Just as the sunrise of faith requires the sunset of our former unbelief, so the dawn of trust requires letting go of our craving spiritual consolations and tangible reassurances. Trust at the mercy of the response it receives is a bogus trust. All is uncertainty and anxiety. In trembling insecurity the disciple pleads for proofs from the Lord that her affection is returned. If she does not receive them, she is frustrated and starts to suspect that her relationship with Jesus is all over or that it never existed.If she does receive consolation, she is reassured, but only for a time. She presses for further proofs - each one less convincing than the one that went before. In the end the need to trust dies of pure frustration. What the disciple has not learned is that tangible reassurances, however valuable they may be, cannot create trust, sustain it, or guarantee any certainty of its presence. Jesus calls us to hand over our autonomous self in unshaken confidence. When the craving for reassurances is stifled, trust happens.Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel. p. 116.
This incredibly well-stated point is a great challenge for me. Hope it gives you something to chew on.
2 comments:
I have a tough time putting into words what that means. All I know is that the false trust he described is what everyone has or strives for and the real trust he described is what very few/none have. As in you and me...probably don't have it. It is so risky. SO risky. It IS counter-culture. Everything we know about anything screams that THAT trust is not real. Secularly, it is either a figment of imagination or a mental crutch. Religiously (at least in the past), it is either not fair, unsustainable, or unnecessary. It even seems fake. I mean...so your saying trust and then...look for no confirmation? Just...expect. No matter what? That's impossible. We spend most of our time expecting that God would never let our trust go unaffirmed. But, truthfully, that's only because we can't imagine our trust going unconfirmed! As a rule, we refuse to trust (consciously or subconsciously) if it ISN'T confirmed! Worth trusting. That's why this is amazing. Because nothing else in all of creation asks us for our unconditional trust. It's too perfect. It's too unique. Nothing of the world would ask that of us. Just as nothing of the world could grant us such a reward for the answer.
exactly. "nothing of the world would ask that of us." that's why i like the way manning put this. it reminds me of how we place the same expectations we have of humans onto God. obviously, that is because that's what we know and understand. the problem i think we have too often is placing Him into a box, limiting Him as to what He can do.
take grace for example. we have a hard time understanding how God can be as gracious and forgiving as He is because we, as humans, find it so hard to forgive others/ourselves. that's why it is so important to constantly be reminded by Scripture, challenging discussion, etc., just what He IS capable of, so that we may find the confidence to be patient, forgiving, gracious and trusting among so many other things we sometimes deem 'impossible.'
it truly seems radical, and it is risky - Manning calls it "living on a cold and windy mountain." despite that, it is the life we're called to live as followers of The Way.
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