Discernment/Separating Truth from Dross

Obama is gradually revealing his real values, for those who "have eyes to see and ears to hear."

Discernment, known to Catholics as a mystically bestowed gift in the sacrament of Confirmation, may be what Our Lord was referring to here. The above quote, found in Matthew's Gospel, is near Jesus' description of society, "This peoples mind has become gross; their ears are dulled, and their eyes are closed."

It's an interesting quality, the ability to see beneath the surface, separating the wheat from the chaff. To paraphrase Michelangelo, "I do not create the sculpture, I remove the stone that does not belong to reveal what was there all along." The truth is always present, but there is dross to be removed. and that requires discernment. Judging by the thousands of Obama "groupies," following the piping media, it's a quality sorely lacking in today's political climate.

I heard a local radio personality call Obama the "pied piper of chiches," that pretty much sums it up, and yet, hundrends of thousands, including the fixated media, bow at the altar of his charisma. This is dangerous.

He smoothely, almost imperceptively, trashed our country, with his reference to torture, and made global warming and terrorism roughly equivalent, adroitly pointing out our "imperfections," not only to appeal to his audience, but also, because this is his "comfort zone." After all, Reverend Wright, Bill Ayers and Michelle Obama, all come from the "trash America mindset."

The only thing that can save an individual, or a society, from a charasmatic, relatively adept, rhetorician, is the interior antennae Our Lord referred to... discernment. It requires a sensitive intellect, a spiritual/psychological integration and a moral compass, to emerge from such external influences unscathed and rationally intact, not simply a part of the mob. In the end, it may all converge in the gut.

Compare BO's plagiarized cliches, to the substantive writing and speeches of historically great men...Abraham Lincoln, for example. When Abraham Lincoln, who, paranthetically, had a rather high pitched un-arresting speaking voice, delivered a speech, he was not reading off a teleprompter. He was not "lifting" language from others, he was speaking from the heart, a crucified and suffering heart, who had lived through the pain involved in wrenching self-sacrifice. His words were his own, and they "dripped" with the dignity of truth and moral passion.

Such men value truth above everything. Thus, they easily discern the difference between the wheat and the chaff, doggedly chipping away mere stone to reveal the truth that was always there.

May God give us the gift of discernment now, eyes to see and ears to hear...

The Great "I AM"/Mysticism of Common Sense

God is a mystery. While we are wayfarers through created time, this will always be the case. Still, there are truths about God we can explore. So, what are they?

Perhaps it is safest to start from the most basic fact at our disposal and, using common sense, extrapolate from there. Arguably, the most basic fact about God is His name, “I AM,” spoken to Moses on Mount Horeb.

There are some revealing logical conclusions which can be drawn from this alone.
“I AM” means, I exist. The present/future tense takes us to being itself. “I” takes us to person, person takes us to communion and communion takes us to freedom. Notwithstanding the fact that books have been written about the ontology of being, still the humble heart can discern what God is telling us through Moses, he is Being Itself. Well, that’s not quite right; he is the hypostasis of the Father.

Ok, we’re still in the realm of common sense here. Hypostasis is a wonderfully descriptive term derived from the first theologians.

The early church fathers, St. Basil, for example were called to wrestle with and explain the theological implications of what it means to have One God, three Persons. It all gets very complicated, but one thing they determined was that, to say God is “Being Itself” kind of gives one a sense of some “substance” called “being,” which could mean a lot of things, Aristotle’s “unmoved mover” for example.

But, if God is Trinitarian, then where do the three persons come into the picture? This is where the term hypostasis helps out. Basil and later St. Maximus developed a way of explaining the Trinitarian God by saying,

“God, the one God, and the ontological “principle” or “cause” of the being and life of God does not consist in the one substance of God but in the hypostasis, that is, the person of the Father. The one God is not the one substance but the Father, who is the “cause” both of the generation of the Son and of the procession of the Spirit. Consequently, the ontological “principle” of God is traced back, to the person.” Furthermore, “Being does not exist in a ‘naked state,’ that is, without hypostasis.” (See Being As Communion, by John D. Zizioulas, Vladimir Seminary Press.)

So, we have…being, (life,) personhood, (personableness,) communion and freedom, all in a name. We have something else as well. The Jewish tradition put great significance in a name. A name held inherently the very essence of one’s being. To give ones name is to give oneself, to surrender to the other, to give oneself in covenant.

Mystical love, a spousal relationship, Agape.

We have reached the mountain top with a little common sense and His name. Yes, God is a mystery, but the mystery is a love story.

“Ehyeh asher ehyeh”