Knowing and Not Knowing
May 15th, 2009, 12:14 pm · 4 Comments · posted by apetty
In the Bible there is a balancing of two traditions everywhere. They are the traditions of knowing and not knowing. Sometimes they are metaphorically called light and darkness or mountaintop and desert or presence and absence. To be a balanced follower of Christ you must maintain a proper balance of both.
Protestants have not done this very well. With their emphasis upon the Word, they often arrogantly claim to know too much or teach the Christian life as all sunshine if only you have enough faith. Especially is this ludicrously so among many evangelical Christian groups. But Christian humility demands we remember the unknowable aspects of life and theology.
In our study of God we as the Israelites coming out of Egypt are guided by both a pillar of fire (knowing) and a pillar of cloud (not knowing). Both are good and you must not have one without the other. To claim one without the other is to become a braying ass.
Look at two parallel mountaintop religious experiences of the Old Testament and the New Testament. Moses on Mt. Sinai receives the law , God is somehow manifest (knowing) but He dwells in thick darkness (not knowing). (Ex. 20:21).
In Mark 9: 2-10 you have Jesus and three disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration. In this history like myth we are taught many things about Jesus and his way of life.
Moses and Elijah, the great representatives of the law and the prophets, appear there with Jesus and the disciples from the Spirit World beyond this world and talk with Jesus. Jesus is presented in dazzling light (knowing). But a cloud appears and surrounds them (not knowing). Out of the cloud of not knowing a voice speaks, “This is my son, whom I love. Listen to him!” We can never fully know God but following the way of Jesus’ life leads us on in the knowledge of God.
Quickly, mysteriously it is all over, all gone and Jesus purposely leads them down the mountain to the plain and desert of ordinary life. There without the dazzling light of God they as well as we must discover our spirituality by doing the ordinary things of life extraordinarily well while we live humbly under the burden of knowing and not knowing. There is no other way.
(I am thankful to Richard Rohr and his book, Scripture as Spirituality, for many of the above ideas.)
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I’ve been attending a church that often refers to the tension between the “already” and the “not yet”. It’s not exactly the same thing that you are talking about here but it reminds me of the tension that we sometimes ignore in the spiritual life.
answer to annie: Yes, you are very right. There are tensions inthe spiritual life. Or as Paul Tillich was fond of saying there are polarities such as destiny and freedom and they push and pul against each other and we must work to find a balance between the the contrasting pole. Blessings upon you in your church attendence.
Funny thing about how the search for balance is such a big thing for me right now, on the spiritual level and on the physical level.
answer to annie: I commend you. Balance is a key component to a good life. As the Navajoes say, “May we walk in harmony.”