BECOMING GOD'S CHILD
January 11, 2010
The
words still ring in my ears: “Inevitably difficulties arise.
Crises will occur – as they must.” These words, spoken by a
graduate school teacher, impressed me by the quality of inwardness
they expressed. One sensed the weight of experience behind the
articulation, and also that the speaker seemed to be speaking as
much to herself as to her listeners, as if awakening to the
significance of her words as they were being spoken
Words spoken with conviction
retain a certain power to resonate in consciousness. They may
be stored away for long periods of time, unused and seemingly
forgotten, and then become available again when they are
needed. That is how wisdom works. Wisdom operates on the level
of experience and generates insight and understanding about
practical matters relating to living one’s life formatively.
Most of us would readily agree
that life can be difficult and challenging. Crises can and do
occur. Many of us probably work hard to keep up with the
challenges and to keep situations “in check.” Sometimes
problems keep life interesting; at other times, they create
stress and discouragement. My teacher, a highly responsible and
effective person, was accustomed to daily struggles and
problem-solving, which made me think that she wasn’t speaking
about the ordinary difficulties we encounter. Without revealing
particulars, she was invoking a deeper experience of personal
crisis – i.e., the reality that unforeseen events can alter our
lives and defy our best attempts at management and control.
Wisdom of course does not entail
knowing ahead of time what these personal crises will be and how
they will affect us. Wisdom also does not give us the ability
we might like to have to control or manage these circumstances.
Wisdom, rather, keeps the heart open to experience and fosters
receptivity to acquiring insight even in the midst of pain and
suffering. Above all wisdom, embodied in the words, images and
shared experiences we carry in our hearts, inclines us to
respond faithfully to what happens to us – to continue
to live faithfully when situations lie outside of our control.
Reflecting on difficulties that
lie beyond our control, I was reminded of the consoling
Christmas
homily of Archbishop Rowan Williams alluded to in last
week’s New Year’s Reflection. “The new thing at Christmas,”
states the Archbishop, “God’s gift at Christmas . . . is
relationship, the possibility of being related to God as Jesus
was.” Basing himself on the Letter to the Hebrews, Williams
reminds us that it is our destiny to be even closer to God than
the angels are. These are consoling words and an incredible
promise! We are invited to know and to respond to God in
relationship – to become God’s child. Among other things,
this promise of relationship is meant to support us and to
remind us that we are dependent on God. But, writes Williams,
there’s a catch and a challenge: “To come into this glorious
future is to learn to be dependent on God.” Jesus is “radiant,
creative, overflowing with life and intelligence . . . because
he is dependent, because he receives his life from God.” The
dependency we are thus called to is not passive but utterly
creative. Entering into full relationship with God – gladly and
unashamedly dependent as Jesus is – opens us up to “receiving
all God has to give . . . (and) learning all God has to teach.”
In one of his shorter works,
Unless You Become Like This Child, Hans Urs von Balthasar
similarly emphasizes the role of dependency. He compares
spiritual childhood with the human child’s need to be cared for:
“In everything the child is dependent on free acts of giving by
others. . . . Because the child is needy, it is also thankful in
its deepest being, even before making any free, moral decision
to be so.” To be a child means to owe one’s existence to
another. For Balthasar this suggests being taught to be
thankful not only for specific things received, but also for the
person we are – for the original awareness of our life as
given. Because we never outgrow our condition as children, we
therefore never outgrow the obligation to give thanks for
ourselves or to ask for our being.
The promise and gift of
relationship with God presupposes the potency to receive this
gift. The phrase “such is the
kingdom
of God” has
been understood to mean that only those who know how to receive
can enter the kingdom. Our spiritual potency enables us “to
reconnect ourselves to our own capacity to become like little
children – to receive and learn with joy and excitement.” (R.
Williams) “Whosoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter into it.”
(Mk 10:15)
