A Hand in History

Seeing the deeper undercurrents of divine providence

07/08/2017

Genesis 27:1-5, 15-29 When Isaac was so old that his eyesight had failed him, he called his older son Esau and said to him, "Son!" "Yes father!" he replied. Isaac then said, "As you can see, I am so old that I may now die at any time. Take your gear, therefore–your quiver and bow– and go out into the country to hunt some game for me. With your catch prepare an appetizing dish for me, such as I like, and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my special blessing before I die." Rebekah had been listening while Isaac was speaking to his son Esau. So, when Esau went out into the country to hunt some game for his father, Rebekah [then] took the best clothes of her older son Esau that she had in the house, and gave them to her younger son Jacob to wear; and with the skins of the kids she covered up his hands and the hairless parts of his neck. Then she handed her son Jacob the appetizing dish and the bread she had prepared.

         Have you ever heard the proverb, “God writes straight with crooked lines”? It means that what looks insensible and incongruent could carry a deeper meaning and message, namely, God’s plans and purposes. A perfect illustration of this proverb is surprisingly the history of the proverb itself. I tried to find its origin – who used it first – but I couldn’t. Some scholars attribute it to the Portuguese in the 16th century, while others say it goes all the way back to St. Augustine in the 5th century. In other words, the history of the proverb – from its obscure origins to Fr. John’s homily today – is full of crooked lines, but perhaps it was God who was writing straight with it. O, as I like to say, “The Holy Spirit is driving the bus.” Now, I started that proverb, and it’s copyrighted, so you cannot use it.

The Catholic historian, Christopher Dawson, argues that God’s hand is on history, on the macro level, that is, on the level of nations and cultures. He writes: “Certainly religion is the great creative force in culture and almost every historic culture has been inspired and informed by some great religion” (Dynamics of World History, 114). In other words, the dynamics of world history are really divine. What happened in the history of that little proverb also occurs in the history of humanity: what may look like crooked lines to us is really God’s hand in history.

           In the first reading today, it is clearly by knavery and treachery that Jacob receives Isaac’s blessing instead of Esau. With his mother’s prompting, Jacob disguises himself as his older brother, Esau; he fools his blind father, Isaac; and receives the “blessing of the first born,” which, incidentally, entitled the recipient to a double share of the inheritance and assuming the role of father-figure over the family.  The blessing of the firstborn was no small thing.  Up close, that moment in Israel’s history appears as a crooked line, by a crooked kid. But step back, and we see how God’s hand guided that history to his holy purposes: establishing Jacob as the father of the twelve tribes of Israel, and ultimately as the forefather of Jesus, the Messiah. There is always a hand in history: the history of the little proverb, the dynamic history of the world, and especially the history of Israel. And it’s a holy hand; God’s hand.

I was watching the movie “Batman: the Dark Knight Rises,” recently and was struck by something Commissioner Gorden said. He promoted a police officer to detective when he saw his impressive research on a crime. The new detective brushing aside his work, saying, “It’s inconclusive, just a bunch of coincidences.” Gorden replied, “You’re a detective now; you’re not allowed to believe in coincidences.” That’s also true for every Christian. People of faith are not allowed to believe in coincidences, or even in crooked lines for that matter. Rather, we must open our eyes to the deeper undercurrents of history and perceive the holy Hand of God guiding it to his goals. In short, providence precludes coincidences. Think over the history of your own life and study and scrutinize the people and places, the events and encounters that were your milestones of your history. And remember, people of faith are not allowed to believe in coincidences; there is no “happenstance” in your history.  Nothing happened by accident. Don’t focus only on the pleasant and profitable points, either, but also include the dark and depressing details. Why?  Well, your history is a tapestry of triumphs and tragedies, but more importantly, there has been a hand in that history – God’s loving hand – guiding it to his ultimate purposes.

            And what are those purposes, you might ask? We read in Jeremiah 29:11, from a prophet keenly aware of the purposes of providence, who said, “For I know well the plans I have in mind for you—oracle of the LORD—plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope.” Perhaps it’s only at the end of history we will see clearly the trajectory of history, namely, heaven, a history where there never were any coincidences, or even any crooked lines.

Praised be Jesus Christ!