A Living Reality
for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ Acts 17:28 NASB
Exist – Talk to a philosopher about existence and you will soon be discussing the idea of “being.” What is, is. Why it is is the great question. Heidegger once noted that the fact that anything exists at all is the greatest paradox. But Paul was not a philosopher. He was a Jewish rabbi. His approach to the problem of existence is radically different than the approach of Western philosophy. Heschel clarifies:
A major difference between ontological and biblical thinking is that the first seeks to relate the human being to a transcendence called being as such, whereas the second, realizing that human being is more than being, that human being is living being, seeks to relate man to divine living, to a transcendence called the living God.
The cardinal difference underlying these two approaches is that the first, or ontological, approach accepts being as the ultimate, whereas the biblical approach accepts living as the ultimately real. The first seeks to understand living in terms of being, the second seeks to understand being in terms of living.[1]
What does this difference make to us? How does it change my reality today? Today I will have to make decisions about how to live, about which path to take, which option to choose. Today I will be confronted with questions about the meaning of my life, the direction I follow, the way I interact with the world. If I am Greek in my thought, I will struggle with what these choices mean for my destiny. I will choose (hopefully) on the basis of what fulfills my ultimate purpose. But if I am biblical, I will ask, “How will this choice reflect the reality of YHVH? How will this path serve my King?” I will not worry about destiny or purpose. I will worry about righteousness and submission. I will worry about what it means to live in the light of His glory.
Biblical direction is not philosophy. At this point I am fairly certain it isn’t theology either, as theology tends to be not much more than philosophy in religious garb. Biblical direction is instruction in living a divine life. It is a path, a code, a way of being in the world. It is guidance about which direction to take when we come to the next crossroads, and the next, and the next, because life is about choosing, not about thinking about choosing. We exist because we choose and all of life is tied up in the next choice we make. If, as Heschel suggests, the ultimate reality is a living reality, a God who is life itself, then our task as human beings is to participate in the revelation of this God by becoming what He desires. We bring about the mystery of existence through every choice we make. We finish the creation of His reality, and in our choices, magnify Him.
L’ hayyim. “To Life!”
Topical Index: being, life, reality, choice, Acts 17:28
[1] Abraham Heschel, Who is Man?, p. 69
As YHVH is, by His own admission, a “jealous God”, then we are called to the same. We are called to be jealous for His glory. Anything that does not glorify Him should be considered a disaster, and treated accordingly. Anything that is unholy we should seek to sanctify; and if that is not possible, then we should try to either replace it with something that is, or we should remove ourselves from its presence, and shake the dust from our sandals.
We are called to be His representatives, and as such, our very reality is determined by His. The ‘realer’ I make Him in my life, the ‘realer’ my life becomes. A life without Him is better off without itself. In the end, before that Judgment Throne, where everyone finally gets what they really have chosen, I believe all will agree that that is true.
“Anything that is unholy we should seek to sanctify”
This is something that is puzzling to me. Is it possible? Is it permissible? Aside from clear instructions, how do we know what may be sanctified? In the “dailyness” of caring for families, everyday work, and participating in the community, it is difficult to make such distinctions until a disaster becomes apparent.
Also, I need an improved mental aid for “shake the dust from our sandals.” Clearly, it says DUST, but in my mind, I tend to attribute it to people. After an unfortunate experience, I want to “brush off” certain people from my life. I need to correct that association, and not sure how to do it.
To me, sanctification is what naturally occurs when my will gets lined up with His. I cannot do that without His intervention, but I can cause that intervention by becoming willing for it to occur and by asking for it. I can choose my every breath and all that I have an influence over to be His will, but, of course, He is the One to do that will, and by means of His power. We are set apart to become fully sanctified, or, holy unto the Lord, but sanctification is a gradual process. When you are around a truly sanctified person, the very air seems holy and even the reality around them seems to conform, somehow, to His will. I have experienced it very rarely, but I cannot explain it at all, so I know that I do not know what I am talking about.
To shake the dust off instead of the person is what Alanon challenged me to. They called it “detachment with love”. God does that with me all the time – separating me from my sin – so that He can still continue to love me, the real me, without that sin. I think we can learn how to accept another person (which includes accepting their right to choose, along with those choices), without having to associate them with their shortcomings. We can learn to see them through heaven’s eyes, perfected and whole, but without having to condone their sin. I agree with you that this is a challenge when that sin is being directed at you and they are all up in your face, but they also happen to be your spouse, say, or your child! You cannot shut family out, but neither, I think, can we lightly shut out the ills of the world around us, either. Our Saviour never did.
The ancient Greeks struggled with three things: essence, motion and being. And St Paul directly confronts these by saying that it is in YHVH we live, and move and have our being (exist). For a Jewish rabbi, Paul seems to be a pretty good philosopher.
As for the word ‘being’ and ‘living’, let’s see someone conduct a conversation without using the verb ‘to be’ in some form. If a ‘being’ is not a ‘living’ thing, it can hardly be said to be ‘being.’ Things , (inanimate objects, even animals) do not ‘live’ in the same sense as we use the idea ‘human beings’.
For a human, it is possible to exist without being alive with the Life which can only occur through the Son.
Your words describe a yielded life, Laurita. I hope to experience that today.
Thank you.
As I stare into the mirror I see a reflection of my image. The outside is obvious. The inside, a work in process. I am made in God’s image and exactly what that means, that I am uncertain of. But I know this, for some reason God has chosen to work through his human creature to administer his own work within this good creation, and so to reflect His image. So my choices become more then just my self centered desires, or at least they are supposed to be. I stand in front of the mirror and I give myself some “self talk” to go and reflect the image of your creator through action, word and thought. Andre Agassi nailed it in his self serving narcissistic advertisement, though for him and his sponsor, for a completely different reason. “Image is everything.” And so we each must decide moment by moment just what image to present. I want to reflect God’s presence and power through my daily actions and choices. The measure of each day is sometimes yes, sometimes maybe and more often then I would like, a resounding no. It’s a tall measure to be made in God’s image.
Dawid you wrote: God has chosen to work through his human creature to administer his own work within this good creation, and so to reflect His image
Now this is very interesting as Jesus also referred to as the Messiah whom is deemed the image of God gained wisdom prior to commencing his 3 years devoted to the Godly calling… Revisit the Lost Sheep of Israel
Luke 2: 52And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
The wisdom to do God’s calling is further explained as Christ / Annointed / Messiah
1 Cor 1: 24But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
I was advised that to find the answer to reflect the image of God is in good works in Christ the Messiah. This can be found by studying and searching the scriptures/old testament/Torah/Moses. As I was told failing to prepare ourselves is like failing to be born unto the image of God as this is what the Messiah proclaimed – be born again. Not through the acquired knowledge but through the indwelling spirit of God…
1 Cor 3: 15But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. 16Nevertheless
when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. 17Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where
the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the
glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the
Lord.
1 Cor 4: Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; 2But have
renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God
deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in
the sight of God. 3But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 4In whom the god of this
world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of
Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
Dawid, can I then deduct that to reflect God’s image to further His works is to become like Christ / The Messiah by being devoted to the works of God like a Nazarene? Work to restore the relationship between the lost sheep and God…