Dwelling in Possibility

In a presentation on “Love of Learning: The Overlooked Monastic Practice,” Sr. Edith Bogue remarked, “When we participate with God to make new things, then we can really know God.” But how do we go about “participating with God to make new things”?

Part of the answer lies in a statement by Robert F. Kennedy that Fr. Meinrad Miller quoted at mass this morning: “There are those who look at things as they are, and ask “Why?’ I dream of things that never were, and ask, ‘Why not?’” God, I believe, lives in a constant state of “Why not?” and invites us to participate in this life of continual newness and creativity. When we do, we become co-creators with God in imagining a world with art and music and poetry that never was before, a world in which all people have access to health care and clean water, a world that is based on connection instead of separation.

At one time or another, we have all experienced inspiration—an openness to the Spirit dwelling within us who provides the spark for a new poem, a new insight, a new way to solve old problems. Often, however, we let fear—of change, of appearing foolish, of disrupting our comfortable lives—extinguish the spark. We need to do a better job of offering hospitality to this Spirit within by listening, attending, and offering breathing space so we can truly participate in the life of God by joining in the creation of new things.