Posted on 06/22/2015 7:34:32 AM PDT by Salvation
A Powerful Parable Against the Premises of Unbelief
Msgr. Charles Pope • June 21, 2015 •
There are many reasons for the unbelief rampant in our times. Among them is the claim by some that because they do not see or hear evidence of God or an afterlife, our belief in these is just wishful thinking on our part so as to avoid the conclusion that everything ends with our death, that this world is all there is.
A parable currently circulating on the Internet addresses this sort of unbelief. A Facebook friend (Vicki) called it to my attention. I have adapted a bit and will present it to you here. Some sites indicate that the original author is Útmutató a Léleknek, while other sites are silent as to the source. I am only adapting it here because I have seen various forms of it and am not sure of the original. Nevertheless it is an effective parable in its essence.
Prior to having you read it please recall the nature of an analogy or a parable. An analogy presents a thing or a scenario that is “like” another one, but not exactly the same. The word parable comes from the Greek word para (alongside) + bole (to throw). Thus a parable is something that is expressed in terms of something else. It is “thrown alongside” in the sense that it is not exactly the same, but similar to what is described. The comparison discloses both the strengths and weakness of what is compared.
Many today misunderstand this and so when an analogy or parable is presented, dismiss it since it is not an exact fit. But as we’ve seen, an analogy or parable is not intended to be a perfect fit; it is intended to compare things that are merely similar. In the story that follows, we who live in the world are compared to two babies in the womb of their mother. The babies debate whether there really is anything or anyone outside the womb.
Now it is true that this world is “like” a womb, but not identical to it. Further, God is not a mother gestating us in her womb. He is Father and Creator, raising His children. But the story you are about to read is not about the nature of God per se, but about the argument that God and life after death do not exist merely because we cannot see them or because no one has verifiably claimed to have returned from Heaven to tell us all about it. So the analogy is about the argument over the existence of God and the afterlife, not about the nature of God.
So please consider this before commenting (in the comment box) that God is Father, not mother. Whether the original author meant this or not, I do not mean it in presenting the story.
With all that in mind, I present the story. The paragraphs are numbered for reference. 1.In a mother’s womb were two babies. One asked the other, “Do you believe in life after delivery?” 2.The other replied, “Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. It seems we are obviously here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later and that we have capacities that are meant for something greater than here.” 3.“Nonsense!” said the first. “There is no life after delivery. What makes you think there is?” 4.The second said, “Well, I am going to suppose that since we have eyes and legs and mouths that there is a world outside that has more light than here so that we can see, and where will walk about with our legs, and eat with our mouths. I mean, why would we have legs if we weren’t ever going to walk, or eyes if we weren’t ever going to have light and see? Maybe there will be many other things that we can’t understand now.” 5.The first replied, “That is absurd. Your are just engaging in wishful thinking and hoping that things will get better. This is all there is. Who needs to walk? And eating with our mouths? Ridiculous! The umbilical cord supplies nutrition and everything we need. And since the umbilical cord is so short, life after delivery is to be logically excluded.” 6.The second insisted, “Well I think there is something more than this, outside and beyond this womb. Some sort of longing is in my heart to see and walk freely and to eat and enjoy things. I mean, why would we have these legs and eyes and mouth and hands? And where did we get the longing to use them if we weren’t meant for something more? Indeed, maybe we won’t need this physical cord anymore.” 7.The first replied, “Nonsense. And moreover if there is life, then why has no one has ever come back from there? Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery there is nothing but darkness and silence and oblivion. It takes us nowhere.” 8.“No,” said the second, “Surely we will meet our mother and she will take care of us.” 9.The first replied “Mother? You actually believe in a mother? That’s laughable. If a mother exists then where is she now?” 10.The second said, “She is all around us. We are surrounded by her. We are from her and it is in her that we now live. Without her this world we are in now would not exist.” 11.Said the first, “Well I don’t see her, so it is only logical that she doesn’t exist.” 12.To which the second replied, “Sometimes, when I am in silence and I focus and really listen, I can perceive her presence, and hear her loving voice, calling down from above.”
Not a bad analogy in parable form (remember, no analogy is perfect)! Here are a few thoughts on how to apply it more specifically to our situation.
In sentence #2 the believing infant says, It seems we are obviously here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later and that we have capacities that are meant for something greater than here. This translates to the fact that, as Scripture says, God has put the timeless in our heart (Eccles 3:10). In other words, we can universally imagine concepts outside of the physical word and our experience, such as the timeless, and the concept of perfection is an indication that we are called to know, see, experience, and “walk” in these one day. The infants in the womb have eyes that are made for the light, but they cannot see while in the womb. But their eyes point to the purpose for which eyes are made. Their legs are made to walk, and thought they cannot walk now, their legs point to the reality for which they are made. That our desire is infinite points to the fact that there is some One who exists to fill that desire. This logic of a capacity pointing to a fulfilment of its object is taken up in sentences #4 and #6 as well.
Sentence #5 addresses the “wishful thinking” charge. The fact is that so-called “wishful thinking” imposes demands that move beyond merely trying to please myself with wishful thoughts. Thus, if I have legs and can one day walk, I must develop that skill and then take the risk of walking. If I can see, then I must accept the responsibility of one who sees and make changes in my life based upon it. Thus the Christian vision of eternal life and a higher call are not just wishful thoughts; they are demanding thoughts. They impose on us a requirement to prepare for and strive for higher things.
Sentences #9 and #11 take up the argument that if I can’t see something with my physical eyes or weigh it on a scale then it doesn’t exist. But of course many things exist that cannot be seen. I cannot see my thoughts per se. Neither can I see justice with my eyes. I can see their effects, but I cannot see them. It is like this with God. His effects are everywhere evident in what He has made, as is the intelligence and reason with which He made them. That things work predictably and in an orderly way is the basis of the scientific method. Some intelligence ordered all this with logic and suffused it with an intelligence that is intelligible. So I do not see God, but I see His effects, just as I do not see my intelligence or thoughts but do see their effects.
Sentence #10 reminds us of the fundamental question that most materialists and atheists refuse to answer: Why is there anything at all? We argue that things exist as coming from the One who is Existence Itself. But how does an atheist argue the effect of existence? Whence its cause?
Sentence #12 reminds every believer that he must be able to render an account for the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:15). Indeed, I will testify that when I still my soul, I do hear God’s heartbeat. I see Him in what He has made. And when I pray, I am heard. He is changing my life and I cannot account for the new man I am except that God lives and is changing me, molding and fashioning me into the man He has made me to be. I have tested His word and found it to be true. He lives and so I live!
How say you?
Monsignor Pope Ping!
Yesterday’s Gospel Reading (Mark 4:35-41) was all about God having ultimate power over the wind, the waves, and the planet.
Hard to square that with the just-released Global Warming Encyclical.
Obviously it came from the one who did not believe.
Excellent point.
Astute observation.
Reminds me directly of this dragonfly nymph parable:
A Parable Describing Death As A Transition to A Better Afterlife
-The Story of the Dragonfly-
Down below the surface of a quiet pond lived a little colony of water bugs. They were a happy colony, living far away from the sun. For many months they were very busy, scurrying over the soft mud on the bottom of the pond. They did notice that every once in a while one of their colony seemed to lose interest in going about with its friends. Clinging to the stem of a pond lily, it gradually moved out of sight and was seen no more.
“Look!” said one of the water bugs to another. “One of our colony is climbing up the lily stalk. Where do you suppose she is going?” Up, up, up it went slowly. Even as they watched, the water bug disappeared from sight. Its friends waited and waited but it didn’t return. “That’s funny!” said one water bug to another. “Wasn’t she happy here?” asked a second water bug. “Where do you suppose she went?” wondered a third. No one had an answer. They were greatly puzzled.
Finally one of the water bugs, a leader in the colony, gathered its friends together. “I have an idea. The next one of us who climbs up the lily stalk must promise to come back and tell us where he or she went and why.” “We promise,” they said solemnly.
One spring day, not long after, the very water bug who had suggested the plan found himself climbing up the lily stalk. Up, up, up he went. Before he knew what was happening, he had broken through the surface of the water, and fallen onto the broad, green lily pad above.
When he awoke, he looked about with surprise. He couldn’t believe what he saw. A startling change had come to his old body. His movement revealed four silver wings and a long tail. Even as he struggled, he felt an impulse to move his wings. The warmth of the sun soon dried the moisture from the new body. He moved his wings again and suddenly found himself up above the water. He had become a dragonfly.
Swooping and dipping in great curves, he flew through the air. He felt exhilarated in the new atmosphere. By and by, the new dragonfly lighted happily on a lily pad to rest. Then it was that he chanced to look below to the bottom of the pond. Why, he was right above his old friends, the water bugs! There they were, scurrying about, just as he had been doing some time before. Then the dragonfly remembered the promise: “The next one of us who climbs up the lily stalk will come back and tell where he or she went and why.”
Without thinking, the dragonfly darted down. Suddenly he hit the surface of the water and bounced away. Now that he was a dragonfly, he could no longer go into the water. “I can’t return!” he said in dismay. “At least I tried, but I can’t keep my promise. Even if I could go back, not one of the water bugs would know me in my new body. I guess I’ll just have to wait until they become dragonflies too. Then they’ll understand what happened to me, and where I went.” And the dragonfly winged off happily into its wonderful new world of sun and air.
Any one who believes death ends it all just try to imagine being dead, it did not work did it?
I'm not saying this to defend Pope Francis, whose encyclical I just read last night and which I find unsatisfactory both in style and substance (to put it briefly)---
But just to say this: You argument's gear wheels don't mesh. Even though God does have ultimate control over the wind, the waves, and the planet, that does not mean that human beings in principle are incapable of influencing these things, in actions deliberate or inadvertent, in ways beneficial or baneful.
Just as an example: widespread deforestation of mountains will decrease water absorption, increase runoff and flash-flooding, change water tables, cause erosion and mudslides,and ruin the local climate (think Haiti); widespread overgrazing of marginal lands will case desertification (think of the Sahel); failure to apply dryland farming practices on the US and Canadian prairies in the 1930's caused Dust Bowl conditions.
Etc. etc.
God is the owner-operator but the tenants are fully capable of screwing things up bad. Imagine dropping a thermonuclear warhead on the Yellowstone Super-caldera. I wouldn't think even my happy home in East Tennessee would be entirely unscathed.
This doesn't make me a Gorrible True Believer in AGW (I am not). But we can very well have an impact on wind and waves and whatnot. That's why we plant windbreaks to control soil erosion and install breakwaters to protect shoreline property.
I personally would like to boost the surface temps by about 2o C. and quadruple the CO2 to about 1600 ppm. It would make for a greener, prettier planet. I am doing my part by having a compost pile which emits CO2, methane and water vapor.
You're welcome, you're welcome, just throw some money in the cup.
#9 may be of interest
Thanks for the ping. I agree with most/all of it. I, too, am guilty of composting (have two piles active right now).
Oh, we need to be good stewards of this planet, but some make the planet an idol. Those chicken littles squawking about CO2 forget that it is a natural occurrence. I recall as a girl we were told fossil fuels will be used up before long. Lies. One day my children will learn the same about the climate change paranoia.
A great analogy for the anti-God, evolutionist crowd.
Preach it, sister.
I’m nearly 70 and never heard that one! Thanks for posting it. BTW, have you seen the movie? It’s a Kevin Kostner movie.
Yewh, there are those who make an idol out of Nature. I ran into a gal a couple of years back who thought it was wrong to pull out weeds by the roots— “Like ripping out your mother’s hair.” I asked her, if we couldn’t get rid of weeds, where we would get our veggies and things. She said “Oh, that’s no problem, I shop at Whole Foods.”
Dear Salvation, thank you oh so very much for posting this magnificent article! FWIW, there was not a word in it with which I could disagree.
To the article's main point, that "no one has verifiably claimed to have returned from Heaven to tell us all about it": Might I observe that Plato actually took a stab at this problem, in his "Pamphylian Myth," a//k/a the "Myth of Er," which is expounded towards the end of Plato's great dialogue, Republic.
The Cliff's Notes version of this great myth: Er was killed in battle, along with many of his compatriots. Instantly, the newly deceased were transported to the Underworld. What surprised and shocked Er there, was that there was a court of Justice pronouncing judgements/sentences on each and every soul that, by divine mandate, necessarily appeared before it. Instantly, Er realized that souls are immortal; because they must continue to live "post-judgement," bearing all the freight ("penance") of a past life invested in falsehood against the natural and spiritual order of things. Thus he realized that what we humans do "in 'this' life" weighs heavily in the divine judgment to which all men are ineluctably subjected.
The "miracle here" is that the divine intention actually permitted Er to come back to this world, to tell the "tale" of his experiences in the Underworld.
Which pretty much boils down to this: The "tale" of the immortal soul subject to divine judgement. Er comes to understand that this is the tale that SAVES: and IF we humans save that tale, THE TALE WILL SAVE US.
Of course, this "argument" is not "verifiable"....
As if we’re above the Holy spirit being pulled back.
Came across it about ten years ago in Wisconsin. Don’t know the movie
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