All That Emanates From…

Last updated on: December 8, 2011 at 3:03 pm by Marc

All That Emanates From… 2011-12-08T15:03:07-05:00 Marc

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

…points back to. The ripples point back to the rock, the cosmic radiation to the origins of the universe, children to their parents, the lover to his beloved, the heavens to the glory of their Maker; it seems self-evident. Perhaps this is why the South has always been so Christ-haunted. The great Northern cities that emanated from man and his money can only ever point back to money and man, while the slow, dusty Southern fields can only ever point back to their slow and dusty God. Not that there’s any real difference crossing the Mason-Dixie any more, outside of the sudden and shocking lack of sweet tea, but you take my point.

We need to understand this intricate step in the Universal waltz — this witness that comes from emanation — if only to pin down our own place in it. So often in our awkward relationships with the Creator of all things, we are of the belief that we must react, react and always react to Him. It’s a silly belief. Let me explain myself.

There are two ways to kneel. One is in reaction, the other in ritual. A man might kneel as the result of being struck by the power of a passing King, or he might kneel in imitation of being struck by that same power. The latter method isn’t bad, by any stretch. Our man would hardly be called out for not being struck with awe every time a King rolled by. Indeed, it’d be a poor, miserable man deriding himself for merely going through the motion of kneeling.

This is true of all reverence and gesture. As far as I’m aware, women do not refuse to walk through doors opened by men who lack a brimming love for women. We do not refuse to clap until we feel an innate desire to slap our hands together. We do not remain silent during the national anthem until we are struck by the greatness of our nation. We do not refuse our spouses a kiss until we are in awe of their beauty. (Well we could, I suppose, but then we’d be jerks.) In short, we do not disdain doing a thing in ritual instead of doing it in reaction.

And yet so much of modern Christianity is in the habit of promoting this very idea; reaction over ritual. We are to do as the Spirit calls us to do, we are to speak what the Lord puts on our heart, we are to pray spontaneously, we are — in short — to react to God. And of course, none of this is bad. In fact, it is very, very good! The problem comes when reaction is exalted and ritual damned as mere hypocrisy or scrupulousness. It is most often termed as such: “It doesn’t matter what you’re wearing to Mass, what’s important is your heart. It’s not about how well you kneel, or fold your hands, or bow or genuflect; what’s important is your relationship with Christ.” It otherwise termed as: “Everything we do we should do from the heart. It is hypocritical to bow if we don’t mean it.” This is all well and good, but it begs the question: Well what if your heart is full of angst and dryness? Should you not then kneel? What if your relationship with Christ sucks? Should you forsake ritual, remain true to reaction, and lay on the floor?

Seen like this, reverent posture — the kneeling, bowing and such — is seen all wrong. It is considered the posture of either holy men or hypocrites. But any historical glimpse at our holiest men shows an awful lot of them dancing naked in the woods. No, I hold that reverence is the posture of sinners. St. Thomas Aquinas fell to his knees in angelic rapture, in direct reaction to God. We kneel in imitation, in ritual, in recognition that what forced the Saint to his knees is here with us. We kneel despite our wandering thoughts and fickle hearts. And well we should, for all that emanates from points back to. We fold our hands not because we are good, but because we are so very bad, and folding our hands points us back to God. All reverent gestures are reactions to God, and thus performing these gestures points us back to Him. In kneeling we imitate those struck to their knees, and as a small ripple might be caught up in a larger one, the performance of ritual can lead to authentic reaction. Opening doors for women leads men to appreciate women more. Singing the national anthem makes a man more patriotic. And kissing his wife, even if its the last thing he wants to do, may very well make a man more romantic. And thus we genuflect every day of our lives, in preparation for the day that the majesty radiating from the tabernacle forces our legs from under us, and we buckle onto one knee.

We should dress nicely for Mass. We should fold our hands. We should genuflect. Not in recognition of our holiness, but in recognition of our sinfulness. For only if we are comfortable with reverence when it is mere ritual will be comfortable with reverence when it is true reaction; when we are urged, like David, to dance naked before the Lord.

Another Look

Previous Post

December 7, 2011

Too True...

Next Post

December 9, 2011 A Correction

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Another Look Atheism Bad Catholics Beauty Communio Crookedhart Destupidification Exiting the Culture Wars Gender Theory That Doesn't Suck How To Language Liturgy! Love One Another Marriage Equality Modesty Music Objectification pop culture Poverty Sacraments Sex Technology The Best Religion in the World The Erotic Phenomenon Time Uncategorized Virtue Ethics That Don't Suck Winning the Culture Wars

Select a Month January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 July 2016 June 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "Jehovah Nissi" mean?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The Lord is My Banner The Lord Saves The Lord is Holy The Lord is My Provider