This gospel of John and all that it promises, claims all our senses and beckons us to give ourselves over to the moment. Spirit too claims us with the promise of giving itself over to our lives. Life, then and all that it brings, is the ultimate disguise of God.
I do remember the first time I heard this gospel. John and I were on a Marriage Encounter weekend. We had bared our souls to one another and no stone was left unturned. The priest and team couples on the weekend encouraged us, all of us, to throw ourselves completely, into our marriage. And we did, and nothing was the same after that.
The Franciscan monk, Richard Rohr, lecturer, writer, retreat leader, talks about everything spiritual and theological. In fact he once said there wasn’t a thought in his head that he had not written down or recorded. I’d like to share one of those thoughts because I think it’s a good one.
His understanding, his belief, is that the Holy Spirit reflects the essence of the priceless relationship between Abba God and the son, Jesus: pure love… and this powerful relationship envelops us, feeds us, frees us and abides with us always.
The Course in Miracles, a wisdom book as I have come to see it, also speaks of the unfailing love of the Holy Spirit and tells us that our responsibility is to invite the Holy Spirit into our lives, into our relationships, our wounds, our dreams and hopes and our purpose. Eventually, everything that is illusionary will dissolve and only the truth will live.
Recently I found another wisdom book, The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein, Enzo, the philosopher dog, with a near human soul, is the narrator of the story. He tenderly teaches that the relationship between two souls who are meant for one another, never really ends.
He says, “Inside each of us resides the truth, the absolute truth. But sometimes the truth is hidden in a hall of mirrors. Sometimes we believe we are viewing the real thing, but in fact we are viewing a facsimile, a distortion.”
And he goes on, “I am reminded of the climactic scene of the James Bond film, the Man With the Golden Gun. James Bond escapes his hall of mirrors by breaking the glass, shattering the illusions, until only the true villain stood before him. We too, must shatter the mirrors. We must look into ourselves and root out the distortions- until that thing which we know in our hearts is perfect and true- stands before us.”
The beauty of Enzo our learned dog is that he is a quick study and learns much from his owner, Denny, a race car driver who drives in the rain.
Enzo says, “ I know this much about racing in the rain. I know it is about balance, it’s about anticipation and patience. I know all the driving skills that are necessary for one to be successful in the rain. But racing in the rain is also about the mind. (pause)
It’s about owning one’s body. About believing that one’s car is merely an extension of one’s body. About believing that the track is an extension of the car, and the rain is an extension of the track, and the sky is an extension of the rain. It’s about believing that you are not you: you are everything. And everything is you.”
Furthermore he says, “Racers are often called selfish and egotistical. I myself have called race car drivers selfish; I was wrong. To be a champion you must have no ego at all. You must not exist as a separate entity. You must give yourself over to the race. You are nothing if not for your team, your car, your shoes, your tires.
So when Jesus says, in John’s gospel, that he will not leave us orphaned, that we will see him because he lives and we will live as well, I understand that to mean, that not only are we part of this universe and community of believers who will one day be in the Presence of the Divine, but we are also given every opportunity here to know the truth of who we are and our purpose, to love completely. Enzo is correct; it is about giving ourselves over to the race.
At the end of Enzo’s life, he remembered a documentary he had seen about dogs in Mongolia. He was quite a TV buff. The documentary said that the next incarnation for a dog, a dog who is ready to leave his dogness behind, is a man. And perhaps for us, it is when we are ready to leave our ego behind, our illusions, all behind, that we become fully human.
And maybe then in the fullness of our humanity, the Holy Spirit can give itself over to us completely to lead the way. And perhaps we too will learn the art of racing in the rain.