IV By Contrast . . .
To
recognize our own emptiness so as to receive the gift of wisdom: this is the
task entrusted to the theologian. It is to be like the nuns at Santa Rita Abbey
who wait in quiet—just standing there in choir doing nothing—anticipating the
ringing of the bell that summons to psalmody.
God
does not fill in the gaps where human reason fails. Nor does God like a divine
Superman vanquish intolerable suffering. God does not erase human longing and
want, but is present amidst it. There is in us a wide open space—a gap—from
which we dare to speak the question "Who is God?" In the very asking
we are making room for some small manifestation of who God is. Whatever answer
may come it too must remain unsaid so that we might make a space fitting for
the silence that is the contemplative's home and the theologian's workplace.
Like
the Cistercian contemplative life, theology is a discipline of learning how to
see, how to read, how to recognize the presence of God amidst our own
brokenness and weakness as the region not only of wound but of wisdom, a wisdom
that is to become in us a balm for the wounds of the world. At the conclusion of
Lauds on my last morning at Santa Rita, the Prioress brought us into the Our
Father with these words: "Father of peace, increase in us your peace so
that we might be peace in the world for which we live." Words to live by
even as we give testimony to unsaying with the one and only life we have to
live. — Michael Downey, CSQ, 45.1, 2010
posted by Maggie Ross at 9:00 pm
4 Comments:
Hi Maggie,
For some reason Michael Downey's opening line in this entry doesn't feel right to me. It would appear as though the theologian has been selected as the special one to plumb the depths of our emptiness in order to be graced with wisdom. It seems that the theologian is elevated to some superior position leaving us ordinary folk walking around in a stupor. Am I really off the mark here? Take care.
Kevin
I see what you mean. When I read this sentence, I assumed he meant that everyone is a theologian.
Hi Maggie,
You might be right about that. However, given that Michael Downey is a professional theologian, I am somewhat doubtful that he would like us all to share that distinction. I suppose that I should just as the guy!
Kevin
Please do that; I'd like to know!
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