Day 14: Watching the Theodrama Unfold

Hans Urs Von Balthasar spoke our being in the midst of the "theodrama," the story of creation, redemption, and salvation that God has planned for the cosmos.  In this dramatic tale we all have a role to play; the key is to find out what our role is - even if it's just a little one - and to play it well.

Sometimes we are called to be active in God's drama.  But sometimes our role is simply to be spectators - God's audience, marveling at the wonder of the show.  This is what St. Peter didn't understand on Mount Tabor at the Transfiguration.  Peter was used to being an active player in God's drama.  He wanted to do something - get a word in, build a tent.  But at this particular moment, God just wanted Peter to be quiet and watch God's glory unfold.  Peter's flurry of speech and activity is interrupted by God's thunderous: This is My Son: Listen to Him!  

When I was first learning to play the piano, I was lazy about rests.  My piano teacher constantly admonished me: Music is made up of notes and rests - of both sound and silence.  This truth applies to so much of life.  A drawing is made up of both lines and emptiness - "negative space."  Communication consists of knowing when to speak and when to listen.  And drama is about knowing when to step forward and steal a scene, and when to step back and not dominate the stage.  

It's hard for us to sit still, to watch and not feel the impulse to intervene or to do something.  But in moments of frustration, ambivalence, and uncertainty, it might be worthwhile to ask if God is not perhaps calling us to be still, silent, and simply to observe.  Are we called to act and speak now, or to sit quietly, watch, and listen?

Is our impulse to act an attempt to steal the scene from God?  In Scripture we see God almost forcefully try to get people to be still.  Job is probably the most famous spectator of the theodrama in Scripture: in his moment of loss and grief, God uses Job's moment of impotence to reveal His glory, to give Job a sense that his suffering is part of a broader story that God is weaving for the universe.  Can we learn from Job and use our own moments of futility as a call to silence before the greatness of God's plan?  

Don't rush the stage when God is trying to speak.  He will invite you to join Him when your lines are ready.  In the meantime, allow yourself to get lost in the power of His mighty performance on your behalf.  Let Him amaze you, fill your heart with wonder.  He will tell you when it's your time to act.