What I know

I've been listening to Greg Boyd's recent sermons on prayer - inspiring and thought-provoking, as ever. Hopefully I'll get round to blogging further on my thoughts and response to these. But, listening to his sermon on the variables that affect answers to prayer ('Scorpions, Eggs and Prayer') I've been particularly reflecting on his explanation of what we DON'T know, that is almost everything! He explains that it's profoundly important to know what we don't know and to get comfortable saying 'I don't know'. As he memorably describes it, we "swim in an infinite sea of unknowability" and what we call the 'things we know' is an oasis of pseudo-knowledge floating in a sea of mystery! It is knowing this that keeps us from being sucked into formulas and trite responses.

I completely agree with him that the statement 'I don't know' can be enormously powerful in the right context. When faced with the question of suffering, I wonder whether it is indeed the only appropriate answer. It rings true with God's response to Job - there is far more in the Universe than you could possibly know or understand. There is a necessary humility when faced with the question of why a prayer has not been answered. Although it may ease our pain to find someone to blame, any answer cannot help but be simplistic and damaging - either to ourselves or others, or to our relationship with God.

However, while we may have to answer 'I don't know', this cannot be the end of our response. We are called to have compassion - and words may only be a small part of this. And as Christians we also have hope.

There is much we don't know, but one thing I do know: Jesus our Saviour was dead in the grave, and is alive again! Jesus is alive - that is the response of hope.

"I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades."
Revelation 1.18

Happy Easter everyone!