St. Paul was transformed when he met the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus. He experienced a mysterious paradox, that the crucified, dead Jesus was in fact alive. And that he, a “sinner,” was chosen and beloved. This drove Paul from the usual either/or, dualistic thinking to both/and, non-judgmental, mystical thinking.
Our mind usually works on the logical principle of contradiction, wherein something cannot be both true and false at the same time. Yet that is what higher truths invalidate: God is both one and three; Jesus is both human and divine; bread and wine are both matter and Spirit. Unfortunately, we have lost touch with paradoxical, mystical, or contemplative thinking. We wasted five centuries taking sides—which is so evident in our culture today!
Not only was Paul’s way of thinking changed, but his way of being in the world was also transformed. The former persecutor of Christians is Christ’s “chosen one,” sent “to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel” (Acts 9:15).
The paradox was overcome in Paul’s very person. He then knew that he was both sinner and saint, and we too must completely trust the same. These two contradictions do not cancel one another. Once the conflict is overcome in us, we realize we are a living paradox and so is everyone else. We begin to see life in a truly spiritual way.
Matthew 23:11 The greatest among you must be a servant.
Mark 9:35 “Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else.”
