Thomas Aquinas was perhaps the most systematic thinker in the history of the western world. Beginning with a series of theological propositions – about trinitarian life, the goodness of creation, the nature of salvation, etc. – he constructed gorgeous arguments for the Christian religious tradition that endure up to this day. Nevertheless, at the peak of his career as a theologian, he had a powerful experience, a mysterious spiritual encounter of some sort, in which he saw the many thousands of pages of his famous tomes blow away like straw in the wind. He was left speechless, stopped writing altogether, and died several months later as a quiet contemplative and joy-filled mystic. It appears that all of his mental analysis was not for its own sake but served a greater purpose. His mind, indeed, had become a well-built container capable of humbly receiving his Lord, which was the point all along. In this new year, let’s not get stuck on our ideas, or lost in an endless maze of trying to figure things out, but instead, like Thomas, surrender our thinking to the Lord. Our souls will be nourished only when we have the courage to finally lay down our menus and be fed. Ave Crux, Spes Unica.
