A faith so bright

St. John of the Cross, a Carmelite monk who lived in the 16th century, wrote this in the "Ascent of Carmel."

FAITH, say the theologians, is a habit of the soul, certain and obscure. And the reason for its being an obscure habit is that it makes us believe truths revealed by God Himself, which transcend all natural light, and exceed all human understanding, beyond all proportion. Hence it follows that, for the soul, this excessive light of faith which is given to it is thick darkness, for it overwhelms greater things and does away with small things, even as the light of the sun overwhelms all other lights whatsoever, so that when it shines and disables our visual faculty they appear not to be lights at all. So that it blinds it and deprives it of the sight that has been given to it, inasmuch as its light is great beyond all proportion and transcends the faculty of vision.

Reading the paper earlier this week, I read about some scientist who believes he has discovered the genetic source of faith. (Sorry, no link, it never made it to the online version.) Who can be surprised that faith is inbred in us? God wants us to make that connection to Him. If this scientist is right, He has even left us His phone number, right in our DNA!

The problem, as always, is the human personality. As St. Paul says, "the Jews want signs, Greeks want wisdom." (He is not being anti-semitic, just contrasting two personalities of skepticism.) We seem so determined to make God prove Himself to us that Jesus literally has to walkthrough our doors, into our rooms, and put our hands in his wounds!

I am guilty of this. I remember after I made my Cursillo weekend, which was full of incredible coincidences, too many to recount here, a friend of mine saying, "Next time, don't make God work so hard!" He is all around us, with us every step. Faith is such a strong sense - not only our sixth, but our most powerful sense, that as St. John of the Cross says, we become blind to it. And yet we perceive everything through those very faculties - our hearts, our awe. How can we not see what is right before us?