STANDING ON STEADY SPOTS

Christian Wiman, American poet writes, “We do not need definite beliefs because their objects are necessarily true. We need them because they enable us to stand on steady spots from which the truth may be glimpsed. And not simply glimpsed—because certainly revelation is available outside of dogma; indeed all dogma, if it’s alive at all, is the result of revelation at one time or another—but gathered in. Definite beliefs are what make the radical mystery—those moments when we suddenly know there is a God, about whom we “know” absolutely nothing—accessible to us and our ordinary, unmysterious lives. And more crucially: definite beliefs enable us to withstand the storms of suffering that come into every life, and that tend to destroy any spiritual disposition that does not have deep roots.”

Revelation that has ‘been gathered in’ is a great phrase for what we believe and how we came to believe it. Our faith is the result of what has been revealed… dogma comes much later and ‘revelation is available outside of dogma; indeed all dogma, if it’s alive at all, is the result of revelation at one time or another.’

“If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” Jesus