1st Advent - Reality, what a concept

Nasruddin became prime minister to the king. Once, while he wandered through the palace, he saw a royal falcon. Now Nasruddin had never seen this kind of a “pigeon” before. So he got out a pair of scissors and trimmed the claws, the wings, and the beak of the falcon. “Now you look like a decent bird,” he said, “Your keeper had evidently been neglecting you.”

One of the preeminent philosophers of the 80’s into the 90’s once said, “Reality, what a concept”. That would be Mr. Robin Williams.

Reality, what we think of it as is not truly all of reality. Our minds construct reality with the information it receives. It makes intelligible what our senses perceive.  The trap is to believe that what we construct in our minds is all that is.  

Conspiracy theories have plagued us throughout our history. We know they exist and people will hold onto them no matter what. We even have shows about them: X-files, Fringe, Mr. Robot. I was in Roswell two weeks ago, that is a conspiracy theory too.  Vaccines, vapor trails, vast world wide groups manipulating all and all.

Listening to the news it seems that so many people fall into these. So many people seem unwilling to face a greater reality, unwilling to face a truth that apparently threatens their individual understanding of reality.   On the radio the other day a man was being interviewed who thinks all immigrants are the cause of all problems and immigrants are coming to take away all that is his and make crime. Despite the many many studies that show immigrants cause no more crimes than those born and raised here. 

But all of us can fall into false theories, fantasies, mis-beliefs. A version of reality that is too small and too confining.  And if we persist in these people manipulate us through our fears, through our ignorance, through our stubbornness. And we also can end up causing suffering for others and ourselves.

We believe we have the perfect family, and so we will do anything to ensure that happens; including denial of problems, excluding those family members who do not conform to our fantasy, alcohol and drugs to mask it. So many families broken up by this.  

We believe we have the perfect church therefore we will do anything to ensure this is projected. So we cover up the sinfulness. We deny it. We expel those who dare to question and raise concerns. We will be making up for this in our church for a long time.

We believe we have the perfect country…

We think we know all about everything…

We see falcons and try to make them into pigeons.

God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, a Reality, THE reality of all. Beyond all that we could ever hope to know and experience. Beyond all that is: time and space.  And this infinite mysterious Reality created us and wants us to Know of God.

Thus God has spoken to us in the Sacred Scripture, and fully and completely revealed Godself in the Son, Jesus Christ. This revelation we continue to experience through our Scripture and our Tradition as Catholics, it is living and breathing. The revelation of Christ grows with us, and speaks to us in every age and in every way. It is a dynamic and on-going process. It is life.

And it will shock us out of our own little worlds, our own little realities.   It will get to us in the most unexpected of ways and in the most lovely of ways.  It comes when we open our hearts and minds just a little.  When we let love into our lives, love that conquers all fear; love that leads us to trust there is always more.  

See, this Gospel is not about being “left behind” or “taken”. This Gospel is not a Parousia.  This Gospel challenges us to be open to the great reality of God, and the revelation of Jesus Christ.  This Gospel challenges us to be open to a reality that will give us a greater engagement in life, in this world, especially. 

Christ wants us to prepare ourselves, to open ourselves by immersing ourselves in his revelation, in the Scripture, in the Tradition. 

Christ wants us to know that we cannot limit God, the reality of God. God made us in God’s image, not the other way around.

And what will happen is that we will be experiencing life at some level, and suddenly we have that “A HA” moment...we understand on a deeper level, and we allow ourselves to take another step in the mystery of life.

That moment when after having our heart broken, we understand that in forgiveness we open ourselves to more love in the future, a love that will not break our hearts.

That moment when we struggle with trying to control everything and nothing is under control, and we understand that with humility we can’t and don’t have to, and we end up enjoying the moment, being present to those who are in our lives. We find so much more energy.

That moment when we encounter someone new and we realize they too are a child of God, loved by God, and not a threat. And we welcome them.

It’s that moment we realize God truly does forgive us, therefore we don’t need to punish ourselves, or others. We can get up and start again to live.

It’s the Advent wreath being lit week after week, symbolizing the growing light that can be within us, in Christ, if we but let ourselves be open to it.  Its the reality that God loves all, this world is truly good, and that God’s will is for his Kingdom of love, justice, compassion be incarnated here, in us, through the Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ.

Wow, what a reality.

The poet Ranier Rilke wrote in “The Panther”
From seeing the bars, his sensing is so exhausted.
That is no longer holds anything anymore.
To him the world is bars, a hundred thousand
Bars, and behind the bars, nothing.

The lithe swinging of that rhythmical easy stride
Which circles down to the tiniest hub
Is like a dance of energy around a point
In which a great will stands stunned and numb

Only at times the curtains of the pupil rise
Without a sound...then a shape enters,
Slips through the tightened silence of the shoulder
Reaches the heart, and dies.