Do you think you need to do it right?

We Come to God by Doing It Wrong
Thursday, August 3, 2017

Jesus’ story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) and his story of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9-14) are both wonderful illustrations of how Jesus turns a spirituality of climbing, achieving, and perfection upside down. In both stories, the ones who have done it wrong and are humble about it (the younger son and the tax collector) are the ones who are forgiven, transformed, and rewarded. Those who are proud of how they have done everything right—but also feel superior to others, or feel they are now entitled—are not open to God’s blessing. This is Jesus’ Great Reversal theme. He turns religion on its head. We thought we came to God by doing it right, and lo and behold, surprise of surprises, we come to God by doing it wrong—and growing because of it! The only things strong enough to break open our heart are things like pain, mistakes, unjust suffering, tragedy, failure, and the general absurdity of life. I wish it were not so, but it clearly is.

Fortunately, life will lead us to the edge of our own resources through such events. We must be led to an experience or situation that we cannot fix or control or understand. That’s where faith begins. Up to that moment it has just been religion! Only on the other side do you know that everything has been preparation.

When Jesus called out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” he himself had to face the darkness and absurdity of life (Matthew 27:46). On the cross, Jesus’ human mind had no reason to believe that God was his Father, that God loved him, or that this death had any transformative, redemptive meaning. At this moment Jesus fully and totally fell into the hands of the living God. And that is called resurrection. This is the mystery of faith. - Fr. Richard Rohr

Thoughts about God

"In the old days, when there was less education and discussion, perhaps it was possible to get on with a very few simple ideas about God. But it is not so now. Everyone reads, everyone hears things discussed. Consequently, if you do not listen to Theology, that will not mean that you have no ideas about God. It will mean that you have a lot of wrong ones—bad, muddled, out-of-date ideas. For a great many of the ideas about God which are trotted out as novelties today are simply the ones which real Theologians tried centuries ago and rejected."

— C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity p. 155

A prayer for today

"My great God, you know all that is in the universe, because you yourself have

made it. It is the very work of your hands. You are omniscient, because you

are omnicreative. You know each part, however minute, as perfectly as you

know the whole. You know mind as perfectly as you know matter. You

know the thoughts and purposes of every soul as perfectly as if there were

no other soul in the whole of your creation. You know me through and

through; all my present, past, and future are before you as one whole. You

see all those delicate and evanescent motions of my thought which altogether

escape myself. You can trace every act, whether deed or thought, to its origin

and can follow it into its whole growth and consequences. You know how it

will be with me at the end; you have before you that hour when I shall come

to you to be judged. How awful is the prospect of finding myself in the

presence of my judge! Yet, O Lord, I would not that you should not know

me. It is my greatest stay to know that you read my heart. Oh, give me

more of that openhearted sincerity which I have desired. Keep me ever

rom being afraid of your eye, from the inward consciousness that I am

not honestly trying to please you. Teach me to love you more, and then

I shall be at peace, without any fear of you at all."

— Bl. John Henry Newman, Everyday Meditations,  p.150