Pope Francis made a bold statement when he said, during an interview, “If one has the answers to all the questions—that is the proof that God is not with him.” No wonder why he was so unpopular among people who place a high value on authoritarian religion!
It’s human nature to crave certainty, and especially in times like ours, times that feel so uncertain. In recent years we have seen the human community face profound challenges, from climate change to the threat of nuclear war to the ever-expanding humanitarian crises of refugees and others who have been “forgotten” by our rapidly changing economic systems and technological cultures.
It seems that the world is changing faster than most of us are able to keep up — and given how unsettling the rapid changes and seemingly insurmountable crises seem to be, no wonder so many people choose to place their faith in religious communities and teachers that proclaim absolute certainty — in the rightness of their views, of course.
What Pope Francis really seems to be calling for is a kind of spiritual humility: the willingness to admit that you don’t have all the answers, and that your particular religion or faith tradition does not have all the answers, either.
To some people, this looks like a kind of weakness, a doubt that signifies a lack of moral commitment. But to mystics and contemplatives, what Pope Francis is calling for is seen in a positive light: this humility is actually the doorway to greater intimacy and knowledge of God, although it is a knowledge grounded in a deep unknowing.
Unknowing, it seems to me, is a much more helpful word than doubt. Although once we enter the cloud of unknowing, even doubt itself ceases to be so scary. For doubt is not the opposite of faith, any more than anger is necessarily the opposite of love. Doubt can often mark the spaciousness we insert into our minds and hearts so that our faith and belief may grow. It may feel dizzying and groundless, but it is also a portal into a bigger sense of God, or a larger understanding of love, and a greater commitment to care and compassion for all.
So don’t be afraid of the unknowing — imagine that the experience of doubt or uncertainty or even wonder is like bells within our heart, bells calling us to a deeper silence and a deeper trust, where it is more possible to encounter the Mystery we call God.
Source for Pope Francis Quote: Pope Francis, A Big Heart Open to God: A Conversation with Pope Francis, interview with Antonio Spadaro (Harper, 2013), page 48.