Pure Act

 What is God doing right now?  Most of us, I imagine, think of God as "sitting there watching" His world in operation.  The Deists of the 17th Century fashioned their image of God as the Great Clockmaker, who wound up the world and then let it spin without interference.  In other words, He did not directly involve Himself in the affairs of men.

Thomas Aquinas described God as "actus purus," Pure Act.  That is, He is by His Nature, Acting, not "sitting."  He is expressing His very nature in all of creation and through His creatures.  Finally, He expressed Himself fully and perfectly through His Word, His Son, Jesus Christ.

All of us express who we are at the core of our being every day.  Even if we are sitting, doing nothing, we are thereby expressing who we are.  Even in our repose, we are thinking, feeling, expressing something at the center of our lives.  We are always either building up or tearing down the world around us, either building up or tearing down our own lives.  We are expressing something that comes from our center.

Yesterday I wrote about finding God at the center of our operations -- our thinking, feeling, acting. As soon as I had finished the entry, I recalled an example from long ago.  The first part-time job I took after all the kids were in school all day was as a receptionist for an optometrist. I answered the phone, filed paperwork, and checked in patients.  One day, after I had been there just a couple of weeks, someone called and asked how much it cost for an eye exam.  Since there was a price list on the wall in front of my desk, I quoted the price of a basic exam.  After I hung up, the doctor came out of his office yelling at me for daring to quote a price over the phone.  With a number of patients sitting right in front of us, he continued to berate me as an idiot.  

Normally, my response would have been to defend myself and to explain that no one had ever told me not to do what I had just done.  However, what actually happened was that I found a deep and peaceful calm descending over my mind and heart.  I cannot explain why that happened; I just know that I had no desire to defend myself from his anger.  When he stopped yelling, I calmly responded, "You are right; I'll never do that again."  My reaction evidently caught him off-guard.  It was evidently not what he expected. He literally sputtered before turning around and returning to his office. 

My only explanation for what happened at that moment was that the Holy Spirit came to my defense when I had no defense.  Jesus told his apostles not to worry about what to say when they were hauled before judges and magistrates, for the Holy Spirit Himself would give them the words they needed. 

 My point here is that God is not "sitting" up above, watching to see what we will do in any given situation.  Rather, for those who open the door to their hearts (Rev. 3:20) and allow Jesus to enter, He is "living and acting" (Hebrews 4:12) in us, expressing His nature in us if we will only allow it.  Jesus is constantly at work in us, perfecting our human nature to make it more like His.  If we share His Spirit, we will enjoy His Presence and allow the work to continue.  St. Paul said that we are all being transformed into His likeness through the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 3), and that it is God who works in us to will and to act according to His purpose (Phil. 2:13).

Pure Act --Watch for it!