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December 28, 2005
> 5:21 PM
have we ever once... Thank you again Father Karl. Picked up Rahner again and go to this section where he's talking about our "experience of the spirit" - what people call that, if we even have it, etc. Good stuff. In the middle he goes on a little German rant of sorts about how we have or have not experienced God's Spirit in our lives. Very much worth a read and a meditation. Have we ever once remained silent, though we wanted to defend ourselves, though we were treated unfairly? Have we ever once forgiven, though we received no reward for it and people took it for granted? Have we ever once obeyed, not because we had to or else we'd have had unpleasantness, but simply because of that mysterious, silent, unfathomable reality we call God and God's will? Have we ever once made a sacrifice, without thanks, without recognition, even without a feeling of satisfaction inside? Have we ever once been absolutely lonely? Have we ever once made up our mind to do something purely on the basis of our conscience's innermost judgment, from a place beyond where anyone can express it or describe it, a place where you are quite alone, and where you know you are making a decision that no one will take away from you and for which the responsibility will be yours, always and eternally? Have we ever once tried to love God in a place where no wave of felt enthusiasm is carrying us along anymore, where we can no longer mix up ourselves and our own life impulse with God - a place where we think that this kind of love is killing us, where this love looks like death and absolute negativity, a place where we seem to be calling into the void, into something unspeakable, a place where it looks like a terrible leap into a bottomless expanse, a place where everything seems to be getting out of control and ceasing - so it seems - to make sense? Have we ever done our duty in a situation where it seems that we can do it only with a burning feeling of negating and obliterating our very self, when it seems that we are doing something terribly stupid for which no one is going to thank us? Have we ever once been good to someone from whom no echo of gratitude or comprehension comes back, and neither were we rewarded with the feeling of having been "selfless," decent, or the like? Oh my, he does go on and on, but please read every word, every "have we ever once" and find yourself. You are there. I am there. And be careful not to leave comments answering the questions or you may nullify anything he's talking about that you may be trying to justify in yourself. You may have spoken the silent nullification yourself, which was always there, by thinking of answering. This litany of questions, to me, signifies a great wisdom in the man who asked them. They speak of very definite life-things which we all know about. The also pin us to the wall, all of us. Again, any time I point something like this out, it's not for the purpose of condemnation. Our taking it that way says more about our insides than what is being said. I feel "good" reading this. It rings of Truth and the Eternal Spirit of whom he is referring, so whatever Truth has been grafted well into my insides reverberates with harmony with what it hears. Let that happen. Let it call you to greater union, to a deeper love. technorati tags > spirituality, spiritual formation, karl rahner, theology Labels: spiritual formation, theology 0 Comments:| permalink | e-mail me | 
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