Google or God

Learning to seek Christ’s wisdom and strength  

1 Corinthians 1:17-25  Brothers and sisters: Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the Gospel, and not with the wisdom of human eloquence, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its meaning. For Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.   

          Sometimes you’re too smart for your own good. Have you ever heard that expression before? I’m afraid that may be American’s “Achilles’ Heel,” our worst weakness and deadly downfall. Thanks to the internet, we have so much information at our fingertips, that we begin to believe we know everything. It’s almost as if we’re saying, “Who needs God? We’ve got Google!” Now, don’t misunderstand me, I “google” things too; it’s a very helpful tool. But have we thrown the baby out with the bathwater? The “bathwater” in this case is the slower and simpler sources of knowledge (like the Encyclopedia Britannica), but the “Baby” in this case is the one born in Bethlehem to save sinners. God has to go; we’ve got Google.   

          Now, someone who is emblematic of America’s ache for infinite information is Malcolm Gladwell, the popular writer. In his book David and Goliath, he re-interprets that famous Old Testament story to show that David was actually more powerful than Goliath; Goliath was actually the underdog. Gladwell writes: “Goliath had as much chance against David as any Bronze Age warrior with a sword would have against an opponent armed with a .45 automatic pistol” (p. 12), referring to David’s slingshot. That’s a fascinating hypothesis, but the downside to me is that it drains the drama of it’s divine element. In other words, David didn’t really need God to beat Goliath. Who needs God? We’ve got Google.   

          In the first reading today, St. Paul teaches the Corinthians not to throw the Baby out with the bathwater (the Baby being Jesus). He writes: “Christ is the power of God, and the wisdom of God.” In other words, don’t become too smart for your own good, and begin to believe you don’t need God. He goes on to explain: “For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.” That is, only God, incarnate in Christ, can give us a wisdom and strength that’s far greater than Google or the internet. How? Well, because Christ invites us not to share not in what’s created but in what’s uncreated, namely, the mind of God, in divine wisdom.  St. Paul would say, “It’s good to have Google, but it’s better to have God.”

          Sometimes people ask me how I prepare my homilies. And I always answer: “First, I say a prayer to the Holy Spirit that I will say what he wants me to say.” Then, I can tell anyone who doesn’t like my homilies, “Hey, don’t blame me, I’m just the messenger!” But you see, I’m seeking that same strength that helped David defeat Goliath, and the same wisdom that guided the writings of St. Paul. Google is good, but God is better.

          Josef Peiper, in his remarkable little book, called Leisure, the Basis of Culture, wrote: “The highest form of knowledge comes to man like a gift – the sudden illumination, a stroke of genius, true contemplation; it comes effortlessly and without trouble” (p. 34). Peiper knew well that wisdom is not something we create but something Uncreated. It is given like a gift from God – a Christmas present – a Baby born in Bethlehem.   

          Praised be Jesus Christ!