Beyond rationality, into mystery

RATIONALITY, of course, is what defines us. It is what makes us human, because it enables us to reason out, think, reflect, plan, communicate, etc. Together with it, we have the will that enables us to choose, love and be responsible for our actions. We are truly free and not completely subject to physical and material laws.

We always have to use our rationality to be able to act human. It enables us to know the essences of things, to judge, to distinguish the causes and effects, etc. We should try to avoid falling to irrationality, never allowing ourselves to be dominated simply by instincts and emotions. But rationality has its limitations.

If we are to follow the Christian doctrine about who and what we are, then we realize that our humanity has a spiritual character and is oriented toward a supernatural goal, nothing less than to enter into communion with God and with everyone else.

Such view of what we are puts us to get in touch with a deeper and richer reality that can be accessed by our intelligence but cannot be fully comprehended by it. This is the supernatural reality which our will and reason can enter but cannot fully grasp.

This is where we have to allow the language of grace to speak through our heart, a language that goes beyond rationality and even of what we call factuality, to which we naturally tend. We have to train ourselves in this activity. We need to overcome our clumsiness and, perhaps, our lack of belief in this reality.

We have to understand that the range and reach of our intelligence and will is infinite, with the latter playing an active part, and the former the passive part. These human powers need to swim not in just an empty space of infinity, but in the infinite mystery of God, the creator of everything.

These human spiritual faculties are like containers that can endlessly contain anything that we want to put into them. Our problem is when we decide to say enough, by just remaining at the level of rationality and factuality, of our materiality, and closing themselves to the infinite possibilities of the mysteries of God.

We have to prime our will to continuously plumb into the mystery of God, and to prompt our intelligence to learn and get as much as possible of the things that the consideration of God and others will show us.

In this regard, Pope Benedict XVI has the following to say when interviewed some time ago when he was still Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. I think it’s worthwhile to go through the text, drawing from it some precious lessons.

He was asked: “Can we say it is necessary to broaden one’s mind to come to know God better?”
His reply was quite direct and elaborate. “Even a simple person can know God quite well,” he reassured his interviewer. In short, one need not be very knowledgeable about worldly things to know God.

It’s more of the heart. If it earnestly seeks God and wants to be united with God, then worldly knowledge would not be that important and that relevant. Except that, God also wants us to get immersed in the things of the world. That’s why we also need to know worldly things.

He continued: “You can drown understanding in facts. Anyone who fails to perceive the mystery at work within the facts of nature or of history is just stuffing his head and his heart with a lot of things that may even make him incapable of any breadth or depth of perception.”

This is what we have to be most careful about. Worldly knowledge, especially when it becomes exciting and absorbing, can lead us away from God instead of leading us to him, can weaken instead of reinforcing our natural tendency toward God.

This is what is commonly taking place these days. Many people are “just stuffing” themselves with data but are impoverishing their desire for God. They get stuck with rationality, but fails to enter into the world of mysteries.

Not that we have to behave in a strange way to get into this world of mysteries. We always use our rationality, even our senses and emotions, but be we have to go beyond them, to enter into the spiritual and supernatural world of God. This is always possible because of the powers of our will and heart.