b'R E FLEC TI O NWONDERMENTAS WAY TO GODBy Brian D. RobinetteWith all this talk about paradox and mystery,A quiet exhilaration may overtake us as we theology might begin to seem too remote, toobecome awakened to the simple thereness of abstract, perhaps too otherworldly to havethings, the fact that there is anything at all much grip on ordinary life. Such a concernrather than nothing. Though we might not is understandable, though nothing could beoft en formulate it in quite this wayWhy further from the truth. is there something rather than nothing?it is likely we all sense from time to time To paraphrase Saint Augustine (d. 430), thehow wonderfully strange this world is, how chief difficulty here is not that God is soawesome it is to be alive, to be sensing, remote; it is that we are remote. It is we whofeeling, thinking fl esh, to be a part (albeit, a are so oft en inattentive to the awe-inspiringvery small part) of a universe whose vastness, mystery that lies just beneath our manyage, and complexity strain the imagination.distractions, preoccupations with routine and excessive self-consciousness, remain dulledIt is not mere wordplay to say that what is to the inner vitality of things, and thus closedmost extraordinary is the ordinary. We only offfrom the secret wellspring of our lives.have to be sufficiently awake to perceive it.Perhaps there are moments, though, when the scales seem to fall offour eyes so that we can perceive the world in a fresh light, and with a spontaneous and renewed sense of gratitude. This article is an excerpt from TheologicalBrian D. Robinette holds a This resource is adapted from Jesus: His Message and Mission, by Thomas Zanzig. Foundations: Concepts and Methods fordoctorate in theology from the PRINT COPIES FOR CLASS: SMP.ORG/ASPIREVOL1 Understanding Christian Faith, edited by J.J.University of Notre Dame. His Mueller, SJ. (2007, 2011). Winona, MN:primary interests are Christology Anselm Academic. Copyright2007, 2001and theological anthropology.by Anselm Academic. All rights reserved.REFLECTION 25'