes his first lesson. That truth is in what his father teaches.
And by his great faith in me, he does not let contradiction alter his faith, he is true to me, and he understands me.
How great is the love of a child? As great of the Saints to God.
In my role as a father, I have found, if He displeases me and I punish him or let him know I am not happy with him.
He gets sad. As a three year old, he does not know self-reflection, he does not know forgiveness. Yet, he only knows he wants me to accept him again.
So in the pain of sadness, he comes to me and shows me he wants me even when I am displeased with him.
It is a natural relationship my son has with his father.
He seeks me, because he needs me.
What great love is that? Not needing forgiveness, not needing explanation, just needing to seek me and have my love.
God is our Father. We are his children.
How do we understand the contradiction of mystery and worldliness? By keeping faith in His word that His words are true, and contradiction is not His Truth, but in our understanding.
The saints understand as a child, they rely on the Father. How glorious is the Faith of the Saints of our times, they must have found that Middle Aged mysticism.
Pablo Pio, St. Therese of Lisieux, the children at Fatima.
The rest of us seek understanding in our world apart from the majesty that is in the Creator, and we then miss God's Divine 'humor.'
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