Otherness

POPE Benedict in one of his speeches used this term, otherness, to characterize what is in the depth of our being. Let’s quote him and start to familiarize ourselves with this essential and crucial note about ourselves.

"Man," he said, "is characterized by his otherness. He is a being created by God, a being in the image of God, a being who is loved and is made to love. As a human, he is never closed within himself. He is always a bearer of otherness and, from his origins, is in interaction with other human beings."

In short, we are meant for others, and ultimately for God, the Final Other for whom we are destined. We have to be more aware of the practical implications of this truth.

We have to be wary of our strong tendency to think only of ourselves, our own interests, projects, achievements, our own family, clique and class, culture, etc., and to succumb to an I-me-mine mentality, instead of a we-us-ours attitude.

Let us remind ourselves very often of the truth that our true joy is not in self-contentment and satisfaction. Our true development is not in our self-perfection. Life is not about ourselves. We are designed to be men-for-others.

Our life, our authentic joy and perfection always involve God and others. They are achieved when day to day, moment to moment we seek to be with God and others, if not physically then in our mind and heart.

We have to go beyond our comfort zone, our personal and professional elements, and even our social, cultural and human affairs. While we cannot escape from them—in fact, we have to be immersed in them—we also have to find a way not to be held captive by them.

We are meant for something greater always, no matter how much we are endowed and have achieved. Thus, in a recent speech Pope Benedict said that we are beyond our sciences, no matter how well developed they already are. Let’s listen to him again:

"Human beings always stand beyond what can be scientifically seen or perceived. To overlook the question of man’s ‘being’ inevitably leads to refusing the possibility of research into the objective truth of being and, effectively, to an incapacity to recognize the foundation upon which human dignity rests."

We are also beyond our culture and history. "Not by bread alone does man live, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God," (Mt 4,4) our Lord said. In fact, we are meant for God.

We should not be enclosed by the limits of what is known and experienced by us so far. We are actually a mystery, regardless of how much knowledge about ourselves we have already accumulated.

We have to find a way to enter into a living, not just conceptual or theoretical, relationship with God. We have to find a way to transcend beyond, but not avoid, our material and temporal conditions to enter into a loving relationship with God.

We have to learn to find God in the very things that we handle everyday, even if these things are the pots and pans in the kitchen. Finding him is not a matter of escaping from the world with all the mundane things involved there or escaping from our present life.

God is in everything. He is waiting for us in our domestic activities, our professional life in offices, business and politics, in schools, farms, shops, etc. Wherever we are, God is there waiting for us.

In our present age of frantic developments, we still can manage to find God if we know how to discern the spiritual and moral implications of the technical details involved in our work.

This would mean allowing God to enter into our life in all its aspects, and not shutting him off, plunging ourselves to the logic and dynamism of our human world.

What enables us to be a "bearer of otherness" is our spiritual nature, our intelligence and will that let us enjoy freedom whose proper operation is to want, to love. On this point, the Pope again said:

"Man is not the result of mere chance, of converging circumstances, of determinism, of chemical inter-reactions. Man is a being who enjoys a freedom which transcends his nature and is a sign of the mystery of otherness that dwells within him."