Foundations solidify. They create safety, security, and well-being. Knowing we live on solid stones protects us from feeling faint, even sick and horrific. Without cornerstones, scripturally understood as the Prophets and the Law of the Lord, life becomes imbalanced.
Who am I? Delving into the mystery of our lives, everyone searches for meaning and purpose. For most, identity comes from what we do. Our employment identifies, or a hobby, or activity. For some, a tragedy or a trauma defines them. Sadly, these two intensify our self-perception creating a distorted even debased identity.
A world filled with opportunities, avenues open and chances inspire. Purpose gives meaning. Having hope drives us. Nothing drives a person more than a vision. To envision our lives filled with value, meaning, and most importantly transcendence, impacts us to excel.
Sin overwhelms. As a torrent, swirling sucking us into its current, sin seduces us. Addicted by sin’s tentacles, sin strangles and then abuses our very selves. Yet, despite the dysfunction caused by our addictive desires, we love our sin. It’s our addiction, a disordered desire to pacify our neediness.
Rebukes sting. They cut, pierce, and leave one raw and reeling. Our dignity and identity have been attacked. Our vision of truth and goodness has been assaulted. Our reality has been shattered. Yet, instead of feeling rebuked, the comment corrects our misperceptions.
As strong as hate appears, love is stronger. As final as death is, love resurrects life. As horrific as suffering seems, love conquers, for love gives the definitive meaning to our lives. Those without love - empty, shattered, and broken - suffer despair for they have nothing to live for.
Intrigued by the presence of another, we want to know: Who are you? Our curiosity delves into the depths trying to know who another person is. They are mystery, an enigma creating a thrill deep within our hearts. We inquire, investigate, and explore trying to understand, apprehend, and most importantly appreciate the other.
Convicted in Christ, He becomes our way, truth, and life. He frees us from Satan’s condemnation. Satan, a powerful, dark force, attacks us internally but more importantly assaults us externally. He tempts us with sin making it look attractive, but after sinning, he condemns mocking us, making us feel ugly..
Darkness creates fear. So does the unknown, the past, and the future. Fear arises when known and unknown forces impinge upon us, pressing us to act contrary to our natural instincts. Living in the present moment, feeling the pains of the past, concerned about the future awaiting the worst, hoping for the best, fear easily paralyzes us.
Within our hearts, an abyss exists. So deep, profound, and mysterious, it is insatiable. Authors call it the divine void, a longing in our heart for a transcendent fulfillment. This abyss exists so an interpersonal and interdependent relationship with another whose love is so immense can fill the void.
Treasures steal our hearts, creating desires that drive us beyond our abilities. Driven, we comb the world looking for that one treasure which fulfills all our desires. It is the priceless pearl, the golden vessel, pandoras box? This one treasure, so hard to find, yet so satisfies we will do anything to obtain and indulge in such ecstasy.
Riddles produce wisdom. Wisdom perceives mysteries. Mysteries proclaim the greatest paradox. God brings good out of evil (Rom 8: 28). All events are under God’s providence. Planned since the foundation of the world (Ps 78:2; Matt 13:35), God’s providence has one sole purpose: our salvation.
Riddles reveal mysteries. Yet riddles confuse sharp minds stupefying even the ingenious. Stupefied, many reject riddles discounting them as absurd becoming hardened not only in heart but also in mind. Minds and hearts hardened, they no longer ponder or wonder about the riddles especially those that offer incredible insights concerning life.
Knowledge creates power. Powerful knowledge comes at a cost. That cost disciplines our minds, hearts, and wills to delve deeply into the mysteries hidden from the foundations of the world. Delving into these mysteries, Wisdom, the mind and heart of God, becomes visible and real. Wisdom “knows and understands all things” (Wis 9:11), but more than just knowing and understanding, “She will guide me wisely in my actions and guard me with her glory” (Wis 9:11).
St. Bonaventure, a Franciscan Friar of the 13th Century took the place of St. Francis of Assisi, as the leader of this new and strange order, the Friars Minor. They became known as the Mendicants or literally, the ones who beg. Before becoming the head of the newly formed religious order, he was a professor in Paris, along with St. Thomas Aquinas and other great masters of the time.
Who knows the desires of one’s heart? Deceitful, “desperately corrupt” Jeremiah tells us (Jer 17:9) The depths and breadth of our desires bewilder us. Lost in this space, anxiety grows for we do not know the direction our heart should take. As St. Paul cries out, “I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do” (Rom 7:19)…
Enmity creates enemies. Two wills combat creating havoc and chaos. Each one is trying to force the other into submission. Enmity, that hatred which develops in the heart, creates bitterness, which causes violence, terrorism, and vengeance. This notion of enmity differs from the biblical notion…
Koinonia, a term with many meanings but they all express a communion, a participation, an inheritance of the other. Maybe the term, intercourse, graphically defines Koinonia. We enter into an intimate relationship with the other becoming one. In union, our characteristics and personalities blend making us indistinguishable with the other. This is Koinonia.
