On letting go
Concepts create idols, only wonder grasps anything.
-Gregory of Nyssa
-Gregory of Nyssa
posted by Kat | 9/02/2004 06:12:00 pm
- Romans 8 - On Waiting
- More abstract ramblings (and a brief moan)
- Not-so-boring text
- Floundering
- Boring text
- My, how exciting this is
- Is everyone sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin:
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3 Comments:
Sounds deep and meaningful, but to me it's meaningless. What's it actually talking about?
Oh, true, sorry. Well I read it quoted in a book about doubt (regarding Christianity that is) and how to deal with it, and how to live with the fact that we can't know all the things we want to. The quote wasn't discussed by the author, just an inset on the page, but to me it means that if we try to rationalise God or faith with 'concepts' that supposedly explain things - even really good ones that get close to the truth - we will always fall short, and may even come to depend on our explanations at the expense of true faith and obedience. That's what I think the idols thing is about. And it's only when we can bring ourselves to let go of rationalising, when we consent to just marvel at mystery instead of trying to dispel it, that we can see as God wants us to see. That, I think, is what faith is - really letting go of our dependence on understanding. So basically I guess it's a paraphrase of Proverbs 3:5, 'trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.' Something I'm struggling with at the moment, which I suppose is why the quote grabbed me. Another one of those counter-intuitive paradoxes, where we get understanding by letting go of understanding.
Hmm, maybe...[ponders for a bit] I'm not saying concepts are bad in themselves, I guess. Sometimes they are all we have, and we have to hang on for dear life to the things we have come to understand. Still, in times like that, it's because there are things that seem to challenge our understanding that we have to hang on in that way, trusting that there's something more that hasn't yet been revealed to us. So we are conceding that our understanding is insufficient, which is good. But when we hang onto our understanding arrogantly, then there's a problem. Though certainly, as you say, a lot of our concepts and stuff have come through revelation so we are right to trust them.
I dunno, maybe I'm just saying all this because for me, 'observing with elated feelings of [temporary] joy' is one of the best things there is in life...possibly even the best thing. To me, wonder is superior, and is the thing that encourages me to keep having my understanding refined...which I think is what you said?
Obviously there's plenty of joy to be found in everyday stuff too. Clearly one can't live in a constant state of detached awe, and it's in the real world that we are to carry out God's plan and all. Maybe once I'm done being a student and have a house and a job and a family and everything, I'll be more down-to-earth, and love it just as much. Meh, I'm confused now. Perhaps that's what happens when you try to explain wonder. My brain hurts.
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