A good imagination

This week is the mission at our parish to help us partake in Lent.  The speaker is Father Ron Rolheiser.  I read one of his books at Notre Dame (or I was supposed to read it!), "The Shattered Latern."  I've read several of his other books, including "The Holy Longing."  I've been looking forward to seeing him speak since it was announced this last summer.  He did not disappoint.  He spoke for two hours yesterday and there were so many things that I wish I could share.  The topic of his sharing is "Faith and Doubt."

The first night, Monday, was about faith.  One of the most vivid things I took from this night is that faith is always there and God is always there. Often we feel alone and like God has left us, but this is NOT the case.   One night, after a retreat or an intense spiritual experience, we may feel very close to God, and feel his intensity in our heart.  It is easy to believe.  On another night, we may feel alone, laying in the dark of our soul wondering where God might be.  It's not that God is more or less present on either night.  It's that on one night we have a very active imagination and the other we don't. God is always there.

He also talked about the question of "What is God?"  How do we find him?  Two things about this:

1.  These questions are like baby fish asking a Mama fish, "What is water?"  How does she explain this?  They are immersed in water, it is every where and how is she to explain to them something that envelopes them in totality?   He joked that if the Mama fish was very technologically savvy, she might bust out a Powerpoint presentation and show her baby fish pictures of water - a water fall, a river, a pond, etc.  But these would still just be images on a screen of what water is, there would be no way to explain in totality what "water is."  This is like God, he is infinite, he is everywhere. Our words, our art, our songs, the things we use to try to experience God - are just that - tools to experience part of the infinite, part of that which envelopes us.  He also gave the example of a fetus in a womb.  We are the fetus, God is the infinite entity of which we cannot know but we are a part of, He surrounds us, nourishes us and sustains us.

2. At the end, he said "Have you ever forgiven someone else, only to gain nothing by it, not even internal satisfaction?  Have you ever made a sacrifice without receiving any thanks or acknowledgement?  Have you ever decided to do a thing purely for the sake of conscious, knowing you must bear it's sole responsibility for your decision without being able to explain it to anyone?  Have you ever tried to act purely for love, with no logic to sustain you, acts in the dark and seem like pure nonsense?  Were you ever good to someone without receiving a trace of gratitude, without the comfortable feeling of being unselfish? If you have done any of these things, then you have known God."

Father Rolheiser

He also had a myriad of jokes that were interwoven into the more meaty content. One of my favorites:

A woman gave up all sweets for Lent.  A real temptation was that she had to drive past a bakery every day on her way to work.  She solved this by taking another way to work.  One day, her route was blocked and she was forced to drive past the bakery.  She was truly tempted to stop in and get a pastry.  It must be a sign from God that there was construction on her alternate route!  She still felt a little guilty, so she made a "deal" with God.  She would drive through the parking lot and if there was an open parking spot (which btw, there never would be in LA) then it was God's will that she was to break her Lenten promise and get a pastry.  Well, what do you know? God is a loving God! She found a parking spot.....on her eighth trip through the parking lot!