FAITH DEEPER THAN “BORN AGAIN”

In his song “Lovers in a Dangerous Time”

Canadian folk legend Bruce Cockburn sings

we live in a dangerous time because

democracy is rapidly crumbling across the planet

and because climate change leaves no time  

to stop it/figure it out/get our bearings

 

however, mystics East and West agree

there is more to life than “getting somewhere”

in politics/business/war/religion –

beyond ambition there is penetration of being/

truth/meaning/purpose

 

and the solution to all problems

is not simply to be “born again” –

religious maturity is deeper than any psychological state

or infantile religious experience

because maturity can deal with

darkness/failure/uncertainty and still be joyful

whereas infantile religion always needs more and more light

and only light, no darkness or shadow

 

self-confrontation of our shadow is painful

but necessary for spiritual growth –

taking a log out of an eye is a painful operation

but then we can see clearly –

contemplation can be painful too –

showing us our deepest convictions

are wrong or shallow, replacing our comfortable truths

with unsettling ones that empty out our ego

 

faith and love are deeper/higher than science

or even mystical experience – knowledge and experience

no matter how deep or great are worthless

unless they deepen our faith and love

 

hope deepens us too –

without the hope of eternal life

the riddles of life/death/grief/guilt remain unresolved –

according to Catholic theologians Karl Rahner and Ron Rolheiser

“there is no finished symphony in this life” –

and so there is a tendency to fall into despair

unless the Life Divine is real.