Beyond
Spiritual Rape
Rape
is violation. It is the taking by force of what, in itself, in the
right context and when freely given, is beautiful and unitive. Sexual
rape is probably one of the most horrible possible ways of degrading
and oppressing another human being. But there are many other kinds
of rape. There is ecological rape and rape of the environment. There
is psychological rape where a person is forced to accept points of
view which may in themselves be valid, but which may at the moment
be going against the grain for the person. This situation may produce
an obedient child or a rebellious one. While society exalts the obedient
one, psychologists say that the rebel and even the neurotic is often
more healthy. The latter is still striving to be an authentic person
while the former has surrendered his or her personality. Psychological
rape happens in the family and in religious life when people are forced
into choices - marriage, professions, responsibilities - which may
in themselves be valid but which the person may not be able to own
personally at this point in time.
There
can also be spiritual rape when a whole belief system is imposed on
a culture or group or individual from outside. While this can produce
the philosopho who argues against almost everything that others believe,
it can also produce a kind of spiritual passivity where a person believes
everything proposed without any struggle - and without any real conviction.
According to the Spanish writer Unamuno:
Those
who believe they believe in God,
But without passion in their heart,
Without anguish of mind,
Without uncertainty,
Without doubt
Even at times without despair…
Believe only in the idea of God
Not in God himself.
In
today's Gospel we see a man who will not be spiritually raped. The
other disciples have seen the Lord and are convinced but Thomas cannot
accept that the Jesus who died is now alive. He is caught between
fidelity to his inner sense of truth - he who has died cannot be alive
- and his tendency to conform and accept the words of his group, his
barkada. His sense of inner integrity demands that he does not give
in just for the sake of peace, yet, he does not protest just for the
sake of controversy. He had known Jesus who was crucified - and now
the group say that Jesus had visited them. It just did not fit. We
see the same demand for space in Mary when she tells the angel, "How
can this be? I am a virgin."
Then
Jesus appears to Thomas. During his lifetime he had consistently refused
to authenticate himself by marvelous doings, turning stones into bread,
taking over power, jumping from the top of the temple, coming down
from the cross. But now the risen Jesus volunteers to authenticate
himself by showing his wounds. And Thomas is convinced. He is set
free to accept the paradox. There is a gush of recognition and joy
as he says "My Lord and my God!" Jesus responds, "blessed
are those who have not seen but who believe."
All
of us have a desire to experience the extraordinary - miracles and
dancing suns - but the true Jesus is not to be found in these things.
The paradox is that the greatness of Jesus is often discovered in
poverty, suffering and weakness. Faith is ultimately in the graceful
acceptance of paradox. It is in freely accepting what from a rational
point of view makes no sense and yet is seen by the inner eye to be
the ultimate sense.
The
prayer that seeks extraordinary intervention and proof of God's love
and care does not help the vision of that inner eye. The inner eye
is sharpened in stillness of heart where one can be present comfortably
with paradox. This is the direction in which the twice daily practice
of meditation takes one. It takes one like Thomas not to compromise
or yield to violence, but to the graceful, joyful, acceptance of what
is apparently contradictory.
