The Second

Paradox lies at the heart of the most meaningful truths.   For example, “Pray as though everything depends on God; behave as though everything depends on you.” I’ve seen this attributed to Christian and to Jewish sources, and I dare to think the concept lives in the repositories of wisdom in many other places. It can be helpful to see paradox as lopping off extremes.   For example, part of the above quote warns against using God’s sovereignty as an excuse for indifference.   But it also warns against the opposite extreme of complete self reliance, as though nothing gets done without you!   Cutting those out clears the conceptual stage, creating space that can then be filled with any number of good ways to rely on the Lord proactively. What are some of these ways?   I smile to remember examples that others have shared with me.   Each one that comes to mind can be ambiguously interpreted.   For example, my own history includes three distinct e...

As I begin this entry it is the Saturday before Forgiveness Sunday.  In other words, Lent starts in full on Monday.  So what?  We have had Lent in years before, and here we go again.  Why isn’t this just another instance of “been there, done that?”  It could be just such an experience.  In fact, it might be worth counting the number of things in the day-to-day routine that fall under the label “been there done that.”  Wake up, fall out of bead, shower, dress, eat, drink coffee, read, pray, drive to work, work (and its many routines), and so on.  Come to think of it, it might be easier to ask what is NOT subject to “been there done that.” So many things pass quickly by, make impact—ever so slightly—and disappear escaping notice.  Just like “been there done that.”  Not merely dismissive, the phrase pulls down a dark mood, and with it a dry humor that makes palatable that dark hue.  The darkness of it says, in effect, “that bores me...