The Mouth of Truth
The material for my SFO formation meeting last weekend contained this line:
“Through profession of the SFO way of life, we choose to interpret life and find meaning.”
I really struggled with this statement. And my struggles only increased when later in the chapter this example was given as a possible application of that thought:
“A terrorist kills a hundred people and is brought to trial. He or she is convicted. The grisly nature of the crime and the awful suffering of the victims bring a cry for the death penalty…….A Secular Franciscan may have to think it through and come to a conclusion not shared by others. Life is precious even for a criminal.”
May have to think it through?
My opinion would be that there is no option here. I would have to reach that different conclusion if I am being honest with myself.
I don’t think of my participation in the SFO as part of a search for meaning.
I think of it as a quest for Truth.
I also don’t think that my responsibility is to somehow “interpret” life. That word suggests that I have input into and authority over what makes up the Truth.
My responsibility is more about application than innovation. I should view the world through the lens of the Gospels, and if I do that sincerely, interpretation is inappropriate. Instead, the Truth is revealed by that lens, and I order my life according to that revelation, separate from whatever interpretations my fallible self might be susceptible to.
One of the keys to the life of Francis was imitation. He took Jesus as his model in an effort to live the best life possible. He did that so well that at the end, he was rewarded with the stigmata.
If one is to “put on Jesus,” what room can there be for interpretation centered in the self?
Isn’t the goal to “deny self,” as Jesus instructs in Matthew 16? Wouldn’t setting aside everything in an effort to deny self include setting aside my personal interpretations of a given situation, in favor of embracing God’s view of what is occurring?
I suppose one might argue that since I am the looking through the lens, I can’t avoid interpretation. Its inevitable.
But doesn’t that presuppose that God is incapable or unwilling to make the Truth known to me?
My experience would oppose that. He is quite capable and willing. There is much that I have come to know as Truth through prayer. I can’t provide an empirical proof that establishes that Truth, but I know it nonetheless.
I must remain humble as I identify the Truth, understanding that it is always possible that I have misunderstood what God is attempting to convey.
But the answer to that need is not a further insertion of self into the process via interpretation, but instead an attempt to withdraw further, to make myself a more perfect blank slate for Him to write upon.
Its a fine line, and I’m sure I haven’t identified it well.
But I just couldn’t shake the uneasiness I felt at the statement.
There surely are some things that are not open to interpretation and they would surely include the Gospels as well as the basic tenets of our Faith as given to us through the Church. So in the broard sense, I can see that we would each “interpret” those principles by putting them into action in each of our lives . . . though each of us might do that in a unique way . . . as did Francis in trying to do that “interpretation” literally. But the basics, such a respect for life, are not negotiable, nor is Gospel care for others, etc.
If you recall,at the end of his life Francis told his brothers (and sisters) “I have done my part, may God show you yours”. Thus, the basisc principles of Gospel values would remain unchangeable but how each of us live them out would be a matter of how the Spirit helps us to do so concretely in the circumstances of our lives.