Knowing More Than We Know – Br. Curtis Almquist

SSJE

Br. Curtis Almquist

The Blessed Virgin Mary

Luke 10: 17-24

Jesus expresses thanks: “What God has “hidden from the wise and intelligent [God] has revealed to infants.” To infants and, presumably by extension, to young children whose cognitive abilities are underdeveloped; and to those without formal education; and to the elderly whose mind is slipping away. I’m wondering whether what God “has hidden from the wise and intelligent” in someway includes his own mother, Mary, whose improbable pregnancy was announced to her by an angel.[i] No reasoning, no wisdom could explain to her what she was being asked to do, or how, in becoming the birth mother of the Messiah. There was nothing to figure out. The angelic invitation and revelation to Mary was deeper than her mind. The poet, Madeleine L’Engle, writes:

“…Had Mary been filled with reason
There’d have been no room for the child.”[ii]

This is not to denigrate our God-given ability to think and to reach conclusions that we deduce from reasonable facts. However Jesus is talking here about something More. The etymology of the English word “educate” comes from the Latin educere – “to bring out, to lead forth” – which presumes a kind of inner revelation that is being brought forth into our awareness, a way of knowing that may be “hidden from the wise and intelligent.”

I have the privilege of listening to people talk about their lives as they face questions and make decisions aboutwhat path to follow. I often will ask, “How will you know?” This is not a test question; it’s an experiential question. How have they come to know what they know to bring them to this point in their life? I usually hear a symphony of revelations a person has experienced and come to trust, and it is always more than the matters of their mind. This is certainly true for me, personally, and perhaps also for you. How have the eyes of your own heart been enlightened for you to make the significant decisions you have made in life?[iii] What do you trust?

To quote again Madeleine L’Engle, writing in the voice of the Blessed Virgin Mary:

“…The angel came and gave, did not explain.
I know not all of that which I contain.”[iv]

But God does know all of that which you contain. This surely includes your mind. Your mind matters. But you are much more than your mind. For your own discernment in life, pray for revelation that you will recognize and trust. Use your mind, to be sure, but keep in mind that God is bigger than your mind. God is with you. Pray you will have the clarity to know how to know what you need to know, and the freedom to say “yes.”

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[i] Luke 1:26-38.

[ii] A poem of Madeleine L’Engle (1918-2007): “After Annunciation”

This is the irrational season
When love blooms bright and wild.
Had Mary been filled with reason
There’d have been no room for the child.

[iii] A riff on Saint Paul’s words in Ephesians 1:18.

[iv] A poem of Madeleine L’Engle: “Young Mary”

I know not all of that which I contain.
I’m small; I’m young; I fear the pain.
All is surprise; I am to be a mother.
That Holy Thing within me and no other
is Heaven’s King whose lovely Love will reign.
My pain, his gaining my eternal gain.
My fragile body holds Creation’s Light;
its smallness shelters God’s unbounded might.
The angel came and gave, did not explain.
I know not all of that which I contain.