I spent a large part of this week studying metaphysics and ‘Aristotle’s god’ appeared again and again in my notebook. Thought thinking itself. The Unmoved mover. Pure form. As I sit down to write a Lenten reflection, I am struck by how blessed we are that God is not who Aristotle thought He was.
God isn’t unmoved, but He is a mover. He moves us in our hearts to pray, to have faith, to act with justice and goodness. However, God is moved too. He is moved with love and compassion when we love others and when we mess up. He is moved when His people cry out for help, and He moves to help them in their time of need in various ways. According to Christian theology, God is a Creator—He created each of us with love, and He thinks about is. He notices when we follow Him and smiles down on us. God knows we’re here.
Aristotle also contended that we’re all on the path to God, that He is our telos, our final end. We’re constantly striving to be more like God and live closer to Him. We’re always moving toward that end, but during Lent we try to be especially conscious of that movement. Lent is a good time to consider again what our end is and what we’re doing to reach it. We find opportunities to change our ways and get ourselves back on track when we really look at what’s going on around us and within us. By revelation, we know that this ultimate end, unity with God in heaven, is possible if we live and love according to God’s will. What a beautiful belief.
Laura, 2015
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