Thursday, July 26, 2012

Logic Doesn't Make Sense


Thursday 7/26/2012 4:48 AM
During the past week I have been trying to make sense of the shooting rampage in a crowded movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, allegedly perpetrated by James Holmes.  It seems he planned the attack for months, amassing guns, tear gas, and ammunition before carrying out the attack.  Like others, the seeming randomness of the act puzzles me the most.  It is another reminder that each day of life is a gift from God that should not be taken for granted.
The words of Psalm 62:5-8 are a good reminder to me this morning.  “Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him.  Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.  My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.  Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.”  It is certainly good advice to trust in God rather than to trust in people but that advice rings somewhat hollow in the current circumstances.  The last verses of Psalm 62 read, “One thing God has spoken, two things I have heard: ‘Power belongs to you, God, and with you, Lord, is unfailing love’; and, ‘You reward everyone according to what they have done.’”  These two statements paired together beg the question, “How could a loving, powerful God allow this to happen?”  Or perhaps, “If God rewards everyone according to what they have done, what did those who were shot do to deserve what they got?”  I, along with other Christians, can piously quote scripture and say that everything works out for good for those who love God but this situation flies in the face of those kinds of empty platitudes and hearing people make those kinds of statements makes me cringe in embarrassment.
Today I read an excerpt from Why, O Lord?, by Carlo Carretto, in which he refers to what he calls a messianic dream.  The short excerpt didn’t describe what that dream entailed but I would consider a messianic dream to be one in which the world is set right; so that things are the way they were meant to be.  Carretto suggests that when we receive this dream we meditate upon it and then, “By listening, journeying, pausing, you make the dream more definite. … Learn to taste God, get used to God’s logic, admire its contents.”  The phrase “get used to God’s logic” caught my attention.  My sister Ruth once made a statement that I never let her forget, “Logic doesn’t make sense to me.”  Being a mathematician, hearing someone make a statement like that is the height of absurdity.  However, when it comes to God’s logic I’m right there with Ruth.  God’s logic doesn’t make sense to me and I have a feeling that no amount of listening, journeying, pausing or meditating will allow me to get used to it.  I’m sure some well-meaning Christian will tell me that I need more faith but, given the way I feel now, if they did, I’d tell them where to get off the train. 

2 comments:

  1. God's logic. Just seeing those two words next to each other causes me anxiety.

    But in my own defense, as I get older, logic (and even geometry) make more sense to me. Perhaps all is not lost.

    R

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  2. Isaiah 55 reminds me that God's thoughts are not my thoughts and his ways are not my ways. I'm just a slow learner.

    Unlike you, age doesn't clarify things for me, they become more puzzling. Perhaps all is lost.

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