Fr. Robert Baron is a great communicator within the Church, and is most noted for his recent five disc DVD series entitled Catholicism. I haven’t seen it, but I have heard that it is a wonderful experience for Catholics, and I am sure for non-Catholics alike. I, from time to time, peruse the video section of his website, “Word on Fire”. Here he hosts excellent commentaries on a variety of subjects ranging from Christmas to Christopher Hitchens. I recently came across this review of the movie “The Grey”, starring Liam Neilson. I haven’t seen the movie, but his reflection reminded me of another passage outside of the book of Job that echoes Job’s lament, and Liam Neilson’s character’s desperate plea for assistance in the wilderness.
Psalm 88 reads:
6 You have put me in the lowest pit,
in the darkest depths.
7 Your wrath lies heavily on me;
you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.[d]
8 You have taken from me my closest friends
and have made me repulsive to them.
I am confined and cannot escape;
9 my eyes are dim with grief. I call to you, LORD, every day;
I spread out my hands to you.
10 Do you show your wonders to the dead?
Do their spirits rise up and praise you?
11 Is your love declared in the grave,
your faithfulness in Destruction[e]?
12 Are your wonders known in the place of darkness,
or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?
13 But I cry to you for help, LORD;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14 Why, LORD, do you reject me
and hide your face from me?
15 From my youth I have suffered and been close to death;
I have borne your terrors and am in despair.
16 Your wrath has swept over me;
your terrors have destroyed me.
17 All day long they surround me like a flood;
they have completely engulfed me.
18 You have taken from me friend and neighbor—
darkness is my closest friend.
This sinking howl is the observance of the world which is around us. Fr. Baron illustrates Schopenhauer’s allegory as an accurate description of life on some level; a frantic balance on a river raft that is destined to totter over the falls, and a materialist view shared by Liam Neilson’s character. However, the gritty survivalist pride that keeps the man with this view on the raft at all costs, and the hopeless fear that invigorates his balance, can all at once be replaced by the Love of the Lord; by an awareness of his presence, and a submission to His will–which is simply to love Him and each other. Neilson’s character in “The Grey”, who classifies his frozen breath as all that is “real” when asked about his religious beliefs, is in a way ironically describing God’s truth. Pneuma is an ancient Greek word for “breath”, but when used in a religious sense it is defined as “spirit”. As Christians, we worship and know God in this Spirit. He is not up in the sky, and at too far of a distance to witness man’s plight on the raft. As Jesus said, “the kingdom of God is in your midst.” God is with us here and now on this river. He is with us when the raft is launched into the water, and also as it slips over the falls. We balance on the raft for His Glory and in hope that we may stand with Him forever as the raft topples over the cliff of this existence.
In the Liturgy of the Hours, Psalm 88 is usually bookended accordingly:
17 All day long they surround me like a flood;
they have completely engulfed me.
18 You have taken from me friend and neighbor—
darkness is my closest friend.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit
As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Scripture – Bible Gateway
United States Catholic Conference. 1981. The Liturgy of the hours. Washington, D.C. (1312 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington 20005): Office of Pub. Services, U.S. Catholic Conference.
determinism, and at some level not having this is comforting if you were to, say, put the action into the hands of a malicious intending individual. So to the left is offered another illustration of what ‘communication’ looks like.
