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The “Who” Behind The “How”

Who

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.


Science, in all its aspects, is wonderful. Human eyes have found a way penetrate into the minute subtleties of reality and discover, not only how they function, but how to combine and adjust them for healing and for technological breakthroughs.

Science has told us much about our micro-reality, and much also about our macro-reality, including the positioning of the earth in the midst of a vast solar system and a universe that is much vaster still.

It has revealed to us secrets about the code defining all life, DNA, and the processes by which the miraculous biological phenomenon/process sustains itself without external drivers.

Science tells us the “how” of nature, but it does not tell us the “who.” It is not just the existence of the material world that begs the question, “who made it.” Nor is it just the complex variability. It is the intelligibility of the universe, especially such incredibly harmonious and impossibly coordinated elements as the self-sustaining process of life, that begs the question, “who.” Far from there existing any conflict between this question and science, the very foundation of science–the wondrous intelligibility of the universe–is precisely what bids us seek out the Mastermind.

As it happens, given that we have a personal God who in various ways has reached out to us, the investigation of this “who” is not itself properly speaking a scientific one. Rather, we have the luxury of its being a relational investigation: a “getting to know you,” so to speak.

The author of today’s first reading has enjoyed some form of this interpersonal connection. He speaks of God in the most personal tones, as he praises the work of His hands. In all of the daunting complexity and splendor of nature, he recognizes the craft of this Person.

In today’s gospel, this encounter becomes much more intimate, as Bartimaeus receives from the hands of Jesus the healing of his blindness. He who formed the very concept of the eyeball and its function of apprehending nature so marvelously restores, person to person, the sight of this blind man.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: In today’s meditation, consider for a moment that you have the opportunity to meet and interact personally with the Creator of the universe. Pick an element of creation that particularly inspires awe for you, and think, that the One who came up with the very idea for that awe-inspiring creation–and the way to make it a reality–wants to engage in friendship with you. Praise Him for His work.

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Not Just an Apple

Apple

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.


Some may find the story of Adam and Eve’s first sin simple and unsophisticated. But though the language may be simple, the nuances of this account are anything but unsophisticated.

The act of Adam and Eve in response to the serpent’s half-truths–for the Father of Lies speaks not pure falsehoods, but half-truths to lure us to sin–their act appears hardly worthy of the collapse of all nature into a twisted taint. After all, objectively speaking, all they did was eat some fruit. Forbidden or not, how could this be so incredibly consequential?

On the contrary, objectively speaking, the essence of their act was not the consumption of fruit. It was outright, conscious, willful disobedience to God’s command.

The account is anything but unsophisticated because it captures a dichotomy that occurs with our personal sin as well. We are so quick to trivialize our sin. Why not sleep with her, even before marriage, if I love her? What can one little white fib do? Will God really condemn me for missing one Sunday Mass? Etc.

What we fail to recognize is the profound gravity of disobeying the Creator of all, when He has laid out for us His will. Never mind that much of what He forbids can openly be seen to be destructive to our nature. Disobedience to the Omnipotent brings about a cataclysmic fracture in the order of things. Hence, from the mere picking and eating of a fruit, all humankind has suffered a grave contortion of our instincts. Physical nature itself bears the scars.

For it was not the mere picking and eating of a fruit. It was disobedience to Him to whom absolute obedience is owed absolutely.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to take everything away from you, if He must, but to preserve uncompromised your obedience to His Father. Ask Him to preserve you in an obedience that mirrors His, which impelled Him to accept willingly the most difficult fate ever visited upon human flesh.

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