Luceat!

I thought I would chime in for the conversation at hand. Reading the recent posts, I am humbled to be in the midst of a group of writers with such wit and eloquence in prose. I have found myself asking, “What is my two cents on this subject?” I am not sure if I have two cents or even a penny worth of knowledge. Maybe you have heard the Christmas song with the following lyrics, “Put a penny in the old man’s hat, if you haven’t got a penny a half of penny will do, if you haven’t got a half of penny, God bless you.” I am blessed!

In my blessed state, I would like to comment on the human condition. I can only speak of this human condition from my own experience and the experience of Christ Jesus. My own human experience has been one of strife, mix emotions, glory, and hope! I have lived in deep sin, I have found great mercy, I have tasted the sweetness of success, and I have failed completely. I have cried in deep sorrow and laughed so hard that tears inevitable came. I find myself completely inadequate and at the same time fully capable.

I am just a normal guy, suffering from a fallen state of nature to obtain the greatness of what I am called to, my final end. And I don’t believe that my experience is too far off from the experiences of others, in fact I would propose that there is a common human experience, one that is found at the root of being human.

Curtis Martin, the founder of FOCUS, was in his college philosophy class at LSU when he first heard about dedicating your life to truth. The philosophy class was not proclaiming one truth over the other, but the professor did finish a class one day with these prophetic words, “If there is a truth and you dedicate your life to pursuing and knowing that truth, it will change you life.” I first heard about truth during my freshman year of college. I picked up the book, Crossing the Threshold of Hope by John Paul II. In this extensive interview of the Pope’s beliefs he addressed Truth! The prophetic statement of Curtis Martin’s philosophy professor was actualized in my life during my reading of this book.

It is only in this dedication to the Truth that one can examine the human experience. The danger of solely examining our experiences outside the realm of pursuing truth, leads us to a purely subjective knowledge of the world. A person might not have any experience of the Christian God, because he or she has never heard the Gospel proclaimed, but this does not change whether or not the view of the Christian God is true. It takes great reflection and discernment to know what is True in our subjective human experience.

Our subjective human experiences can be discerned reflected upon the perfect human experience of Jesus Christ. It is in Jesus that we find the fulfillment of human experience. Jesus is fully human and through his humanity we find a guide to our art of living. Jesus laughed, cried, drank wine, needed rest, became anger, was sorrowful and joyful. He lived out the human experience to the full. He said, “I have come to bring life, and bring it abundantly.” (John 10:10) Through the experience of Jesus we find out who were are, children of God.

In the adoption that we have each received into God’s family, as sons and daughters, is where we find the fulfillment of our human experience. It gives us a place to feel and live out our human emotions. It gives us a plane to lift up our sorrows and share our joys. I recently had breakfast with a man, who I think of as a sage in my own life. He shared me with a picture of his “girlfriend” (wife of 50 years). The picture he has carried in his wallet of his girlfriend for the past 50+ years is a picture of her as a little girl. He told me that all people should see others with the faces of children first and foremost, because that is who we are, children of God! I hope to one day carry around a childhood picture of my “girlfriend.”

It is in this childlike faith and wonder that we must approach the truth of the human experience. It is as children that we will experience our Father. Let us say with St. Therese of Lisieux, “Jesus, help me to simplify my life by learning what you want me to be - and becoming that person.”