Grieving after the assassination of her husband, President John Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy, a Catholic, visits a priest, who practices deep listening. She reveals that she is both angry and perplexed by what has happened.
“I think God is cruel,” she says.
“And now you’re getting into trouble,” the priest responds. “God is love. And God is everywhere.”
“Was God in the bullet that killed Jack?” Jackie responds.
“Absolutely,” the priest says.
“And is he in me now?” Jackie asks.
“Of course he is.”
“Well, that’s a funny game he plays, hiding all the time.”
The priest points to the story in John 9 when Jesus and his disciples come across a blind beggar. His disciples ask who sinned to cause the man to be blind. Jesus replies that neither the man nor his parents sinned. He was made blind so that the works of God could be revealed in him.
“Right now, you are blind,” the priest tells Jackie. “So that the works of God can be seen through you.”
Jackie is experiencing the mystery of God who meets us in both the tragedies and the triumphs of our lives. We must let go of our vain attempts to control the Holy One. Instead, we can rest in his presence and know in our hearts the love that is lavished upon us freely through grace.
In another scene, the Priest helps us identify with Jackie's struggle for answers by acknowledging his own.
"There comes a time in man’s search for meaning, when one realizes -- there are no answers. . . . I have lived a blessed life. And yet every night when I climb into bed, turn off the lights, and stare into the dark, I wonder...is this all there is? . . .
"You wonder?" asks Jackie.
The priest replies: "Every soul on this planet does. And then, when morning comes, we all wake up and make a pot of coffee."
Jackie says: "Why do we bother?"
The Priest replies, "Because we do. You did this morning, and you will again tomorrow. God, in his infinite wisdom, has made sure . . . it is just enough for us."