Divine Strangeness

24th Week in Ordinary Time - Wednesday (19 September 2018)

1 Corinthians 12:31—13:13

Luke 7:31-35 (Matthew 11:16-19)

"We played the pipes, and you wouldn't dance; we sang dirges, and you wouldn't cry."

Some Pharisees and leaders at the time of Jesus were not able to understand or see God’s hand in the extremities of a John the Baptist or a Jesus of Nazareth. Our Lord compares them to children in a game: "We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep."

Like those leaders, in matters spiritual, we blow hot and cold. We too seem to be unsure of God's ways. His ways certainly are unfathomable, beyond all human logic. He reveals himself to us and speaks to us in a thousand ways: strange, surprising and shocking ways. Are we able to read the signs of the times? Are we able to perceive God's hand in our life-events? Or do we want to fit God and His message in pre-customized mental settings?

Jesus today asks us to grow and mature in our faith, to be open to God's strangeness that breaks our boundaries very often. Instead of deciding God "should" act and reveal in such and such a way, can we accept God as He is? Can we accept reality as it is? Because it is in our confused, raw reality that God perfectly hides and there He perfectly reveals. Do we hear him speaking to us through a drunkard, a glutton, and a person out of his mind? Do we hear him speaking to us through our enemies? Perhaps those whom we value least have the most to teach. Often the very things that don’t appeal to us have the most to teach us spiritually.

It is possible that sometimes we have not responded to God's word or not acted according to His will through fear, indecision, or cowardice. But today we are called, indeed obliged, to face the tremendous challenges and dangers that threaten everyone. God is actively involved in all our heart-aches and headaches. He is fully into our singing, dancing, and mourning. And He is not just a singer; He is the song itself. He is not just a dancer; He is the dance itself. He is not just the One who lives in us; He is Life itself.

Are we willing to be His hands and feet, and His peace and life in this world? Unless we are open to the divine strangeness around us, we may end up being arrogant or childishly ignorant, or just plainly immature.