9:30 a.m. 

"Think Faust"

I am trying to cultivate a simple but effective habit that I call, "think Faust." Dietrich Bonheoffer once observed how the legendary character Faust, after a life devoted to the pursuit of knowledge, lay on his deathbed and confessed, "I now do see that we can nothing know." It is a memorable phrase because, once again, it shows how discourteous Germans can be toward their verbs. But, it is memorable for other reasons as well.

I've been reminded of Faust's words this week as our public attention is galvanized over three very poignant events: The plight of Yazidi and Christian communities in Iraq; the shooting and the aftermath of the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO; and the suicide of Robin Williams. At the heart of each event is a real tragedy, which evokes in us an insistent need for evaluation, interpretation, and some way of making sense of it all. What we seem not willing to tolerate is Faust's words, "I now do see that we can nothing know."

There is something about Faust's simple admission that we cannot abide. Perhaps it is because we are sure that others can know nothing either, but that doesn't stop them from acting as if they do. Pundits, talking heads, and anyone with access to social media seem perfectly comfortable opining about practically everything, so why not join the fray? Whether we share our opinions aloud or simply carry the dialogue internally, we are caught in an odd place: Faust's confession may be true, but we have an urgent need to say something - anything - to make sense of what is happening around us.

Here is how I am trying to "think Faust" about this week's events. As one who is not part of a minority community, who has not felt conspicuous when doing routine activities to which everyone should be entitled, I will "think Faust" before evaluating the claims or actions of the African American community in Ferguson. As one who has never been a law enforcement officer, required to exercise restraint and to consider public safety when encountering those who eschew both, I will "think Faust" before making widespread claims about the rightness or wrongness of police action. As one who is not in a perpetual struggle with "the dark night of the soul," I will "think Faust" before pretending that I know what causes or prevents suicide.

It is not easy cultivating the habit to "think Faust" instead of resorting to the more popular inclination to "think fast." What comes out of the "think Faust" practice is not necessarily silence or inaction, but humility. It the humility of knowing that the world, human relations, and even a single human life is incredibly rich and complex, invested with far more than meets the eye. Living before a world like that, it makes a difference to say, "I now do see that we can nothing know." 

In peace,

Mark of St. Mark  

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