Something I encounter very frequently in my own thinking and in some others is the way we think and process knowledge, and what seems to represent truth. I am highly concerned by the way most people I encounter have a notion of possessing a truth and refuse to entertain the possibility that they might be mistaken or partial in their knowledge.

One thing that attracted me to Novalis and other philosophers in ancient and modern times is the notion that truth, like spirit, is something to be sought through quietness, inquiring, questioning and thinking independently. Dogma as taught by the Church is good and guides our thought and spiritual life, but it is not meant to bind us, rather to set us on the way to perceiving God in our lives. I have become decidedly allergic to the barrage of “true church” apologetics that surrounds us, forming a fanaticism in the thought processes of some people. I am a sceptic, not that I deny the existence of truth, but rather our right to claim to possess it. We need to be enchanted by beauty, wonder and mystery. We yearn for truth as for the spirit of God that is already within us as well as transcendent.

This is in my thought as a priest living in the remote French countryside, often going to sea with my boat. I sometimes go with a group of people with their own boats, sometimes on my own and meeting beautiful souls living on their boats or moored in a port for the night. I am a priest, but I feel that I do not have the right to invade the conscience of that other person, perhaps someone who is searching his or her own inner and magic world. Myself, I refuse to be invaded by the zealot Roman Catholic or Evangelical, often with a junk message about how God is about to punish the world for not converting – when most people are ignorant or repelled by the moral failings of institutional churches. Such invasions are assimilated to spam phone calls intended to sell us something or to “convert” us in some way. How do we propagate the Christian faith? We cannot directly, nor do we have a right to attempt to do so. It is only through beauty and wonder that we might have an element of an answer to someone’s question. The rest is in our own spiritual life and moral honesty. We can provoke thought through a few words and not expect a response. We plant seeds and someone else will reap the harvest. Christ taught in parables, and the idea often escapes us.

A philosopher will share a thought, not to convert the other person, but to test his own purity of thought and coherence. We are called to get people to think about their beliefs rather than simply accept ideologies. Can our own beliefs withstand intellectual and logical scrutiny? A Romantic is a rationalist with creative imagination! Learning to think critically is not easy. It involves thinking, enquiring and questioning ideologies. Where are my own faults and fallacies? What are my problems before I blame the other? How are we going to take being wrong or mistaken? This is surely where humility comes in, like staying in port in foul weather rather than entertaining the illusion that we can challenge forces so much greater than ourselves. La mer nous apprend la modestie ! The sea teaches us modesty. The force and mystery of our planet are an analogy of the mystery of the human soul. We have to forego sophistry, pretension, judgement – and we become free and open-minded. Surely, this must be the spirit of Christ.

We are called to provoke free thought in others. That is the Christian mission.