The Scientist and the Via Negativa

This morning at work I was casually listening to Coldplay. I say casually because I remember opening ITunes and choosing Coldplay. Fourteen songs later I heard a few lines from The Scientist pierce through the background noise clutter that we tend to fill our lives with.

Come up to meet you, Tell you I'm sorry, You don't know how lovely you are.
I had to find you, Tell you I need you, Tell you I set you apart.
Tell me your secrets, And ask me your questions, Oh let's go back to the start.
Runnin' in circles, Comin' up tails, Heads on the science apart.
Nobody said it was easy, It's such a shame for us to part.
Nobody said it was easy, No one ever said it would be this hard.
Oh take me back to the start.
I was just guessin', At numbers and figures, Pullin' the puzzles apart.
Questions of science, Science and progress, Do not speak as loud as my heart.
Tell me you love me, Come back and haunt me, Oh on I rush to the start.
Runnin' in circles, Chasin' our tails, Comin' back as we are.
Nobody said it was easy, Oh it's such a shame for us to part.
Nobody said it was easy, No one ever said it would be so hard.
I'm goin' back to the start.

What from these lyrics made the journey from noise to recognition? Well that begins about 12 hours earlier in our weekly small group. A dear friend expressed her frustration/confusion/exasperation at all the excess theological baggage she has gained over the years from her journey through different churches. So much of this now obscures and colors her vision of the Gospel and who Christ really was.

Brian MClaren in his book A Generous Orthodoxy, describes the seven Jesuses he has known over his lifetime. His theological journey introduced him to different facets of who Christ is perceived to be. I think this is similar to what the women in our group were lamenting. Which, if any, is the real Jesus. What these women expressed was a desire to go back to the purity of the Gospels themselves in a way that is untainted from the baggage of various strains of Christianity. I sat with them and this thought resonated deeply within me too.

It is into this thought that The Scientist’s lyrical arrow was shot.

Tell me you love me, Come back and haunt me, Oh on I rush to the start.
Runnin' in circles, Chasin' our tails, Comin' back as we are.
Nobody said it was easy, Oh it's such a shame for us to part.Nobody said it was easy, No one ever said it would be so hard.I'm goin' back to the start.

This first section is as good as a prayer. The second describes our theological follies. And the third, a hope and endurance for the beauty of a pure start.

Can we go back to the start?

Yes.

And no.

We can return to the Gospels. We can pray to see through eyes and hearts and minds guided by the Spirit in community. And yet, I know that we cannot unlearn the dirty devices, teachings that ring false, oppressive fundamentalisms that have been part of our Christian faith journeys. Even though these thoughts meddle and divide us they are apart of who we are. I am thankful that this community has had such an array of ecclesial and spiritual experiences because together we recognize a greater sense of where we do not want to go…a practical via negativa.