Sunday, October 09, 2005
Questions & Seeking
It may be that the Questions and the Seeking are as important (if not more important) than the answers:
St. Moses (of the first five books of the bible) and St. Gregory of Nyssa place a high value on questions too.. They must be Emergent! I like what Rob Bell says in Velvet Elvis:
"Being a Christian then is more about celebrating mystery than conquering it."
"The Eastern Church Father St. Gregory of Nyssa talked about Moses' journey up Mount Sinai in Exodus 19. When Moses enters the darkness toward the top of the mountain, he has moved beyond knowledge to awe and to love and to the mystery of God. Gregory insists that Moses has not arrived when he enters the darkness of the mountaintop. His journey and exploration have only really begun"
I've also been reading up on a Hebrew word. Ayeh. Ayeh -where are you - the ultimate uncertainty - is then the highest level of religious authenticity.!
" R’ Nachman, I would suggest did not originate this understanding of Ayeh- rather it emerges out of a hidden genre of Biblical ‘Ayeh’ stories
In the book of Judges, a messenger of God comes to Gideon at a time in which Israel has suffered greatly at the hand of the Midianite nation. The messenger of God offers certainty to Gideon: “God is with you, hero of valor,” and Gideon rejects this pat offer of security: “You tell me that God is with us? Then why is all this...” He cannot even give it a name. The silent questions ring out in the spaces between the words: ‘Why has all this suffering, why has all this pain defined our lives for so many years? Why are men killed? Why are children orphaned?’ And the text goes on: “‘Ayeh’- where are all of his great wonders which our fathers told us, saying God took us out of the land of Egypt. And now, God has abandoned us.”
Gideon the judge, in the tradition of Abraham, turns to God and says, “Does the Judge of the entire world not do justice?” Gideon the Judge challenges God, challenges the messenger and challenges the message. The divine response seems unclear, enigmatic and troubling; but also powerful, inspiring and deeply directive. God answers Gideon: “Go with this strength of yours and save Israel ... behold, I have sent you.” (Judges 6: 12-14)
What “strength” is God referring to? I believe and at least one Midrash implicitly supports my reading, that God meant: ‘Go forth with the power of your uncertainty.’ God is confirming that if Gideon has the ability to doubt that this is the best of all possible worlds, this means he shares a common moral language with God. The wrestling with God in itself implies messengership on behalf of the divine: “Behold, I have sent you.” God confirms the great truth of Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev: to grapple with God is indeed to touch God, and to enter into the wrestling ring is to be a representative of all Israel, to plead redemption for all the world.
Gideon says to God’s messenger: “Where, ayeh, are all of His great wonders?” – and in these words cries out a prayer of holy uncertainty about God’s ways in our world...."{- TAKEN FROM AN ARTICLE ON RABBI MARC GAFNI'S SITE}
St. Moses (of the first five books of the bible) and St. Gregory of Nyssa place a high value on questions too.. They must be Emergent! I like what Rob Bell says in Velvet Elvis:
"Being a Christian then is more about celebrating mystery than conquering it."
"The Eastern Church Father St. Gregory of Nyssa talked about Moses' journey up Mount Sinai in Exodus 19. When Moses enters the darkness toward the top of the mountain, he has moved beyond knowledge to awe and to love and to the mystery of God. Gregory insists that Moses has not arrived when he enters the darkness of the mountaintop. His journey and exploration have only really begun"
I've also been reading up on a Hebrew word. Ayeh. Ayeh -where are you - the ultimate uncertainty - is then the highest level of religious authenticity.!
" R’ Nachman, I would suggest did not originate this understanding of Ayeh- rather it emerges out of a hidden genre of Biblical ‘Ayeh’ stories
In the book of Judges, a messenger of God comes to Gideon at a time in which Israel has suffered greatly at the hand of the Midianite nation. The messenger of God offers certainty to Gideon: “God is with you, hero of valor,” and Gideon rejects this pat offer of security: “You tell me that God is with us? Then why is all this...” He cannot even give it a name. The silent questions ring out in the spaces between the words: ‘Why has all this suffering, why has all this pain defined our lives for so many years? Why are men killed? Why are children orphaned?’ And the text goes on: “‘Ayeh’- where are all of his great wonders which our fathers told us, saying God took us out of the land of Egypt. And now, God has abandoned us.”
Gideon the judge, in the tradition of Abraham, turns to God and says, “Does the Judge of the entire world not do justice?” Gideon the Judge challenges God, challenges the messenger and challenges the message. The divine response seems unclear, enigmatic and troubling; but also powerful, inspiring and deeply directive. God answers Gideon: “Go with this strength of yours and save Israel ... behold, I have sent you.” (Judges 6: 12-14)
What “strength” is God referring to? I believe and at least one Midrash implicitly supports my reading, that God meant: ‘Go forth with the power of your uncertainty.’ God is confirming that if Gideon has the ability to doubt that this is the best of all possible worlds, this means he shares a common moral language with God. The wrestling with God in itself implies messengership on behalf of the divine: “Behold, I have sent you.” God confirms the great truth of Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev: to grapple with God is indeed to touch God, and to enter into the wrestling ring is to be a representative of all Israel, to plead redemption for all the world.
Gideon says to God’s messenger: “Where, ayeh, are all of His great wonders?” – and in these words cries out a prayer of holy uncertainty about God’s ways in our world...."{- TAKEN FROM AN ARTICLE ON RABBI MARC GAFNI'S SITE}
