Thursday, December 5, 2013

Meditations on the Season

“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 CafĂ© 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.