A Lesson from the Pagans (4)
Who is like You among the gods, Lord? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, awesome in praises, working wonders?Exodus 15:11 NASB
Awesome – While Walter Otto provides us with an insight into to paradigm of the religious pagan, it is Abraham Heschel who establishes the experiential foundation of our faith, not as a systematic articulation of the sacred and profane but as the movement of the heart toward an overwhelming presence.
“For the pious person, God is not an object to be known. Rather, God’s overwhelming reality takes priority to the human mind’s judgments. It is not for the human mind to render a verdict as to whether or not God exists, but rather, it is God who bestows meaning on everything, including the human self.”[1]
“Heschel challenges the sensibilities of the modern West, which emphasize detachment and disinterestedness, viewing human reason as sufficient to understand all that there is. Heschel insists that for matters of ultimate concern, reason is inadequate. It is not reason but wonder and awe that open us to the vastness of the universe, which make us receptive to the deepest aspects of reality that are accessible to us.”[2]
Perhaps a few other reminders help:
“Faith is not the clinging to a shrine but the endless, tameless pilgrimage of hearts.”[3]
“To be or not to be is not the question. The vital question is: how to be and how not to be? The tendency to forget this vital question is the tragic disease of contemporary man, a disease that may prove fatal, that may end in disaster.”[4]
“Prayer begins at the edge of emptiness.”[5]
“We are closer to God when we are asking questions than when we think we have the answers.”[6]
“All action is vicarious faith”[7]
Let’s consider just this one: “Prayer begins at the edge of emptiness.” Isn’t this the precipice at Job’s feet? Hasn’t he reached emptiness as the necessary arena of divine conversation? You and I must wonder if we can truly hear God amid all the luxuries of our lives, if the din of consumption doesn’t drown out the whisper of the spirit? If we were to enter into Job’s world and experience the emptiness he feels, how would we respond? With prayer? Or with accusation? With crafted theological nonsense devoid of empathy? Or with melted resistance?
Topical Index: Abraham Heschel, awe, prayer, Exodus 15:11
[1] Robert Erlewine in Abraham Heschel, Thunder in the Soul, p. xv.
[2] Ibid., pp. xiv-xv.
[3] Abraham Joshua Heschel “The Holy Dimension,” p. 332 in Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity: Essays (1997) Source: https://quotepark.com/authors/abraham-joshua-heschel/?page=4
[4] Abraham Joshua Heschel “No Religion is an Island,” p. 264 in Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity: Essays (1997) Source: https://quotepark.com/authors/abraham-joshua-heschel/?page=2
[5] Abraham Joshua Heschel, https://quotepark.com/authors/abraham-joshua-heschel/?page=4
[6] Abraham Joshua Heschel As quoted in SQ : “Connecting with Our Spiritual Intelligence” (2000) by Danah Zohar and Ian Marshall, p. 15 Source: https://quotepark.com/authors/abraham-joshua-heschel/?page=5
[7] Abraham Joshua Heschel “The Holy Dimension,” p. 338 in Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity: Essays (1997) Source: https://quotepark.com/authors/abraham-joshua-heschel/?page=5
In his book “The Reason You Walk” Wab Kinew, an Anishinaabe chief and Premier of Manitoba writes about the traveling song when you are leaving someone, “I am the reason you walk” he learned as a child. It has four layers of meaning as though the Creator God is speaking to you. “I created you so that you might walk this earth. I gave you motivation so that you would continue to walk even when the path became difficult, even seemingly impossible. I animated you with that driving force called love, which compelled you to help others who had forgotten they were brothers and sisters to take steps back towards one another. And now as the journey comes to an end, I am the reason you walk for I am calling you home. Walk home to me on that everlasting road.
Pagans in need of redemption? I think not.
George Kraemer, Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada
😊
Emet…Emet…Emet! Amen.
Indeed… Mankind was simultaneously created and called… into life in partnership with God. From mankind’s vantage, this is a venue of both reflection and illumination.
…of emptiness and fulfillment!