In fact he's so far from getting them done that he will never be able to die because there will always be more to do. He's verrry unhappy, the caption says, because the few things that God sent him to accomplish are still undone. "˜God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things and right now I am so far behind I will never die!' Then the caption underneath explains why he looks so bitter. The boy's hair is a complete mess and there's a resentful expression on his face. It's from his comic strip of Calvin and Hobbes, where one of his child characters is looking very peeved. What a difference, yes?īe that as it may, I want to show you a contrary and challenging picture of what it can look like, in Paul's phrase, to be "˜imprisoned and guarded under the law,' or "˜in custody' or "˜subject to a disciplinarian.' Consider a classic Bill Watterson cartoon. Paul meant by being "imprisoned and guarded under the law." If we think of ourselves as human beings having spiritual experiences, it's as if we are being tutored or disciplined under the custodianship of religious laws and teachings"”as if we have to strive to attain or achieve their spirituality.īut on the contrary, what if we think of ourselves as already spiritual"”already spiritual beings who simply exist to discover, explore, and enjoy what it means to be human what it means to be in these kinds of bodies and have these kinds of souls or psyches, these kinds of sensibilities and abilities? It's an adventure of discovery and exploration that even the angels don't have the opportunity to enjoy. Right here, I wonder if what Teilhard meant by "˜human beings having a spiritual experience' can include what St. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian. Paul wrote to the Galatians,īefore faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. To address that question I want to relate it to our reading from Galatians appointed for today: "Now before faith came," St. Here's the question: Are we "˜human beings having a spiritual experience?' Or rather are we "˜spiritual beings having a human experience?' I want to re-state that quotation here in the form of a question so I can make it clear for myself. So that's why you can find his ideas quoted even on a bumper sticker nowadays. Now with his Omega Point idea, Teilhard exemplified the Jesuit principle of "finding God in all things." Indeed his thought is so inclusive that he has been embraced by many non-Christians other spiritually minded people. Of course, that's why the book of Revelation calls Christ the "Alpha""”the Beginning, as well as the "Omega""”the End taken of course from the first and the last letters of the Greek alphabet, alpha and omega. What has come into being in him was life" (Jn.
"All things came into being through him," John says, "and.
And the gospel goes on to identify that Word with Christ. "In the beginning was the Word," we hear from the first verse of the gospel of John today. That idea already connects us with our gospel reading for today, this first Sunday after Christmas. He's often called just "Teilhard." He's perhaps best known for his idea of the "Omega Point," the ultimate reunion with Christ towards which the entire universe is evolving, he declared. That's a quotation from the Catholic thinker, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. We're spiritual beings having a human experience. We're not human beings having a spiritual experience. But it's memorable once you get the logic of it. If you've seen it, then you know it's pretty long to read on a bumper sticker on the back of someone's car.
You might also have seen it on a poster, or one of those websites that presents itself as spiritual but not religious. Have you seen one of those New Age bumper stickers? I'm thinking of the one that begins:
Invocation: May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be always acceptable in your sight, O Lord my strength and our redeemer (Paraphrase, Ps.19.14).
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