When Knowing Fails

This photo by Gary Hamburg is available at his website.
It depicts that time of day when "hanging out" with God comes naturally.

Still pondering the last half month. I’m concluding it is right to speak up and to push back when it seems that something important is being lost. It’s not about whether you “hold your peace” as Uncle Hervey used to say. It’s about whether you keep your peace. I’m remembering that The Anatomy of Peace asserts that you can “go to war with a heart at peace.” And certainly Gandhi taught that we should push back, but in a way that shows respect for all involved. In fact, he didn’t like the phrase “civil disobedience” so he created a phrase from Sanskrit: satyagraha. It means “truth and firmness.” I like that.

Jesus modeled standing up to wrong. He defended people in the face of unfairness and lack of mercy. He defended the right of the Gentiles to have their worship area in the temple courts free of merchandizing. He did tell us not to resist an evil person, but the word translated “resist” means to fight back violently. So resistance is fine, but we need to be sure we are keeping respect for the other person or group. This is easy to understand, even fairly easy to accept, but not so easy to practice.

That’s because our heads can grasp things before they become a habit to the body. Getting your theology or philosophy figured out is important to building the beliefs that will set the direction of your life. But you don’t “live” in the center of your mental world surrounded by your rational beliefs. You live in the physical world where things happen too quickly for logic and rational explanation. So, something in you has to be programmed for split-second, knee-jerk reaction.

Reacting in the split-second “moment of truth” in a way that honors God requires a sense of His presence. His presence is what brings that “peace that passes all understanding.” We gain a sense of presence by association rather than by discussion, by being with Him rather than by studying Him.

Both are important. Our rationally developed theology guides our life; our “hanging out” with God guides our living.