"DEAR GOD, YOU SURE DON'T ACT LIKE YOU'RE ALIVE" - Day 25

Day 25 – transcendent

A God, whose ways could all be comprehended by so insignificant creature as man, would be a God inadequate for such a universe as this.  –LESLIE D. WEATHERHEAD

The Blind Men and the Elephant

 It was six men of Indostan

To learning much inclined,

Who went to see the Elephant

(Though all of them were blind),

That each by observation

Might satisfy his mind.

 The First approached the Elephant,

And happening to fall

Against his broad and sturdy side,

At once began to bawl:

“God bless me! but the Elephant

Is very like a wall!”

 The Second, feeling of the tusk,

Cried, “Ho! what have we here?

So very round and smooth and sharp?

To me ‘tis very clear

This wonder of an Elephant

Is very like a spear!”

 The Third approached the animal,

And happening to take

The squirming trunk within his hands,

Thus boldly up and spake:

“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant

Is very like a snake!”

 The Fourth reached out an eager hand,

And felt above the knee.

“What most this wondrous beast is like

Is mighty plain,” quoth he,

“‘Tis clear enough the Elephant

Is very like a tree!”

 The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,

Said: “E’en the blindest man

Can tell what this resembles most;

Deny the fact who can,

This marvel of an Elephant

Is very like a fan!”

 The Sixth no sooner had begun

About the beast to grope,

Than, seizing on the swinging tail

That fell within his scope,

“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant

Is very like a rope!”

 And so these men of Indostan

Disputed loud and long,

Each in his own opinion

Exceeding stiff and strong,

Though each was partly in the right

And all were in the wrong!

 MORAL

So oft in theologic wars

The disputants, I ween,

Rail on in utter ignorance

Of what each other mean,

And prate about an Elephant

Not one of them has seen!¹

This delightful poem has been familiar to most of us since childhood. In it we are introduced to six blind men who for the first time are allowed to examine an elephant and describe what their hands “see.” Their descriptions vary, of course, depending on which part of the elephant each happens to explore.

Because of their disability, the conclusions these men reach are true only to a degree. The elephant is, indeed, like a wall, but that description—as given to us by the first blind man—is much too narrow. That the elephant in some aspects resembles a spear, snake, tree, fan, or rope is likewise correct, but these comparisons describe the animal incompletely. Each man, as the poet says, is only “partly in the right.” These six tactile explorers thus leave the elephant that day with only a partial realization of what a pachyderm actually is. They have formed an initial impression of their subject, but it is an incomplete and inadequate mental image that each man carries home at day’s end.

Why is this so? Who can we blame for the inability of these men to master their subject? Can we blame the elephant? The animal stands there patiently, without pretense or deception, as the men explore its huge frame. While nibbling on hay and peanuts, it does not try to hide itself in any way from its curious new friends. The elephant, therefore, cannot be held responsible if the blind men leave that day with an incomplete picture of elephants in general.

Then what about these men? Can we blame them for the less-than-adequate results? In a way, the answer is “yes,” for these men were responsible for their own descriptions. But we can forgive them somewhat when we consider two problems they faced in their task. The first such was the enormity of their subject. Had they been asked to describe a baseball, a mouse, or any object small enough to nestle within the palms of their hands, their job would have been much easier. Instead, the subject of interest was an elephant, too large for one man or even six men collectively to master by hand exploration. The second problem they faced was the limitation of their vision. Like the blind of today exploring a new friend’s facial contour, they relied almost exclusively on their sense of touch. Had they been blessed with 20/20 vision, their task would have been so much easier and their resultant descriptions more complete. 

For the reasons just mentioned, these six blind investigators should not be charged with a journalistic felony but with the smallest of misdemeanors. The assignment for them was made all the more difficult because of the largeness of their subject and the smallness of their vision. In a way, they did the best with what resources they had. Their mistake, as alluded to in the poem, was that they each felt only a part of the specimen before them, and thus each received an incomplete picture.

The relationship that exists between God and us is beset with the same inherent problems. On the one hand, God is enormous (i.e. Infinite). During this second leg of our journey, we have already alluded to His mind-boggling power, indescribable knowledge, and unyielding righteousness, not to mention His unlimited creativity, absolute sovereignty, and awesome holiness. On the other hand, we are limited (i.e. finite). We are limited in power and knowledge, and we all should be aware—if not, Paul would seek to remind us²—how limited we are in righteousness.

God is Infinite, and we are finite. Put these two facts together, and the obvious conclusion is this: we will never be able to fully comprehend God. No matter how much time we spend probing His nature, our conception of Him will be incomplete. Like those blind men searching the elephant, we will never be able to sense Him fully, for He is too big and we are too small. Our descriptions, like theirs, may be “partly in the right,” but at life’s end much about Him will remain to us an unsolvable mystery. No one should blame God that this is so, for the whole problem is a function of who He is and who we are. God is enormous, and we are limited—that, and nothing else, is responsible.

The attribute of God that is depicted here is divine transcendence. In describing God thusly, we are acknowledging that part of His nature will forever be beyond our reach. Since He is Infinite and we are finite, to know and understand Him fully is an impossible task. In comparison, the mission of the blind men seems easy.

Daily Quotations

Leslie D. Weatherhead, Why Do Men Suffer?, 9.

¹Childcraft, Chicago: Field Enterprises Educational, 1961), volume two, 122-123.

²Romans 3:9-12