New Reminders: Paradox

A paradox is a statement or situation that seems contradictory or absurd, but when examined more closely, reveals a hidden truth or insightful perspective.  A real-life example is the paradox of choice, where having more choices can lead to feeling more overwhelmed and less satisfied than having fewer choices.  It is the concept of “less is more” in which we realized that having too much of a good thing can be bad, and that narrowing down choices makes it easier to choose. 

Some examples of paradoxical statements include the following: “Youth is wasted on the young.  The only constant is change.  You have to spend money to make money.  The only rule is that there are no rules.  And the more you know, the more you know you don't know.”  Life is full of paradoxes in which we must accept the fact that two opposing ideas can both be true at the same time.  Paradoxes are not always contradictions but can be statements or situations that challenge our assumptions and can lead to a deeper understanding of complex concepts and phenomena. 

There are several paradoxes in Christian theology, and we accept them by realizing that God knows everything and fully understands reality, though we do not.  The love paradox is one that is hard for some people to understand.  That is, that love is not always as sweet and comforting as we might like to think.  Sometimes, if we love someone, we have to also be honest and let them know when they are not doing the right things.  For example, a parent might need to apply what we call “tough love” to help children learn that they cannot always do exactly as they would like, when what they want to do, if it might be dangerous or otherwise harmful to themselves or others.  We ourselves, have to recognize that our heavenly father also teaches us that he knows best and though we might not fully understand why, there are things we need to learn from the things that do not go as we would like them to.

Isaiah 55:8-9 says: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.  "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways.”  The verse encourages believers to trust in God's wisdom and to recognize that His ways, though often mysterious, are ultimately for the best.  The Bible often emphasizes that God's power is most evident in human weakness.  2 Corinthians 12:9 states: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."  This challenges the worldly notion that strength lies in self-reliance and highlights dependence on God as a source of true power. 

Jesus taught that those who seek to save their lives will lose them, while those who lose their lives for His sake will find them in Matthew 10:39.   This paradoxical statement highlights the idea that self-sacrifice and selfless service can lead to spiritual gain and eternal life.  Matthew 23:12 empathizes that those who humble themselves will be exalted, while those who exalt themselves will be humbled.  True greatness is found in a humble and contrite spirit.  The ultimate paradox is that we must completely surrender in order to be truly free––free to live without fear because we know that God is with us, and that though we will all parish from this earth, we will live forever because Jesus died in our place.  God’s greatest paradoxical gift of love was the cruelty of allowing Jesus to suffer and die on the cross in order that we might be saved.  Love like that is beyond our human capacity to fully understand, yet it is the very paradox we are asked to believe, in order to partake in God’s gift of salvation.  Praise be to God for His unspeakable grace!