“Do you still not understand?” Mark 8:21
In the gospel, Jesus scolds his disciples. They are with him every day. So much has happened to them already and still they still do not understand.
We are like that. Things happen all around us that we look past. We see in the same old ways; what is closest must struggle to dislodge our wooden habits of perception and awaken our hearts. Skipping over what is truly present, we ogle the spectacle. Without understanding, our lives slip away and what matters is forgotten.
At times thinking gets a bad rap. “Keep it simple. Trust your gut. Tell your story. Follow tradition. Ask a question and you ask for trouble. What’s real is the mystery, not the analysis.” When people of good will leave the field, the Pharisees take charge. Understanding is abandoned for winning the debate, scoring points, and arguments that snap shut like a trap.
True knowledge is sustaining. It does not chill. Through understanding, love grows deeper. All that we love, we seek to know.
Jeanne Schuler
We live in the city near the university with our three children, so work and family form almost a whole…but not a seamless whole. Family, faith, work, old neighborhoods, leftist (leftover) politics, and enough community are my measures of reality. Also, a good dog named Sid.
Scripture has depths missing from other forms of wisdom. This is closer to the ground we walk on.
