Is This Real?

"I don't want to waste time praying if this isn't real," one of my students said to me in all honesty.  I think her implied question -- Is this real? -- may be at the heart of all religious beliefs and practices.  Especially in a culture that promotes the belief that reality / truth is different for every person and can be made up from moment to moment, the question will always be that of Caesar:  What is Truth?

In a culture of philosophers, such as the Greek culture, it may be presumed that people are truly searching for the real and the true.  In our culture, it almost does not matter if something is true or not, as long as it is popular and politically correct.  Truth is not as "real" as appearance.

The question put to Jesus by those who had no need of Him was, "How can we know if you speak the Truth?"  And His answer was always, "If you will not believe My words, believe the signs that I do; they will testify of Me."  To those who desperately needed the Lord, no 'proof" was needed  -- these are the ones whose children were healed when they were close to death or even had gone through death; these were the ones whose leprosy was healed, allowing them to once again become members of society, who once again could hug their families.  The woman caught in adultery and almost stoned needed no "proof" that Jesus had come from God.  Even Matthew, the hated tax collector, knew the Face of Love and Acceptance when It gazed on him. 

A woman recently told me that her 5-year old son was diagnosed with cancer.  She had 3 other children, and was frantic with worry about what would happen and how they would all cope.  She grabbed her children from school one afternoon, and the whole family drove to the rectory, where they asked Father Dennis to pray for them.  He took them into the empty church, and they all prayed together.  Father anointed the child for healing and prayed with the whole family.  The mother told me that a peace descended on her during that time that never left her during the whole next year of chemo and radiation.  She still had to face her son's cancer, but there was a strength there that did not leave her. 

Is this real?  Maybe the only way we can know for certain is to face situations we cannot handle on our own:  During times of severe testing, even the best theology can fail you if it isn't accompanied by experiential knowledge of Me.  The ultimate protection against sinking during life's storms is devoting time to develop your friendship with Me -- (Jesus Calling, Dec. 1).

People will search for Truth, thinking that when they find it, they will believe it.  But I think reality lies in the opposite approach --- first, we experience the Truth, and then we search for the words or the formula of belief which describes our experience.  Those who met Jesus in Person first knew His warmth, His love and acceptance, His magnetism -- and then they began to follow Him to hear what He had to say.  Or, in a crowd of hundreds, His words pierced their hearts and minds and brought an acknowledgment:  Truly, this man is the Son of God!  The soldier who watched Him die knew the Truth, though perhaps he had never before heard or seen Jesus.  Nicodemus knew the Truth because of the signs Jesus performed -- the deaf hear, the lame walk, the blind see.  The wonder is that so many others still could not see the Truth of the Son of God.

Next posting on Dec. 9.