“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” –Matthew 10:16
The late author and preacher Peter J. Gomes (1942–2011) considers the type of seasoned innocence to which Jesus calls his disciples:
You need both innocence and experience, both the serpent and the dove, if you have any chance of making it as a Christian in this world. Innocence without experience eventually becomes a state of pure illusion, and experience without vision deteriorates into cynical despair. . . .
When Jesus speaks of the wisdom of the serpent he is not giving us an invitation to cynicism; he wants us, like the serpent, always to know what is going on. Of all creatures, the serpent is the one most aware of his environment, most sensitive to his surroundings, most in touch with his circumstances, for his entire body is a live wire of sensation. We are meant to be aware, heads up, eyes open, mind on full throttle, not easily fooled or seduced by the blandishments of this life. . . .
To be innocent as a dove is an exercise neither in naïveté nor in deception. The dove is the symbol of the spirit of God, and where the dove is, there is to be found serenity, reconciliation, and peace. When Noah wanted to know if it was all right to go back into the world, he didn’t ask for a weather report; he sent out for the dove. When Jesus was baptized, God’s favor was shown in the descent of the dove; and the Holy Spirit, the present tense of God, is represented in Christian art by the dove. Give me the dove any day; the dove is no dumb bird.
In other words, Jesus tells us that to survive in this world . . . we need to know what is going on and not be overwhelmed by it; and to do that we need to live all of the time in a divine and creative dialogue between innocence, the first and last love of our faith, and experience, by which we learn what we need to know. [1]
Father Richard describes these deeper stages of spiritual maturity as a “regained innocence”:
There is a regained innocence, which could also refer to the highest states of enlightenment. This is the clarity and freedom found in a person who has been deeply wounded but, after passing through a healing purification, comes out the other side with the best of both worlds; they are cleverly wise and yet not overly defended or guarded. I suspect this is exactly what Jesus represents and what he describes when he tells his disciples to “Go forth wise as serpents but innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16). This would be those who have left the Garden, eaten a few more apples, and returned again because they now know how to live and love both inside and outside of the Garden. [2]
References:
[1] Peter J. Gomes, “Innocence and Experience,” Strength for the Journey: Biblical Wisdom for Daily Living: A New Collection of Sermons (San Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco, 2003), 102, 103, 104.
[2] Adapted from Richard Rohr, introduction to Oneing 3, no. 2, Innocence (Fall 2015): 12. Available in print or PDF download.
Explore Further. . .
- Read Howard Thurman on innocence and knowledge.
- Learn more about this year’s theme Nothing Stands Alone.
- Meet the team behind the Daily Meditations.
Image credit: Claudia Retter, Lily Pond (detail), photograph, used with permission. Arthur Allen, Untitled 10 (detail), 2022, photograph, France, used with permission. Claudia Retter, Lake Wale’s Pond (detail), photograph, used with permission. Jenna Keiper & Leslye Colvin, 2022, triptych art, United States. Click here to enlarge the image.
This week’s images appear in a form inspired by early Christian/Catholic triptych art: a threefold form that tells a unified story.
Image inspiration: We see the simplicity of these black and white photos: the lines of the leaves, the focus on just one flower, one stem, one patch of grass. Innocence, in its state of simplicity and grace, is not deluded by a desire for more; it accepts what is.
Story from Our Community:
Last year when I was hanging by the tatters of my faith, a friend sent me the link to the CAC daily readings after a chance conversation. At the same time I had started meeting with someone to help me through a stressful and frightening family situation. It was extraordinary how the two worked hand in hand and over the course of 12 months, I’ve rediscovered my true self and slowly found new healthier ways of being. Non-dual thinking and knowing that I am fully known and fully loved has been such bedrock. This afternoon I had a beautiful, real and free conversation with my daughter who was almost estranged 18 months ago. My heart is full of gratitude. —Jackie B.
Prayer for our community:
God, Lord of all creation, lover of life and of everything, please help us to love in our very small way what You love infinitely and everywhere. We thank You that we can offer just this one prayer and that will be more than enough, because in reality every thing and every one is connected, and nothing stands alone. To pray for one part is really to pray for the whole, and so we do. Help us each day to stand for love, for healing, for the good, for the diverse unity of the Body of Christ and all creation, because we know this is what You desire: as Jesus prayed, that all may be one. We offer our prayer together with all the holy names of God, we offer our prayer together with Christ, our Lord, Amen.
