"Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. If any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they look like."
Letter of James
This is very strong imagery, and we can all put an interpretation on what it may mean. Some would say that it means; "practice what you preach", but I believe it runs much deeper than that.
James speaks of looking at ourselves in a mirror, seeing ourselves, and then going off and forgetting what we look like. In other words, its a form of blindness. We look and see that we are children of God, but when we turn away and move out into our daily living, our lives do not reflect the reality of who we are, Children of God. We forget who we are, and live like anyone else.
I believe the term coined by Pope Benedict when speaking about our present Western culture as an "eclipse of God" is really the same thing. This is a term that has been used extensively in the New Evangelization. This image of eclipse describes a prevailing darkness or blindness, something that is blocking the return of the light from the sun, and because we cannot see the light, we begin to believe and act as if its not there. Recovering from the "eclipse of God" is therefore a way of speaking about rediscovering the presence of God, because God is always present. God is always with us.
What is it that we must do to rediscover God's presence as an experienced event so that the living out of our lives reflect this reality? How do we shed this apparent blindness caused by this "eclipse of God" that is prevalent in Western society?
We change our lives so as to be doers of the Word as St. James suggests in his letter. We give witness to God's presence among us by the way we live and by the choices we make.
I believe James' advice to the faithful of his time is just as relevant for the problem with today's darkness. "Be quick to listen, but slow to speak and slow to rouse your anger, for anger does not produce God's righteousness." This listening has more to do with an internal listening. Our own internal conversion from darkness to light depends on an internal listening which allows us to experience God's love and presence in our lives. The whole purpose of meditation is to bring us to that experiential awareness of God's love for us as a lived reality.
How can we possibly speak of God's presence and love to the world if it is not a real part of our own experience, a real part of our own lives. We can only share what we ourselves experience.
In the Gospel of Mark, we all know the story of the healing of Bartimaeus. "Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus, was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Bartimaeus did not have to work hard or angrily at witnessing to his healing. One only had to look at him. "My God, he said, I can see". And everything about him radiated the presence of Christ - his surprise, his joy, his smile, his praise, his forgiveness - All gave witness to the Glory of God.
Do we experience God so deeply, so personally, that we radiate the presence of Christ? Do we give witness to God in our life in this way? Can others who may be caught up in the darkness of the present day see in us that which cannot be explained by words, concepts, rules or argument.
If we experience God in this way, then we become doers of the word. We see ourselves clearly for who we are, Children of God, and we don't forget this as soon as we turn away from the mirror.
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