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Carrying
Certainty with Openness
January
15, 2006
John
1:35-42
Fr.
George Smiga
A
man, who had a deep love of drama and the theater, heard of
a new magazine to which he sincerely wanted to subscribe.
It was called Theater Arts and it contained articles
about the theater and reviews of most of the major productions
throughout the country. He knew that it was published in New
York City , but other than that he only had the name. So it
occurred to him that he might be able to make contact with
the magazine by calling information and finding the phone
number. He called the information operator.
She
asked him: “What city?”
He
said: “ New York City .”
“What
listing are you looking for?”
He
said: “Theater Arts.”
There
was a pause and then the operator said: “I'm sorry sir, but
we have no listing for any person named Theodore Arts.”
He
said: “Oh, I'm sorry, you misunderstood me. I'm not looking
for a person. I'm looking for a magazine, Theater Arts
.”
There
was a pause and then the operator continued in a rather testy
tone, “I've already said, sir, we don't have a listing for
anyone named Theodore Arts.”
The
man took a deep breath and he said: “Mam, the word is Theater,
T-H-E-A-T-E-R,
to which the operator responded:
“Sir,
that's no way to spell the name, Theodore.”
If
there is humor in this story, it is not humor in which the
operator was able to participate. From her perspective, she
was dealing with a difficult man who did not accept her expertise.
She was certain that the information she was giving was correct
and was frustrated that the man could not accept it. Now,
in a certain sense she was correct. There was no listing for
“Theodore Arts,” but the very certainty of what she knew blocked
her ability to see something larger. She lacked openness to
another perspective, to a new possibility that could have
made all the difference.
Openness
is a virtue that is sorely lacking in our culture. People
are believing things with more and more certainty and are
being more and more divided from one another because of it.
Whether the discussion is the war in Iraq or health care or
abortion or the latest nominee for the Supreme Court, more
and more people are certain that they are right. Such rightness
then defines them as enemies of those who think differently.
In our time, truth is clothing itself in a religious perspective.
People who believe in Israel , who believe in Jesus, who believe
in Mohammad, believe that they are right. At least for some,
that rightness seems to warrant doing terrible things in the
name of Israel , in the name of Jesus, in the name of Mohammad.
Now,
I am not saying that truth is up for grabs. All of us are
called to find the truth and we are able to believe things
deeply. But mature faith carries certainty with openness,
an openness that there might be more to learn. Such openness
understands that there may be something more which we do not
see. Being open in this way can enlarge our truth and open
new possibilities that we cannot imagine.
In
this regard, Andrew is our model in today's Gospel. Andrew
was a disciple of John the Baptist and he was certain that
John the Baptist was sent from God. Yet Andrew carried his
certainty with openness. Therefore, when John pointed to Jesus
and said, “Look, there is the Lamb of God,” Andrew did not
respond, “No, He's not,” or “John, you must have lost your
mind.” He was open enough to hear what John said, to follow
Jesus and explore for himself. He eventually became a disciple
of the Lord. You and I are called to follow the example of
Andrew, to hold what we believe with an openness that there
might be more, to realize that the truth is always larger
than the small clear piece which we are able to grasp.
So
the next time that you are in a political conversation, try
to see more than the truth that you believe and are trying
to protect. Listen to see if there is a larger picture, a
different angle that you might recognize. Will that listening
change your political views? Probably not, but unless we're
willing to listen to others, how do we ever expect to develop
a wise social policy or a peaceful world?
The
next time you encounter someone, who you find difficult to
love, someone who annoys you or frustrates you, see if you
can recognize a larger truth, something bigger than the hurts
and the resentments which you carry. See if you can find some
understanding or compassion that could change the relationship.
Will that effort on your part mean that you will come to respect
the person who frustrates you or become his or her close friend?
Probably not, but unless we are willing to listen, to enlarge
our thinking, how do we ever expect healing or reconciliation
to happen? How can life move forward, if all we're willing
to do is to hold on to the certainties of the past?
All
of us are called to learn from our own experience. We need
to make judgments about what is true and follow them. We need
to determine what the truth is and let it guide our lives.
But wise people understand that no one person possesses all
of the truth; and the followers of Jesus recognize that we
are most in tune with the will of God when we carry the truth
which we can see, with an openness to the truth which is still
hidden from us.
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