En route to simplicity and a second naivety
by Stephan Joubert We need a second naiveté. Our disillusionments with life’s painful certainties and uncertainties should give birth to a second naiveté, which, according to Paul Ricoeur (The Symbolism of Evil, 1967), is based upon a wise way of living. This only happens if we wade through the river of complexity, pain and disillusionment and make peace with uncertainty, but also with God, on the other side. Then we can regain a childlike excitement about a fresh and thoughtful faith in Him. Maybe we need to undergo an initiation process to die to ourselves and to be able to live before God, as Richard Rohr suggests (Adam’s Return: The Five Promises of Male Initiation, 2004). Rohr identifies five life–wisdoms that we need to master to escape our lifelong addiction to ourselves: 1. “Life is hard.” If we haven’t learned to look pain and loss in the eye, we’ll get stuck in bitterness, pleasure and blame–shifting. However, when we experience how light Jesus’ burden is during suffering, then a heavenly light is switched on in our lives. 2. “You are not important.” There’s an expiration date on status and success. Our value in the eyes of society is minimal in the long term. Yet those who are walking the road in Jesus’ footsteps know that their names are already written in heaven. 3. “Your life is not about yourself.” Somewhere each one of us are removed from the main role of our lives. That’s why we need to remember that it’s no longer us who are living, but Christ in us. He alone is our hope! Therefore we can start living beyond ourselves. 4. “You are not in control.” Self-help gurus encourage people to take control of their lives. However, life is unpredictable. It’s out of control. Followers of Jesus know a Heavenly Father who provides and cares for the flowers and the grass of the field and who delivers today’s manna at today. 5. “You are going to die.” Death is the last stop on this side of the grave. But the hope of Christ’s people is that death’s bluff has been called. Christ holds the keys of death and the underworld tightly in his hand. That’s why we have hope for a new piece of simplicity in our lives.