Sunday, February 10, 2008
Making sense outta nonsense
Human race has always been obsessed with logic. When a car is on the brink of breaking down, we scurry off to the mechanics to find out the cause of the problem. When we have a bad day at work, we point the finger at our boss, colleagues, or even the lagging and overworked laptop we're using. When a cheating husband walks out on the family, we come up with a hundred and one reasons as to what went wrong in the relationship.
Somehow, through the evolution of time, human race has been taught to question, analyse and make sense out of everything. Somehow, we need answers as to why certain things go wrong and why certain things happen in our life. That's how stem cell technology, information technology, divorces and suicides came about. We are always in need of answers - quick fixes - to the issues that arise in society and in our personal lives.
Today, I learnt a lesson on irrationality: The fact that some things in life simply don't make much sense. The fact that some things in life are meant to be irrational and senseless. The fact that God allows certain things to happen in our lives without owing us an explanation.
It didn't make sense to Mary when the angel appeared to her and said she will bear a child without having sexual intercourse with Joseph. She said ok anyway. And it certainly didn't make sense for Jesus - purely divine, purely human - to suffer and die on a cross. He did it anyway.
God did not promise us logic. He did not promise us certainty. What He did promise is to stand beside us in the face of irrationality and unpredictability. Taking that leap to carry our crosses faithfully means embracing the pain, suffering and senselessness that greet us - not that God is being senseless but on contrary, His plan is so perfectly logical that we, mere humans, are unable to comprehend it. Such is the divine mystery which our faith is rooted on. And it looks like the nonsense in our life will eventually make perfect sense after all.
Father into Your hands I commend my spirit.
Posted by Jo at 2:08 AM
