"Temporary Osmosis.........................."

”The point is that God’s dwelling in man is paradoxical. It encompasses already and not yet: this mystery already dwells within us while, at the same time, it is always yet to come. Hope and faith are the forces that defend the freedom and openness of our souls for this mystery of God.”… Tomas Halik

It surprised me to hear a Catholic so speak of “Christ in me”, but certainly not the first time that someone with a different theological perspective has stunned me in expressing views similar to my own. There is always, of course, the chance of my misreading the author’s words, getting a mental translation that was not intended. Admittedly, he often baffles me elsewhere in his book, portions where he shows me his own humanity, his own “guilt” in the matter he discusses above. Do not we all stand so judged in that court on high, though, other than our continued surrender to that which was purchased for us through the Cross, our willingness to allow the Potter to shape us as we go? “No one can claim to possess the entire truth,” Mr. Halik states; and then adds, “but that does not deprive me of the right and duty to stand by the conclusions I have reached.” To which I say “Amen!”, but would further note: “Woe to that man, nonetheless, who is so set in concrete he cannot be moved by the Holy Ghost.”…. Last night my wife and I were enjoying a recording of this past Sunday’s evening service, the one in which three of our older grandsons became deeply immersed in God’s presence, each of them connecting with the Spirit’s flow during worship, their individual inner wells springing up to make them one in Him. Beth had not been there to witness the event. She watched, both as a grandmother and a “raised-in-old-time-holiness-believer”. This old man, however, beyond discovering just how much the bald spot on the crown of my head had become, took in “the whole picture” and remarked to her how most people, without experiencing the bond we, as a congregation, knew at the time, would think us all crazy, religious fanatics who simply “overdose” on shared emotional phenomena. She replied that she didn’t care what others believed. Within my own heart, however, while I would not demand everyone’s experience of an encounter with Him to mirror my own, while I realize that no one’s “brush” with Him, in whatever form, is any less a matter than another’s, yet there is a compassion within me that all might know Him for an on-going tangible reality in their life, not just a religious doctrine held in their head; and surely that is a journey we all must each take for ourselves.....