June 17, 2007

For many people God is an intellectual exercise. They gather with their friends and pretend to have “intellectual discussions” over issues such as politics, economics, morality, and religion. They entertain the possibility of God’s existence and His involvement in the world. Today, everyone is a theologian or a philosopher, making claims about who God is, what He is like, and what He desires of humanity.

However, this “god” many people speak of today is nothing other than an idea or a theory. He remains purely in one’s head and never pierces one’s heart. His involvement in one’s actual life is limited to merely intellectual stimulation, putting God in the same role as a game of chess.

When I was in college studying philosophy I would often overhear some of the students having an “intellectual conversation” about God’s existence. What was appalling about this was that the conversation was tainted with an intellectual arrogance that appeared to claim that they had “figured” out God and put Him in this nice box where His existence was acknowledged, but His importance and involvement in life was limited. After the conversation they would continue with their life, only thinking and speaking about God at the next philosophical discussion.

God is much more than an idea. Still less, He is not something we “figure out” like a mathematical equation and then move on to something else. He is a “lifelong problem” that we will never understand completely. But, Jesus has “became flesh and made His dwelling among us” (Jn 1:14), revealing to us that God is a living reality. He is more real than anything and He is not content with staying in people’s minds. He knocks at the doors of each human heart (Rv 3:20) and walks into the middle of our life and asks each one of us personally, “Will you walk with me?” “Will you suffer with me?” “Will you allow me to love you?” “Will you tell others about me?” “Will you love me in return?”

Faith is not only an intellectual exercise. God “invades” the human heart and desires the intimacy that friends posses. In essence He asks us, “Am I real to you or am I merely a thought that you entertain occasionally to satisfy your intellectual curiosity?”

Br. Jeremiah Myriam Shryock, CFR

St. Joseph Friary, New York, NY

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