December
2, 2018 / 1st Sunday Advent
• Jeremiah 33:14-16 • Psalm 25 • 1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2 • +Luke
21:25-28, •
[__01__] A theory.
The word – theory T-H-E-O-R-Y – is supposed to explain everything.
Stephen Hawking is a scientist who had such a theory.
And, in 1970, Stephen Hawking – the famous scientist and physicist – moved/traveled to
southern California, to become a professor of the theory of physics
(theoretical physics). He went to Caltech, in Pasadena, just outside Los
Angeles.
Stephen Hawking became a distinguished professor at
Caltech in 1970, but went there partially because he had a theory about the
weather. The climate. It was supposed to be good for him, dry, not rainy (as it
is today) or like it is almost every day in England where was from.
So, he went from England to southern California because
he was suffering from physical ailments (infirmity) and the beginnings of Lou
Gehrig’s disease.
However, in California, his condition deteriorated to the
point where he needed to use a wheelchair practically all the time. The
Engineering faculty at Caltech was asked if they could build a motorized
wheelchair for him. But as Hawking himself explained during a televised
biography, it wasn’t a good motorized wheelchair in theory or in practice.
Now – you may recall that Dr. Stephen Hawking – real-life
guy – made a guest star cameo appearance – a few times – on The Big Bang Theory, CBS tv
sitcom.
He
went there to show how much fun it is to be a geek..as the show portrays.
In
the show, one of the scientists - Howard– becomes the personal engineer to
build a wheelchair for Stephen Hawking.
So, it is a reference to what happened back in the 1970’s. And, Howard
ends up with a bunch of spare parts and he cannot build a very good wheelchair. He
does not know what to do with all the spare parts.
Sometimes,
that might be how we feel about life, that we have a bunch of spare parts and
we are not sure where to go from here.
What’s
our theory?
[__02__] One
Sunday, in the mid 1980’s , I saw a New York Times Magazine cover story
article. This was my introduction to Dr. Stephen Hawking. It was an article
about the indelible ink of this scholarship which was re-writing upending
physics and physics departments.
“Not since Albert Einstein has a scientist so captured
the public imagination and endeared himself to tens of millions of
people,” wrote Professor Michio Kaku at
CUNY.
But he did not endear himself to me or the millions just because
of theoretical physics, just because of his theories. He endeared himself not just as a “theory” but
in practice, and in the way he practiced and carried out his life..in the
photos we have seen.
I remember Stephen Hawking, the star, because of the
magazine cover photo. This is the photo, the image many of us have stored on
our hard-drives or in our heads, of Hawking in a wheelchair, head tilted to one
side, dressed formally in a suit but unable to use his hands or mouth or any
part of his body for mobility or communication.
Stephen Hawking was
a star even before he was on CBS / The
Big Bang Theory.
Earlier this year, Stephen Hawking died at the age of 76 in March of this year, after a life of tremendous scholarly achievement.
Earlier this year, Stephen Hawking died at the age of 76 in March of this year, after a life of tremendous scholarly achievement.
[__03__] Stephen Hawking is a star.
Stephen Hawking was a star because he was that notable
exception.
We use a STAR or ASTERISK
to indicate that notable exception, willing to research to work, to persevere,
even though he could hardly move.
The pages of books had to be turned for him in order for
him to read. And, to calculate an
equation, someone had to write the whole thing out on the blackboard for him to
see and comment and calculate by graduate assistants or colleagues.
And, through that, he made discoveries about the real
big-bang theory and black holes and other things.
But, is this what life is supposed to be like?
[__04__] In
his letter about Christian hope – Spe
Salvi / In Hope We Were Saved – Pope Benedict XVI (B16) asks the question –
“what
is true life? What should [life] be
like?” (Spe
Salvi, n. 11)
Looking at a photo of Stephen Hawking in a wheelchair, I
saw someone heroic and scholarly and certainly much more patient than I could
ever be.
So, what is LIFE ?
What should life be like?
B16 reflects that we want is a life untouched by death, untouched
by disease, untouched by illness.
So, what is a life untouched by death – disease –
illness? Well.. that is eternal life.
So, LIFE can be eternal.
That’s our hope. Eternal life. That’s our theory. That is our – to steal
a phrase from Stephen Hawking’s autobiography – eternal life is our THEORY OF
EVERYTHING.
But, do we like that theory?
B16 asks, however, is
“eternal life” really a selling point?
Do we want eternity?
Eternal life might be scary.
Do we really expect things to last forever?
In AMAZON or Google play, they do not last forever. They
just get upgraded. We don’t want it to last forever. We just want a money-back guarantee.
So –in our life of Christian hope, we are manifesting a
hope in something that will last forever.
[__05__] I bring this up because Stephen Hawking is
a star, showing a way to persevere – seemingly forever. Some days or some tasks must have seemed
endless.
In his life, we see a life certainly touched by death, by
disability, by illness, by Lou Gehrig’s disease.
And, I just use this as an analogy, that his body physically was touched by
all these traumas and tribulations, but he himself was not overcome by these
things.
He showed that his life was not limited by his body …and
this he was an overachiever… he “outperformed”
his body.
[Now, it is also true, I admit, that Stephen
Hawking did not profess the faith that his life’s work was a testimony to a
life – a presence – and a soul – distinct from the anatomy of a physique and
intellect. Nevertheless, I believe that
Stephen Hawking is a witness to life was we understand it, not as he indicated
formally that he understood it. ]
Every person is a body-soul unity. His life was
extraordinary in that we can see – by analogy – a hope – that is our THEORY -- for
a life beyond our own body, even in this world.
In this season of ADVENT, we also hope for Jesus and who
exists even before he was born and continues to be present even though he has
died and risen from the dead, present in Holy Communion and in the Word.
[__06__] B16 writes that pain and suffering are part
of our existence. Do we marginalize or
neutralize pain or those suffering from pain?
The trap, I suggest, is one that I was caught in the
first time I saw a photo of Stephen Hawking in a wheelchair with a
voice-synthesizer in the 1980’s.
I saw him as an exception, but perhaps as an exception
that I could not or would never wish to emulate.
And, sometime we just marginalize the exceptions or do we
raise up the exceptions as example for us to follow, to make them less visible.
Do we marginalize the exceptions or do we make room for
the exceptions?
[__07__] Stephen Hawking is a STAR because he had a
THEORY and worked on THEORIES and his autobiography is titled, “The Theory of Everything”
We also have a Theory of Everything. Hope is our Theory
of Everything.
And, that even though we are touched by ►[death],
we trust and hope in [/► eternal life]
► [Sin / ► Mercy …]
► [Illness / ► Healing in all of its
forms …]
► [Persecution, hatred / ► God who is Love ]
That is our Theory of Everything.
[__08__] What
should life be like? B16 writes that
life is not the elemental spirits of the universe [the Periodic Table of the
Elements], the laws of matter, … [Life]
is a person, Jesus how comes to us as love. [Spe Salvi, note 3: Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1817-1821, ].
And, He is our true STAR. [__fin__]
No comments:
Post a Comment