That black cat
(A theological reflection on the search for God, in 4 parts)
That black cat
Part 1: Comic – difficult but worth having a go
There is an old saying – relatively amusing – that searching for God is like a blind man, in a dark room, looking for a black cat – that isn’t there!
It is the final “killer point” that is so tragic.
If we think about it, the saying doesn’t need the man to be blind and for the room to be dark – one or the other will do, but it emphasises the extreme difficulty of finding the cat – and is, in fact, saying something profound about the human condition, that the desires of our hearts, for which we search with such longing, are so hard to find because we are, within ourselves, damaged or not complete, and the environment in which we find ourselves is far from ideal for finding happiness.
Nevertheless, we accept the blindness and darkness as part of the reality of our situation, and they emphasise the difficulty of finding God. However, it would still be possible – if the cat was there. We can smile as we imagine the poor blind man endlessly, and fruitlessly, sweeping his hands through empty air in a vain attempt to catch hold of the cat. Yet, in this scenario – if the cat is there – there is still a chance of finding it. This scenario is actually supportive of the religious quest: if finding God was easy, would that reduce the joy when you finally succeed? There could also be an element of thinking, “Well, of course, only the dedicated, faithful people will persevere till they succeed, while the feckless will give up after a few feeble attempts”. This isn’t necessarily a mean thought, and fits in with the religious view that finding God is so important that it is worth persevering no matter what the difficulties. There is the overriding hope that God can be found, and when you discover him, your rejoicing knows no limit – and this is true whether you find him early in life, or late, late on.
We can explore the illustration further. It would, indeed, be amusing (if a little unkind) to watch through an infrared camera the hopelessly, hilarious attempts of the blind man, in the dark room, to catch the cat – but this is assuming that the cat has a devious determination to avoid the man. However, if the cat is pleased to have company at last, in this dark room, then finding it would be the easiest thing in the world. The man would simply have to keep still, and the cat would come up and rub against his legs. In fact, in good old-fashioned spiritual advice, we could shout encouragement to the man, “Stop flailing about, you’re scaring the cat away. Just be still, and it will come to you”.
Spiritual Devotion 