Theocentric 8/15 /05 2005 Archive - 2006 Archive

It is a compound word, from the Greek word theos, which refers to God, and a form of the English word center. I contend that it describes human beings. We are God-centered; the divine is at the core of who we are. Our understanding of what it means to be “created in the image of God” (Genesis 1:27) is often focused on the notion of our reflecting “godness” from the outside, in the same way that the earth’s moon, which has no source of energy or light on its own, reflects the light of the sun. This is not an erroneous focus, but it is also not the only focus. I believe that our reflection of God’s image also comes from within.

In the course of our lives, events and relationships may cut, threaten, and hurt us deeply; so much so that we may get the impression that “deep” equals “pain.” It does not. If we dare to go deep enough, God is deeper than any pain we have experienced. This divine presence in the midst of and in spite of suffering is most clearly expressed in the Incarnation– the in-the-fleshness of Jesus’ life, ministry, death, and resurrection. Our ammas and abbas– our mothers and fathers in the faith– have often said that the most direct route to God is through our suffering; that we must engage, rather than shrink back from our pain.

This facing and embracing of pain is counter-cultural. Our economy and its security is built on a foundation of comfort and avoidance of suffering. We have co-opted the gift of surgical anesthesia for all of life, reasoning that less pain equals more pleasure. The opposite may be closer to the truth. Recognizing and facing our suffering (not in masochistic martyrdom or victim-like sadism, but, rather, in honest engagement) can help heighten both our appreciation for and recognition of pleasure.

The children’s board game “Operation” is a metaphor for the difficulty of moving through the pain to find God at the center. Whenever the game-player fails to reach the deeply imbedded target without touching the sides, flashing lights and a buzzer signal failure. Our search for God and our encounter with suffering may not elicit buzzers and lights, but the intensity of our pain can have a similar emotional, mental, and spiritual effect. Fearful wincing from our pain often causes our core search to glance askew, and we lose our focus. Pain often cuts to the quick, but God is in the marrow.

© 2005 Todd Jenkins