Theological ~ Faith and the Basics of Sanity

What must we do to know, and to be confident in our knowing?

We must believe that reality is stable, testable, and comprehensible to the human mind. If we are pessimistic on those points, we may as well not try to understand life at all.

1) If reality is not stable, then our conclusions, even if they are right for the moment, will not be right tomorrow.

2) If reality is not testable, then we have no way of engaging with it and therefore thinking about it.

3) If the human mind is not capable of understanding, then no matter how stable or testable reality may be, we will never be able to understand it.

All three of these tenants require a measure of faith. I must exercise faith that gravity will not cease to exist tomorrow. I must exercise faith that the mathematical equations formulated by humans can rightly describe the laws of physics such that I will fly in an airplane.

Extreme skepticism--a belief system where I relentlessly question the possibility of knowing--is a failure to exercise the faith necessary for progress in knowledge.

Descarte's "I think, therefore I am" is a sad fall from faith. If all I can know is that I'm thinking, yet I can not be sure to know anything about the outside world, then I'm in a hopeless situation.

What follows from faith in these three points, is the ability to accept an intellectual tradition. After all, if reality is stable, testable, and knowable, it makes sense that human knowledge would grow and accumulate. I don't have to believe everything about the past, but there should be a line of thinking upon which I can build and amend as needed. 

The "out with the old" spirit of the Enlightenment has, in my opinion, contributed to anxiety. At first the prospect of the now and the future seems exciting. However, if previous generations were unable to comprehend anything rightly, what makes us so sure we have things right now? If something could be held as true for centuries, and then thrown out as completely untenable, what does that say about the power of the human mind? If people were previously duped, then how can we be sure we aren't duped now? They thought they were right. What makes us the exception?

By throwing everything out, the message we are saying is this: people can believe something is true (God) for centuries, and be totally off. They can build whole civilizations and intellectual traditions on this idea, and it can all be a lie.

If so, then either we aren't very smart, or reality is not stable and comprehensible. Either way, anxiety is bound to sink in.

Meditation ~ Classical Temperaments: Strengths & Weaknesses

The classical four temperaments (Phlegmatic, Choleric, Sanguine, Melancholic) are an old, but simple and therefore helpful way of thinking about personality. I enjoyed reading The Temperament God Gave You (Bennett & Bennett).

What is personality?

One way of thinking about it might be, "what drives us," and in a sense, what we value.

Action and achievement? (choleric) Enjoyment, having fun? (sanguine) The intellectual life? (melancholic) Peace and connectedness? (phlegmatic)

Each temperament negotiates the goods of life differently. One good is pursued in preference to the others. While each temperament has a gift, the gift comes at a cost.

Action comes at the expense of peace and reflection.
Fun comes at the expense of study and work.
The intellectual life comes at the expense of enjoying life physically and socially.
Peace and connectedness come at the expense of adventure and challenge.

The longer I live, the more I understand life in terms of participating in God's own life. We know that action, fun, intelligence, and stability all have their place in God's own life. We need some aptitude in every category in order to approximate a Godly life.

There is truly more than one way to be a person!

It seems to not be God's will that we seek complete balance. Rather, the concept of the Body of Christ invites us to acknowledge our strengths and weaknesses, and turn to the community to benefit from the gifts which we ourselves do not possess.

While there is certainly a time and place for becoming more well rounded, there is greater peace in appreciating the capabilities we do have, and allowing others to shine in the areas where we do not.

Theological ~ Conversion and Sanctification

Conversion begins with an awareness of many things: life is worth living well, and that there is something exciting to discover and do; the existence of "right" and "wrong," and accountability towards a higher power; the draw of deep desires and wanting to be definitively happy; the presence of fears, insecurities, and pain which make existence burdensome.

A lively awareness of all of these things is like the planting of the seeds. Potentiality is created and movement towards God can begin.

The awareness that all of these things converge one way or another in the God of the Bible and the Catholic Church is the essence of conversion. In the process of conversion, which culminates in baptism, we bring our lives to God and say, "okay, set this right."

Sanctification is the total healing. It's the thrill of watching desires that used to seem antagonistic make peace with each other. That way, the soul can stop being at odds with itself. Before sanctification, life looks something like this:

A life of highs and lows. Moments of great inspiration where you feel God is tugging on you, but then life. You feel split between the need to "follow your dreams" and do your duty towards society. The mundane of life becomes burdensome but seems inescapable. Your personal dysfunction becomes inescapable. You know there is "more" to life, and wonder where and if you took a wrong turn. Maybe that person has it figured out. You don't know how to not compete with them. Obviously, you're not one of those amazing, enlightened people. Maybe you could be if you just willed the self-confidence and worked hard enough. So then you start working really hard, pursing that dream that will make it all worth it, only to find yourself exhausted and unfulfilled (regardless of whether or not you achieved it). You may sense a desire to be self-sacrificial, to not live for yourself. But you have bills to pay and you do need to live and care for yourself, so what would that look like? Meanwhile life keeps coming at you, and you have to make big decisions. Even little decisions are big decisions. What is the wise way to allocate energy? time? money? vote? Stay in this relationship or not? Stay in this career path or not? At best you think about it and then "follow your heart" but that starts to feel like a stab in the dark. You want answers and you don't have them.

Sanctification resolves all of these tensions. We learn to locate our deepest desires and their fulfillment in God Himself. This frees us up from absolute dependency on anyone or anything contingent. God heals us of the sin that irrationally divides us from others and ourselves. We make peace with suffering because we know that patiently enduring it and offering it up is how we make an offering of our lives to God and neighbor and die to sin. God gives us a specific niche and purpose (vocation!) and we learn to find joy in living within those boundaries. He teaches us the proper time and place for everything good. Within the boundaries of our little lives, we are filled with the Spirit of God dwelling in our hearts as a tabernacle. Life takes on a quality of connectedness and purposefulness. We see beauty in the messes and in the process because we know God wills them for our sanctification. We have the peace of mind of doing and being what God wills. We learn to delight in the diversity of the Mystical Body and enjoy the gifts we and others bring to the whole. We learn that love isn't you over me or me over you, but a Trinitarian "coming together." We taste the good life and know how to cultivate it and abide in it. We encounter the transcendent in the Mass. We experience the unspeakable gift of the Eucharist. We know we have "found it."