Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Peace and Pekoe

Home

Home
Catholic
Heart Speaks to Heart

Heart Speaks to Heart

Last updated on: February 22, 2017 at 4:30 pm by Kate Cousino

Heart Speaks to Heart 2017-02-22T16:30:39-04:00 Kate Cousino

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.

I wrote yesterday about why I don’t write a ton on specific theological controversies. I had a conversation today that made me think a little more deeply about that, and about how I would “give answer for the hope that I have.”

It’s easy to burn out on theology and doctrine and all the rest of the trappings of faith, I think. I’ve certainly been burned and burnt out by the confusion of trying to rationally break down and comprehend what is too large and encompassing for my comprehension.

Even in times of burnout, though, ritual has always held an appeal for me. At heart, I think we are all drawn to the numinous. There’s a seed for faith there, in our attraction to what is mysterious and ineffable.

John_Henry_Newman_by_Sir_John_Everett_Millais,_1st_Bt

My first blog, Heart Speaks to Heart, was named for Cardinal John Henry Newman’s motto, which he drew from Augustine: Cor ad cor loquitur.

Newman talks about how, although faith is rational, it’s not rational in the sense of inductive reasoning, where a ->b -> c. Faith is held rationally the same way everything else we organically learn and know is, by witness, by observation, by experience, by hundreds of indirect pieces of evidence which give us the shape of a greater reality, even if never observed directly. This way by which we operate as rational creatures outside the walls of classrooms and logical exercises and apologetic arguments, he calls “the illative sense.”

I took a class on Newman once that had only one other student. She treated him like a logician, and picked and fretted over words and seemed constantly frustrated with him. But I think he was profoundly mystical and was trying to communicate something he couldn’t fully express. And because he knew himself to be trying to describe something not easily captured in “if-then” formulations, he wrote reams and reams to try to capture what he knew but couldn’t concisely express about God and faith and the Church.

I’m fond of Newman for that reason. He comes across as a scholar at first, but it seems to me like all his scholarly writings are part of a lifelong attempt to describe what a different person would have put in paints or poetry. (Though Newman did write poetry as well).

We read a lot about the conversion stories of people led into the Church by apologetics and reason and convincing proofs. Those are the kinds of people inclined to write books! But I think our focus on those stories distracts us from the far greater number who come into the Church relationally, in response to things they see in others but cannot understand, things they are drawn towards but have no words for.

And this, I think, is why Newman, a man who spent his life writing works of apologetics, took as his motto, “Heart Speaks to Heart.” This is how faith is transmitted for so many. Perhaps, in the end, heart-to-heart is the evangelical model that matters most.

I hope so, anyway, because it’s what I have in me to give.

I know I’m not the only one who is wearied sometimes by the endless words, the arguments over how to understand our faith, which can so easily become a confusing tangle and a distraction. On that topic–and in the spirit of hearts speaking to hearts–I’d like to recommend meditating with the writings of Julian of Norwich, which are both devotional and simple, and mystical in the most wholesome and accessible way imaginable.

And if you aren’t going to Mass these days, I encourage you not to let the wars of the intellect interfere with feeding your soul and heart on the transcendent.

Lent is coming. It’s a good time to shut out all the noise and walk simply, like a child.

Faith

Personalism

Striving for Holiness

burnout

evangelization

Heart Speaks to Heart

Newman

Previous Post

February 21, 2017

Why I don't have an opinion on the Dubia

Next Post

February 23, 2017 Touching the Wall

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category ADHD Blog Business Body and Soul Books Faith Faith in Action Family Feminism Fertility Awareness Friendship Geekiness Guest Post History Hope Just For Fun Love Marriage Memory Mental Exercise Movies Parenting Personalism Poetry Prayer Quotes Scripture Seven Quick Takes Striving for Holiness Television The Stories We Tell The World Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 August 2016 June 2016 March 2016 January 2016 November 2015 October 2015 August 2015 July 2015 May 2015 April 2015 February 2015 December 2014 November 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 August 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 November 2009 October 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said, "Faith without works is dead"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

John James Peter Paul

Support this
Column