Divine Insanity

Divine Insanity

     When I was traveling through Thailand back in 1992, I discovered the beauty and peace of Buddhist temples or Wats and never missed an opportunity to visit the many Wats that were spread throughout that lovely country.  My favorite was Wat Phrathat Doi Tung, an ancient temple built a thousand years ago on top of a mountain in Northern Thailand near the Burmese Border. As I observed the Buddhist pilgrims reverently bowing in front of the Buddha statue and practicing ancient rituals passed down through the ages, I pondered on the Universal need we humans have had to connect with something outside of ourselves since the beginning of time.  The belief in a Sacred and Mystical Presence, whether we call it God, Allah, Krishna, or Yahweh seems to be as innate to our human experience as eating or sleeping. Without it, we would probably all still be living in caves, shivering in front of meager fires in our flea-bitten fur togas, afraid of our own shadows.  

      Yet there is nothing at all rational about faith.  The Buddhist religion that I found so profoundly moving is based on the teachings of a Prince who gave up his privileged life in favor of becoming a beggar and sitting under a tree to wait for enlightenment.  How about Jesus-- a blue collar carpenter’s son who purported to be the son of God with the power to perform miracles. And let’s not even talk about the saints.  St. Joan of Arc was a cross-dressing teenager who heard voices and claimed that God had directed her to lead the French army into battle against a formidable enemy. St. Teresa of Avila was an ex-Jewish nun with a checkered past who had visions and regularly levitated during choir practice. One could argue that, at best, these individuals were pretty out of touch with reality and at worst they were…well, insane. 

       Faith does seem to be a form of insanity which requires us to take leave of our senses because it asks us to   believe in what we can’t see, smell, hear, touch, or taste.  It expects us to trust in the improvable, the impossible and the unknowable; it assures us that God is supporting us, sustaining us and protecting us even when the exact opposite appears to be true. Faith invites us to dream our foolish dreams and to sometimes act imprudently to make them come true.  It asks us to stay true to ourselves in the face of negativity and skepticism. Faith often involves delusional thinking and an overactive imagination. Just think how idiotic it is to believe that man can fly; or that the power of a lightening bolt can be used to light and heat our homes.  

     At the same time, faith is the Divine Rocket Fuel that propels us out of the orbit of  apparent foolishness into the realm of Divine Inspiration.  Faith is saying, “I can” rather than, “I cannot”.    When I think of how faith has worked in my life, I think of the inner promptings that have compelled me to do seemingly weird and stupid things.  But each time I’ve abandoned reason and taken a leap of faith into the void of holy uncertainty, I’ve landed in a better place and my life has been immeasurably enriched.   Okay, so maybe I’m not leading armies into battle or walking on water, but I do hear voices and have visions which are always telling me what to do and when to do it. So go ahead and call me crazy. The dictionary defines insanity as lack of reason or extreme foolishness which aptly describes some of the things I’ve been guided to do, but there’s an entire parade of holy and enlightened fools who have gone before me.   I would say I’m in pretty good company.