Surprised By ParadoxSample

The Practice of Paradox

According to research published in The Atlantic, awe is a human emotion inspired by the experience of something beautiful and vast—something that convinces us of our smallness and finitude. We feel awe when we stand on the rim of the Grand Canyon or watch the night sky illumine with the Northern Lights. Everyone feels awe, both the religious and the irreligious person.

In his Gospel, Matthew remarks on the wonder, or awe, of the crowds as Jesus performed his astonishing miracles.  “The crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing” (Matthew 15:31). The hands of God repaired and restored, and the crowd wondered. In the context of this passage, wondered captures the many different facets of the word: that to wonder is to puzzle over, to struggle to understand, to marvel. It reminds us of the holy derivative of wonder: wonderful, which is the only fitting description for the kingdom of God coming to earth. 

Like Moses standing on Mount Horeb, wondering at “this great sight, why this bush is not burned,” there is no way to near paradox except by wonder. Mystery brings us to wonder, which is also to say the limits of our wits. But rather than our finitude bringing us to despair, paradox can cause us to praise. Indeed, when Paul refers to mystery, he often falls into doxology. “Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed . . . to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ!” (Romans 16:25-27). Mystery will not leave us standing. It will force us to our knees. That’s always the place we do our best wondering—and worshiping.

It’s with greater wonder, greater awe, that we must try to move through this world. Wonder is an invitation to cherish every solid-brass truth that we can pass, like the offering plate, in our Sunday liturgies, yet never fear the mysteries of God. Wonder helps us appreciate the knowable—and welcome that which is vast, untamable, mysterious, and awesome. 

Like Moses, let us pause at the bushes that burn and practice the awe of paradox.

Adapted from Surprised by Paradox: The Promise of And in an Either-Or World. Copyright ©2019 by Jen Pollock Michel Used by permission. For more information, please visit https://www.ivpress.com/surprised-by-paradox.