Wrestling With God

When visiting Father Tom Wynham in Falmouth where he continues to recover from back surgery, the always pleasant and upbeat priest mentioned he was reading a Ronald Rolheiser book entitled "Wrestling with God: Finding Hope and Meaning in Our Daily Struggles to be Human" (2018).  By coincidence I happened to be reading the same book on which the book jacket reads: “As long-held beliefs on love, faith, and God are challenged by the unrelenting changes of our modern world, many of us are left feeling confused and uncertain as old norms are redefined at breakneck speed.”

Rolheiser, a Roman Catholic priest, goes on to say: “Faith is not to be confused with ideas about faith.  Faith is deeper than religion and should not be identified with any one creed.  As Jesus himself says, those who do the will of God on earth are the ones who have real faith.  An explicit faith is not always needed to get to heaven or to attain happiness this side of eternity.  

Yet the great traditions still offer invaluable insight into how we might journey in faith and go about searching for life, meaning, steadiness, and flourishing…Real faith is not a set of answers; rather, it leaves us in mystery, in longing, in desire, but open to something bigger.”

One of his main points is: “…we spend the first half of our lives struggling with sensuality, greed, and sexuality, and spend the last half struggling with anger and forgiveness – and that anger is often, however unconsciously focused on God.  In the end, our real struggle isn’t with regret.  It is with God.”    

I just skim the surface of his wonderful book and his insights.  For those of us wrestling with God, I suggest reading this book will help us win at least one out of three falls.

Deacon David Pierce