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COMMENTARY
November 21 , 2017 | The Valley Catholic
Moral Theology : Paralysis , Exasperation and Helplessness as Prayer
By Rev . Ron Rolheiser , OMI
Theologian , teacher , award-winning author , and President of the Oblate
School of Theology in San Antonio , TX
Several years ago I received an email that literally stopped my breath . A man who had been for many years an intellectual and faith mentor to me , a man whom I thoroughly trusted , and a man with whom I had developed a life-giving friendship , had killed both his wife and himself in a murder-suicide . The news left me gasping for air , paralyzed in terms of how to understand and accept this as well as how to pray in the face of this .
I had neither words of explanation nor words for prayer . My heart and my head were like two water pumps working a dry well , useless and frustrated . Whatever consolation I had was drawn from an assurance from persons who knew him more intimately that there had been major signs of mental deterioration in the time leading up to this horrible event and they were morally certain that this was the result of an organic dysfunction in his brain , not an indication of his person . Yet … how does one pray in a situation like this ? There aren ’ t any words .
And we have all experienced situations like this : the tragic death of someone we love by murder , suicide , overdose , or accident . Or , the exasperation and helplessness we feel in the face of the many seemingly senseless events we see daily in our world : Terrorists killing thousands of innocent people ; natural disasters leaving countless persons dead or homeless ; mass killings by deranged individuals in
New York , Paris , Las Vegas , Florida , San Bernardino , Sandy Hook , among other places ; and millions of refugees having to flee their homelands because of war or poverty . And we all we know people who have received terminal sentences in medical clinics and had to face what seems as an unfair death : young children whose lives are just starting and who shouldn ’ t be asked at so tender an age to have to process mortality and young mothers dying whose children still desperately need them .
In the face of these things , we aren ’ t just exasperated by the senselessness of the situation we struggle too to find both heart and words with which to pray . How do we pray when we are paralyzed by senselessness and tragedy ? How do we pray when we no longer have the heart for it ?
St . Paul tells us that when we don ’ t know how to pray , the Spirit in groans too deep for words prays through us . What an extraordinary text ! Paul tells us that when we can still find the words with which to pray this is not our deepest prayer . Likewise when we still have the heart to pray , this too is not our deepest prayer . Our deepest prayer is when we are rendered mute and groaning in exasperation , in frustration , in helplessness . Wordless exasperation is often our deepest prayer . We pray most deeply when we are so driven to our knees so as to be unable to do anything except surrender to helplessness . Our groaning , wordless , seemingly the antithesis of prayer , is indeed our prayer . It is the Spirit praying through us . How so ?
The Spirit of God , the Holy Spirit , is , as scripture assures us , the spirit of love , joy , peace , patience , goodness , longsuffering , fidelity , mildness , faith , and chastity . And that Spirit lives deep within us , placed there by God in our very make-up and put into us even more deeply by our baptism . When we are exasperated and driven to our knees by a tragedy which is too painful and senseless to accept and absorb our groans of helplessness are in fact the Spirit of God groaning in us , suffering all that it isn ’ t , yearning for goodness , beseeching God in a language beyond words .
Sometimes we can find the heart and the words with which to pray , but there are other times when , in the words of the Book of Lamentation , all we can do is put our mouths to the dust and wait . The poet , Rainer Marie Rilke , once gave this advice to a person who had written him , lamenting that in the face of a devastating loss he was so paralyzed that he did not know what he could possibly do with the pain he was experiencing . Rilke ’ s advice : Give that heaviness back to the earth itself , the earth is heavy , mountains are heavy , the seas are heavy . In effect : Let your groaning be your prayer !
When we don ’ t know how to pray , the Spirit in us groans too deep for words prays through us . So every time we are face-to-face with a tragic situation that leaves us stuttering , mute , and so without heart that all we can do is say , I can ’ t explain this ! I can ’ t accept this ! I can ’ t deal with this ! This is senseless ! I am paralyzed in my emotions ! I am paralyzed in my faith ! I no longer have the heart to pray , it can be consoling to know that this paralyzing exasperation is our prayer – and perhaps the deepest and most sincere prayer we have ever offered .
Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser , theologian , teacher , and award-winning author , is President of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio , TX .
The Dangerous Game of North Korean-American Brinkmanship
By Tony Magliano
Internationally syndicated social justice and peace columnist tmag @ zoominternet . net
Remember the game of chicken ?
It ’ s a foolishly high-stakes challenge in which two drivers risking death , drive on a collision course towards each other until one of the drivers chooses to swerve away .
Since neither driver wants to be called “ chicken ,” meaning coward , they both push the decision to swerve away to the last possible moment , each hoping that the other driver will be the one to back down and swerve away .
This is a very dangerous game – a game now being played between North Korea and the United States .
But in this game of chicken the high-stakes of two possible deaths increases to hundreds of thousands of probable deaths . And if it goes nuclear , the stakes rise to millions dead .
During the course of this year North Korea has launched more than 20 missiles – some flying over Japan – and according to seismic readings may have successfully tested a hydrogen bomb . And if not already , it is getting close to being able to hit the U . S . with one or more nuclear armed missiles .
For its part , the U . S . has deployed in the Pacific three aircraft carrier strike groups . This armada of warships carrying attack aircraft and cruise missiles is capable of launching a massive preemptive attack upon North Korea .
Now add to this perilous saber rattling , highly insulting verbal attacks from President Trump on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as “ Rocket Man ” on a “ suicide mission ,” and the counter insults from Kim Jong-un that Trump is a “ mentally deranged U . S . dotard ,” and we have before us a nuclear-armed war game of chicken .
Mr . Trump and Mr . Un grow up ! This is no time to act like macho , self-centered adolescents . Think of the carnage that will result if you continue on this collision course .
Policy analyst for the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation , James McKeon , told me that the U . S . and North Korea need to have “ talks about talks ,” that is , conversations with no preconditions , in order to set the stage for formal negotiations .
McKeon added that , “ No preconditions diplomacy is the only viable option . If the Cold War proved anything it is that talking to adversaries is not appeasement , it is smart policy that helped avoid nuclear war .”
A clear example here of difficult , serious and successful diplomacy took place between the U . S . and the Soviet Union during the Cuban Missiles Crisis – 55 years ago – when calmer heads prevailed in avoiding nuclear war ( see : ht t p :// bit . ly / 2z7 JpRV ).
President Trump during his U . N . speech threatened to “ totally destroy North Korea ” ( see : ht t p :// cnb . cx / 2ypyGFy ). This runs completely against Catholic social teaching .
The world ’ s Catholic bishops at the Second Vatican Council solemnly declared : “ Any act of war aimed indiscriminately at the destruction of entire cities of extensive areas along with their population is a crime against God and man himself . It merits unequivocal and unhesitating condemnation ” ( see : http :// bit . ly / 1lmUu1K ).
Like the world ’ s bishops of Vatican II , today ’ s bishops , and every single disciple of the nonviolent Jesus , should condemn this dangerous violent brinkmanship – before it ’ s too late !
Please email and call today your two U . S . senators and congressperson ( Capitol switchboard : ( 202 ) 224-3121 ) and ask them to denounce this path to war and to urge President Trump to immediately pursue a diplomatic and negotiated peaceful settlement . ( Also , please send the following letters : http :// winwithoutwar . org / tell-congress-speak-nowar-north-korea and http :// bit . ly / 2zdYzHr ).
Let us never forget that we are called to follow not the god of war , but the Prince of Peace .