I've been thinking alot lately about the idea of paradox. Maybe its cause I chose to write an indoor drumline show about this word, but I think its the other way around; that I wrote the indoor show cause I've been thinking about paradox. The little red dictionary on my bookshelf says this:
paradox: n. 1. a statement that seems contradictory, etc. but may be true in fact 2. a statement that is self-contradictory and, hense, false
I think this definition is very flawed. Maybe its cause I have the handheld websters, maybe not. But here's my beef: a) paradox is more than a statement, and b) I believe paradoxes are more true than false, thus eliminating the need for def. #2.
So, lately I have found that the most beautiful things, are the things that hurt the most. This started in me last summer. Two experience changed my life that summer.
In the dangerous, and poverty stricken slum of La Carpio, Costa Rica, I experienced the worst living conditions I have ever seen people live within. And yet, I know that this place pales in comparison to many places in other, even more poor parts of the world. Yet in the midst of this poverty, and oppression there was an overwhelming since of peace, and of joy. The Lord was present in the midst of these folks--in the midst of the violence of gangs, in the midst of children living on the streets, in the midst of the sewage running doing the middle of their dirt roads. I met the most beautiful children here. The joy they had to see us "Gringos" and to play with us was so contagous. This city, in its horrible conditions, was a place of beauty, and peace, and joy. This is a paradox, and this self-contridiction, contrary to webster, is true.
Just a few months after my experience of paradox in Costa Rica, I felt paradox at home. My grandfather passed away in August. He was buried on my birthday. Losing loved ones is perhaps the hardest thing in this life. Yet, the paradox I came to experience was a profound joy and peace of celebrating one of the most amazing lifes I have known. I felt for the first time ever, or maybe just stronger than I ever had, that this life is so much more than simply life-and-death. I saw a man passing from this world to the next, but yet I saw that his life even here on earth is one that is still living on even today. His life is living on through family, friends, and loved ones, through my chin, and through fish fry cookouts. What a paradox!
The scriptures are full of paradox, and perhaps I'll blog to this concern on a later day. God's creation is amazing and beautiful, but it isn't perfect. We have death, and we have poverty, and we have injustice, and we have hurt. But, maybe, just maybe, that is the idea of perfection God intends. Maybe, paradox is more than a statement but is bottled up into the fabric of our world. I find this to be oh so true. It is in the moments of hurt, experiencing the worst this that this world has to offer, that I feel God the closest and the most present. I mentioned that my grandfather was buried on my birthday, well, that day was also the birthday of his late wife. What a present for her in heaven! There is beauty in the midst of this mess, keep your eyes open.
