Notes from a different drummer
Learning the unforced rhythms of grace
The practical How.
In our previous post Strange companions we said that we'll follow it up by introducing paradox as well. True to our word, here is that introduction.
“Nobody goes to that restaurant because it is too crowded”; “Your mission is not to accept the mission. Do you accept?” or “Don't go near the water 'til you have learned how to swim” are humorous examples of paradox.
A paradox (taken from the Greek para and dokein meaning “to seem contrary to”) is something that at first glance appears to be a contradiction, but looked at from another angle is not a contradiction at all.
All fine and interesting, but what does it have to do with us?
Everything.
One of the major elements in the contemplative life and spirituality is a tolerance for ambiguity, uncertainty and being comfortable with paradox. For that reason much of its wisdom comes in the form of paradox:
Jesus used it on numerous occasions: “For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted”; “But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first”; “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.”
We come across it in the writings of the apostle Paul as well: “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God”; “For when I am weak, then I am strong”
Major Christian concepts are in essence paradoxical like God incarnated and the virgin birth.
Tap into the perennial wisdom within the mystical tradition, and you find that paradox abounds there too:
“What hurts you blesses you; Darkness is your lamp” (Rumi)
“When you can do nothing, what can you do?”; “What is happening when nothing is happening?” (Buddhism)
“The virtue of angels is that they cannot deteriorate; their flaw is that they cannot improve. Man's flaw is that he can deteriorate; and his virtue is that he can improve.”; “Fear the man who fears you.” (Hasidic sayings)
Listening to all these statements can give you a brain cramp. It defies logic and just doesn’t make sense.
And that’s the whole point.
Besides making the message interesting it also makes it very difficult to ignore and often leads to closer inspection in an effort to figure it out. That is why G.K. Chesterton said that a paradox is “truth standing on her head to get attention.”
But mostly mysticism uses paradox to convey something of the multifaceted nature of truth which in many respects defies logic and single answers. Jung was of the opinion that paradox “did more justice to the unknowable than clarity can do” and regarded it as “… one of our most valued spiritual possessions.”
For many fundamentalists in all religious traditions this is very difficult to accept. For them religion is about dogma consisting of singular truths or facts. The means to arrive at these facts is predominantly the logic or reason. Anything or anyone deviating from that singularity must either be converted or attacked. Theirs is a dualistic either/or-world with the result often being exclusiveness, intolerance, prejudice, an inability to listen and even violence.
Through paradox, contemplative spirituality tries to do justice to Jesus’ inclusive message of both/and. The latter being visually depicted in this well-known image:
What do you see? A table stand. Correct.
What do you see? Two faces turned to each other. Correct.
One picture, two different perspectives, both true. It all depends on the way you look at it.
And that is exactly the message paradox wants to convey: “Don’t try to figure this out logically. Do not rely so heavily on only one of your capabilities, namely reason, when you look at your world. It narrows your perspective immensely.”
The contemplative life that is comfortable with paradox is not looking for single answers that put an end to all questions. It lives with the questions that often confront us with our own contradictions, uncertainty and confusion, our own paradoxes. If we can hold those contradictions, have mercy and forgive ourselves for it, then it is possible to do so in other settings as well. Through our contradictions, confusion and questions we are lead into that liminal space where birth and growth happen, where God works. It is truly a humbling experience so different from what we feel when we think we have all the answers. Then we realise that we are not in control, that the only safe place is to fall into the hands of the living God. That is where faith happens, in that space of letting go, powerlessness and vulnerability. It is almost impossible for faith to flourish when we are all powerful and do not have the ability to accommodate paradox. When we have to defend and prove our point of view as the only point of view. In the process where we focus only on the one we lose sight of the other and lose the bigger truth as well. The whole is always Both/And. In the place and space where paradox is welcome we discover that everything is a disguise: weakness is really strength, wisdom is really foolishness, death is really life, matter is really spirit, religion is often slavery, and sin itself is actually the trap door into salvation. When we are totally confused as to where we are and do not know where to place the next step, we shall in all probability discover the Way for the first time. (See Richard Rohr: Great themes of Paul – Life as participation)
Now we can attend to the tools in our diagram that help us to look at life through other lenses than reason and logic. Tools suited for liminal space, paradox and which have ample room for both/and.
So, which is more important to a bird – the left wing or the right wing? Instead of conjuring up an answer, let’s enjoy looking at it flying.
George
On paradox see also the previous posts Much madness is divinest sense and To reason why .
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