Blink! There are some things that we see and understand in the blink of an eye. Intuitively. These include many spiritual insights: presence, peace, love, care, yearning, joy. These require no rational explanations. We only need to look deeply into ourselves to realize they are true. It is during such moments that it becomes clear to me that love is the only governing principle and law of the universe.
Rational thought, the preferred path of the scientific, often leads to disbelief. Most of science is considered as theories for there is always the possibility of the emergence of new evidence or phenomena that will debunk existing principles. Peters and Waterman, in their landmark best seller In Search of Excellence, identified excessive rationalism as one of the causes of the malaise in mediocre companies often leading to paralysis by analysis.
There is in mankind’s collective memory a deep longing for a completion and wholeness. A paradise we once had and lost. The Eden we once lived in and left. Literature is replete with stories of our collective desire to regain this lost paradise: Atlantis, Utopia, Shangri-La, Erehwon, Matlock.
God’s revelation in the Paschal mystery of Christ is the announcement and inauguration of this new earth and our coming home to a new paradise. Here there will be no more weeping and no more tears, giving us solid reasons for hope and joy. And where God’s Word finds roots and bears fruits we see this paradise regained happening here on earth. Peace makers waging peace. Community builders creating oases of love and compassion. Caregivers giving consolation and comfort to the sick, the homeless, the hungry. Teachers opening young minds to the wonder of life.
All we need to do is to look more deeply to realize all of this is coming to pass in fulfillment of God’s unshakable promise.