Karl Rahner , one of the twentieth century's major Roman Catholic theologians, studied at Freiburg and Innsbruck, and taught at Innsbruck, Munich, and Münster. His work was admired for its excellence and was noted for his efforts to interpret theology in light of modern philosophical thought. Rahner was a peritus , or an official theologian, at the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), and in 1969 he was one of 30 appointed by Pope Paul VI to evaluate theological developments since the Council. Rahner's vision emphasized the connectedness between God and humankind.
In this passage from his book, Encounters with Silence, notice that the life of connectedness with God does not necessitate grandiousity on the part of the human, but rather, Rahner speaks of the routineness of the individual and the mercy of the God who looks upon Him.
1. Rahner writes of the "hour of my death" being the moment when "all the crates are suddenly swept out of the warehouse"; the moment when all the routine which fills our lives now is suddenly gone; how does this thought strike you?
2. What does Rahner eventually conclude abot routine? Do you agree?
3. If it is true that "I can lose You in everything" and "I can find You in everything", is there a tension that Rahner asks of the human? is this a difficult or confusing concept? What do you think Rahner is communicating?
Next week, we will be reading Hildegard of Bingen's Letter to Christian Laypeople, p229-234 in Spiritual Disciplines.
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2 comments:
I am thinking about it...
Your questions are very hard for most of us...
Yes, all my Routines which used to fill my life are are Gone...My Home; My Children; My Family....
Like Katrina Refugees" here in Oxford, with whom I have connected...
All of my Old Life is Gone...But, the God of my Understanding is still here....
I am making new,small Routines...It is very humbling..."All the crates are suddenly swept out of the warehouse.."
Human Beings need routines to survive...
I am slowly, but surely, developimg new Routines..One of which is replete with the Gift of Silence...
I am not so necessarily "Busy" anymore...I can choose what I want to be a part of...And, I am being particulaly "Choosey.".And,I, choose Silence....
So...Routine is good.. It is what we humans do to survive in this world...Playing like we have some control...
With Rahner, I can identify that, in my everyday world-in the world which I choose- I may see "God" in every person I encounter, and in any "Routine Endeavor." Kindof like Father Lawrence, "doing the dishes.."
Adversity and Silence give us a Gift...
Yes, what Rahner states is true to me...that I can "lose you in everythng" and that I find you in everything.."
Thanks be to God...
I don't think that I answered any of your academic questions....
Thanks, MJ
Since Katrina blasted through my life, I have been bereft of routine. Katrina, recovery, new calling, moving, dividing family between two places, moving family, not being able to find a proper home. I have been able to hold on to nothing that passes as quotidian stability other than this vocation to which I find myself called. Yet, even there I find myself digging a rut that dulls the senses and "greys" the soul. I long for the moment when we have a home again, a refuge against the vicissitudes of my/our current reality. Despite the joy of this new calling, I am weary and longing for that niche, that place that is home. I long to once again create the routines of my being. Rahner's comment "Again and again I must take out the old notebook . . .reread so that my heart can regrasp it." seemed a anthem of truth to my longing for the routine of me. I am so ready to take out the old notebooks, reread and rediscover the old elements of my own life. I have been almost 18 months in a state of constant evolution to a new reality, a new routine.
Yet, all along there has been the routine of God. I have been infused with a routine of unencumbered vulnerability and exposure to God. Those "countless bales of second-hand goods" have provided me no distraction, no escape. Just me and God. What of this more aneseptic routine will I bring with me as I finally cross the threshold of our new home, reclaim my more familiar routines? Will I understand the infinite dimensions of Love Rahner alludes to? Will this 18 month pilgrimage deepen my apprehension of the numinous presence of God every day? Has this journey opened me to the mystical level of God's routine in my daily routine?
Dear God--I should like to bring the routine of my daily life before you to discuss these last eighteen months. I need some guidance here as I begin to reassemble my sense of routine living. I need your patience and your Love.
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