“He knew only that the child was his warrant. He said: If he is not the word of God, God never spoke”
Cormac McCarthy, The Road
My friend Stacy Caldwell speaks the collision of the “suits”
and the “jeans” that happens at Big Bang and other Dallas Social Venture
Partner events. What’s that about?
Particle accelerators, such as the Large Hadron Collider
that has been in the news recently, are also sometimes called atom
smashers. They accelerate subatomic
particles to incomprehensible speed, create a collision that “shatters” the
particle and then unbelievably brilliant scientists and engineers observe,
measure, and record the constituent matter of the universe and figure out what
is going on.
In the Christmas story, God comes to earth in the baby
Jesus, the personification of perfection and absolute innocence, both fully
human and fully divine. The Wise Men and
others who gather in the manger scene are amazed, filled with wonder and
awe. They respond to the reality of the pure essence of god in this child. In my wife’s faith background, the Gopis respond to the pure joy and playfulness
of the avatar of god, Krishna.
It is not only in perfection, is it, that we see the face of
God? Do we not see it in many other
forms? Do we not see it in everything
that is true? Do we not see the
constituent matter of humankind, recognize it in others, recall it in
ourselves, and wonder? Are not the faces
of our young men, their stories, their tragedies, hopes, fears, triumphs and
injustices speaking to us of ourselves and our circumstances, triumphs,
failures, hopes, pains, stories and injustices, both received and given? And in the face of truth, with the gift of
sight, by grasping the measure of things, can we not resolve to move in the
direction of generosity, grace, and forgiveness?
If our young men are not the word of God, God never spoke,
never incarnated, never took root, never blossomed, never fruited, never died,
never rose, never ascended and never reigns.
What is my evidence?
You are. You, the supporters of
Café Momentum respond, consistently
and beautifully to the collisions you have with our young men and each
other. You prove that God speaks.
May the wonder and hopes of the holiday season, the
recollection of all things true and beautiful, and the joy of family,
friendships and community be with you.
