Bull?

Dear God, this is Kelley.

When I say, “we’ve already won, and life with You is bringing this victory into reality during our lifetimes,” other people (and even me sometimes!) respond with, “Bullsh—!” We see so much suffering, and we see so many people taking advantage of others, and we see so much sin, how can it be that victory is HERE?

But it is true. It’s not the truth of that statement that we need to argue about; it’s the how of it. It’s the how of it because we’re involved in that part of it. We’re instrumental to that part of it. We are how God’s victory comes into being.

Back to N. T. Wright. He echoes one of St. Paul’s main themes — putting on the mind of Christ is necessary, possible, and challenging. It requires hard work. It requires that we acquire and practice virtue to such a degree that it becomes habitual. And it is my contention that in the process of doing this, in the difficulty, the strenuous task of it, we get glimpses of this victory. It’s in those thin spaces, those peak moments that we experience a transcendence, a surety, a conviction so deep, so fulfilling, so profound that we are, at once, convinced: God is, indeed, good. God will, indeed, win in all things. And, somehow and some way, right now, despite the darkness, despite the ignorance, despite the suffering, that winning is leaking in.

Reflection

Can you identify the longing within you to experience this winning with the winning itself? How else could you long for it?

Prayer

Dear God, this can all seem like fantasy. We can set it aside, dismiss it, throw it away, all because we have to “be real.” But may we stick with it just for the moment it takes to realize the effects of holding this in our minds: we are stronger, wiser, more open, hopeful, ready, loving, and renewed. May we breathe this in. May we take up this difficulty of putting on Your mind. May we practice virtue. Holding on to You is as real as it gets.