Sanity vs. insanity is like a boxing bout that we witness every single day sitting ringside and often enough times we’ll join right in playing tag team with one side or the other. There are varying definitions of sanity and insanity. One definition of insanity that I have heard is the doing of the same thing, but expecting a different result. Perhaps, it would be like saying that now, suddenly, two plus two equals five. Hmmm…I think that I read something about some academician making such a claim. The author, Frank Sheed, defined sanity this way: Sanity, remember, does not mean living in the same world as everyone else; it means living in the real world. But some of the most important elements in the real world can be known only by the revelation of God, which it is theology's business to study. Lacking this knowledge, the mind must live a half-blind life, trying to cope with a reality most of which it does not know is there. This is a wretched state for an immortal spirit, and pretty certain to lead to disaster. There is a good deal of disaster around at this moment. This quote is from his book, “Theology and Sanity,” which is certainly a good read on Catholic Theology. Sanity vs. insanity has everything to do with our Faith or our lack thereof. I look at it this way: philosophy raises questions that are answered ultimately in theology. If there is no theology (Faith), then there is no answer and all that remains are endless questions and confusion and chaos: life without meaning (which, by the way, is an inherent contradiction). Okay, let me bring things down a few notches. We live in a world with insanity all around us and, at times, within us. We see it in the headlines and news reports. There are protests, wars, death, and division. People are at each other’s throats, at times, literally. Sanity might seem lost. One of the ways that I view sanity or its lack is with music. One might call it a “Harmony of Faith.” Music is something uniquely human. We say that birds sing, but in reality, they don’t. Human beings encounter their melodious chirping and identify it with music. Having a sense of music and the ability to enjoy music speaks to one’s sanity I would say. One need not be a pianist or heavy metal drummer either. Whether Mozart or Metallica, one need only listen, experience enjoyment and be raised beyond the mere earthly. In our seemingly, deeply divided world, maybe it is the sanity and humanity of music, that might serve ultimately to foster unity and harmony once again. I fantasize about a gathering where people of different ages and backgrounds gather and listen to music of different types and genres while dancing and enjoying and striking insanity with an upper cut taking him down for the count. Jesus, Himself, listened to music. I understand that he was dancing at a wedding, in fact. At the Wedding Feast at Cana, maybe, just maybe, Jesus was presenting us with something more than the important and beautiful nuptial imagery along with the great miracle of changing water into wine. Maybe in His dancing to the beat that day and His enjoyment of it, He was showing us a path to sanity in a very crazy world.
Peace!
Fr. Wilson