Spiritual truth is paradoxical: We truly believe that God is Three Persons in One, that Jesus is both fully human and fully divine, that Mary is both virgin and mother, and that the Eucharist is simultaneously bread and Jesus. All of these do not make sense to the logical, dualistic, either/or mind.
The church has taught people doctrines but has not instructed on the proper mind with which to understand them, resulting in atheism, agnosticism, and breakaway groups.
Jesus’ and Paul’s paradoxical teachings initially seem like contradictions, but when held together, something emerges – truths that can only be known through an inner experience that transforms us deeply.
By holding the following paradoxes in silence and our lived experience, they teach us true wisdom and transform us.
Finding is losing; losing is finding (Luke 17:33).
The poor are rich (Matthew 5:3); the rich are very poor (Mark 10:17-25).
Hunger is satisfaction (Matthew 5:6); satisfaction is emptiness (Luke 12:16-21).
Weeping is bliss; bliss is weeping (Matthew 5:4).
The wise and learned do not understand; mere babes do (Matthew 11:25).
Folly is wisdom; the wise are ignorant (1 Corinthians 1:18-27).
Weakness is strength; strength is weakness (1 Corinthians 1:18-27; 2 Corinthians 12:10).
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