To beast or not to beast... that is the question.

The Listening Post is open… sorry I’ve been away for a bit.

                                    To beast or not to beast... that is the question. :-P

Ever get caught multi-tasking when you're supposed to be focused? 

While studying the hundreds of hues in the stained glass window depicting Saint Peter, right there next to my pew, I got caught up in the curves and colors and the creation of the art and the life and times of the saint himself. Good grief. Time to tune in. Through the echoes of “Taste and see, taste and see, the goodness of the Lord”, which I had just finished singing with the congregation, I hear the priest musing during his homily, “What if tomorrow no numbers existed? We wouldn't be able to survive. We couldn't measure time, we’d not be able to see what was in our bank account, how much to pay at the grocery store, etc.

Numbers seem to exist – but have you ever seen the number one? The actual number one? You’ve seen  written versions of it, pennies which representation one sent, etc., but you can’t truly see one, nor can you taste it, hear it, smell it. Feel it. It just is." 

Numbers are elusive. We experience them, but their abstract, intangible selves are not in our realm.

So it is with love. You can see it in someone’s eyes, feel it in their touch, hear it in their voice, but it is not to be defined either, only represented by human gestures. It’s elusive, but we know it.

So it is with God, who is love. God cannot be defined or quantified or explained. He just is.  People spend a lot of time trying to discredit the existence of God and use logic to dispel Christianity. They are somewhat correct. Logic has no place in love. I’ve said it before. Logic has no place in the night when a newborn is crying and you cuddle and comfort them through bleary eyes. Logic has no place in a marriage, where two completely different individuals share one life. Logic has no place in forgiveness, which is the expression of love. It makes no sense to continue to actively love someone who makes spikes in the seismograph of your life, and it’s easier to say, “I can’t deal with you” than to seek different ways to be in relationship.

Love makes us human. The priest this morning reminded us that we are animals with a soul. He even  admitted that he has often been a dirtbag, brushing people off, logically 'focusing on the task at hand" -- or conversely, aiming for the jugular to prove a point. ( D'Oh! When did start tailing me? Guilty as charged.) If we do not love, and hurt others in our own pain -- or worse, turn away from others who have hurt us or caused turmoil for us, we are merely beasts. 

We can taste and see the goodness of the Lord, which smells like, tastes like, feels like, sounds like, and looks like forgiveness and compassion – or we can live within our self-imposed boundaries, eliminating anything we can’t explain or control. Tidy up a bit to make ourselves feel like a better person. Seems like it might get a little stuffy in there… I can testify to that. Sigh.

Do you need to forgive someone? Be forgiven?? Forgive yourself? All comments are private and anonymous, when you click on the comment box at the bottom of the link.

.