At a funeral recently, I listened to a friend of mine tell a story about the last few days of a man's life after a long struggle with cancer. My friend was the dying man's hospice chaplain.
One day towards the end, my friend was there visiting with the man while his daughter was there as well. And, at one point the man just looked up and said: "Why am I here . . . why am I still here?" The question hung in the air and demanded an answer. And, it got one. His daughter looked back at him and in an impassioned but clear voice said: "you are here so that I could get to know you like I have this past year . . . like I had never known you my whole life." And, everyone in that room broke down crying. The daughter had spoken a truth that went very deep, and a truth that united father, daughter, and their chaplain. And, that truth is the understanding they shared - the deepest understanding there is: love.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Self and Soul
There are times when the self must experience collapse for the soul to awaken and realize its true strength and beauty.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Secular and Sacred: Two or One?
I was thinking: "what would it mean to really have a secular perspective on life?" I guess it would mean making sense of life as if there was no active Divine power in life. Many people have said and written that modern life is characterized by a secular perspective. For instance, when my throat is sore and I have a fever, I am more likely to want some antibiotics from my doctor than a prayer from my minister. Now, of course, if the doctor's treatment doesn't work, well then I might be relying a lot more on prayer. Or, if my car is leaking oil, I am unlikely to pray about that, but very likely to call the mechanic for an appointment.
So,in some ways, where I have answers to problems provided by modern science, medicine or technology, I tend to act as if I live in a world which I understand and a world that is controlled by understandable, even controllable forces.
And, parts of life seem to be that way. But, it doesn't take long to move into other parts of life that don't seem that understandable or controllable. As with the example above about the sore throat, what if it turns out that I have a bacterial infection that is resistant to antibiotics? Or, what if I am not dealing with a problem with my car but with the prospect of death from a terminal disease or the break-up of my family?
The understandable and controllable can quickly become the incomprehensible and uncontrollable in human life.
But, it is not as if we have a secular world in which we can understand and control totally separate from a spiritual/religious world in which we cannot directly understand and control things. Reality is one. Sacred and secular interpenetrate each other in the fabric of life. To think God is only "relevant" or involved where we come to the limits of our own understanding or answers is to think of God as the hypothesis we posit when we need an answer. Dietrick Bonhoeffer wrote that the sooner religion is done with "God as an answer" the better. Bonhoeffer also said that this view of God is one that often finds God irrelevant or unreal in comparison with modern science and experience.
As we begin to think of life as a unity, and our experience as a unity, and of the interweaving of sacred and secular in life, we begin to experience God as much at times in the "secular" as in the "sacred." We become like the scientist who is awakened religiously as he or she comes to a deeper understanding of the forces of the universe. Or, we become like the theologian who becomes deeply interested in science because of his or her spiritual experience that the creation is deeply and thoroughly good.
When I am able to study and come to understand something like how to fix my air conditioner, I experience gratitude for the mind I have been given and the ability to really exercise some control over the forces that affect my life. Of course, in my case, I have to hope I have enough money to pay someone who can fix my air conditioner and give thanks that they have the ability to study and understand such things, since I apparently don't!
Sometimes I think that Eastern thinkers see life as one, not dividing secular from sacred in their thinking and not dividing mind from body, whereas Western thinkers who follow Descarte see life as separated between secular (material) and sacred (spiritual/non-material/mind). A simple example is the Buddhist concept of mindfulness, which might be found when a person is totally present in a simple activity like drinking tea and thus experiences a sense of peace and aliveness. Mindfulness means a oneness between body and mind and an embodied awareness of life itself as one participates in it.
Reality is one. A way of understanding life that helps us experience the oneness of reality, the unity of sacred and secular, is also a way that helps integrate and unite the fragmented parts of our own self.
One parting thought: a Christianity that separates New Testament from Old Testament creates a false religious understanding, one that separates the material from the spiritual, one that separates history from eternity,one that separates Gentile from Jew, and one that separates humanity from God. A Christianity that understands the profound and organic unity of New Testament with the Old Testament (i.e., that the New Testament experience has grown and is born of the Old Testament faith)unites the material and the spiritual, understands the interpenetration of history and eternity, experiences the reconciliation of divided humanity with itself and the reconcilation of the world with God.
So,in some ways, where I have answers to problems provided by modern science, medicine or technology, I tend to act as if I live in a world which I understand and a world that is controlled by understandable, even controllable forces.
And, parts of life seem to be that way. But, it doesn't take long to move into other parts of life that don't seem that understandable or controllable. As with the example above about the sore throat, what if it turns out that I have a bacterial infection that is resistant to antibiotics? Or, what if I am not dealing with a problem with my car but with the prospect of death from a terminal disease or the break-up of my family?
The understandable and controllable can quickly become the incomprehensible and uncontrollable in human life.
But, it is not as if we have a secular world in which we can understand and control totally separate from a spiritual/religious world in which we cannot directly understand and control things. Reality is one. Sacred and secular interpenetrate each other in the fabric of life. To think God is only "relevant" or involved where we come to the limits of our own understanding or answers is to think of God as the hypothesis we posit when we need an answer. Dietrick Bonhoeffer wrote that the sooner religion is done with "God as an answer" the better. Bonhoeffer also said that this view of God is one that often finds God irrelevant or unreal in comparison with modern science and experience.
As we begin to think of life as a unity, and our experience as a unity, and of the interweaving of sacred and secular in life, we begin to experience God as much at times in the "secular" as in the "sacred." We become like the scientist who is awakened religiously as he or she comes to a deeper understanding of the forces of the universe. Or, we become like the theologian who becomes deeply interested in science because of his or her spiritual experience that the creation is deeply and thoroughly good.
When I am able to study and come to understand something like how to fix my air conditioner, I experience gratitude for the mind I have been given and the ability to really exercise some control over the forces that affect my life. Of course, in my case, I have to hope I have enough money to pay someone who can fix my air conditioner and give thanks that they have the ability to study and understand such things, since I apparently don't!
Sometimes I think that Eastern thinkers see life as one, not dividing secular from sacred in their thinking and not dividing mind from body, whereas Western thinkers who follow Descarte see life as separated between secular (material) and sacred (spiritual/non-material/mind). A simple example is the Buddhist concept of mindfulness, which might be found when a person is totally present in a simple activity like drinking tea and thus experiences a sense of peace and aliveness. Mindfulness means a oneness between body and mind and an embodied awareness of life itself as one participates in it.
Reality is one. A way of understanding life that helps us experience the oneness of reality, the unity of sacred and secular, is also a way that helps integrate and unite the fragmented parts of our own self.
One parting thought: a Christianity that separates New Testament from Old Testament creates a false religious understanding, one that separates the material from the spiritual, one that separates history from eternity,one that separates Gentile from Jew, and one that separates humanity from God. A Christianity that understands the profound and organic unity of New Testament with the Old Testament (i.e., that the New Testament experience has grown and is born of the Old Testament faith)unites the material and the spiritual, understands the interpenetration of history and eternity, experiences the reconciliation of divided humanity with itself and the reconcilation of the world with God.
Monday, August 9, 2010
The Importance of the Bible
When a person really takes the Bible seriously and becomes familiar with it, then that person comes into a conversation, a relationship with a sacred history of thought and life. It is a strange book, so far as books go. It spans topics from the creation of the universe through the history of one particular people and nation to the recreation of all things that exist. The Bible contains descriptions of the lives of prophets, kings, peasants, and the Christ of God. The Bible has more examples of evil than of good, taken as a whole. In that sense, the Bible is terribly realistic. It reflects reality to a large extent, but then, there is that creative strand of Scripture that reflects a reality that transcends life as we know it – it reflects the One who rules history from within history. It is as if God is present in the smallest molecule, but far beyond the greatest mountain.
To let yourself be taken in by the Bible is to allow yourself to see life from the depths of a mystery and to begin to participate in that mystery of life. But, most people don’t read the Bible like that. Most people look for an answer to this and that, and then close it back up. The Bible is meant to be read with imagination and humor and hope and love. You can’t really read the Bible unless you bring your whole self to it.
But, if you do, the Bible takes on a holy and sacred function in life. In time, if you stick with it, the Bible becomes Holy Ground that you can return to again and again. And, Scripture begins to live within your memory and heart as well. It is a place you can go to, when the rest of life seems false. It is a place you can go to when you want to experience something outside of the same old day to day life. It is an opening to a new world. Karl Barth once called it “The Strange New World of the Bible,” even though he had been reading it for most of his life. Somehow, in his late 20’s the Scriptures began to glow. He felt like Moses at the burning bush. He realized that Scripture could be a place of true revelation, the reading of Scripture an occasion for meeting the LIVING GOD.
But, there is preparation for all this. Children need to be told stories, the stories of Scripture. And, then children need to learn to read the Scripture in a way that it means something to them. And, children and adults need to gain a basic sense of the whole of scripture, so that they become interested in reading and putting it all together in some way. Once this is in place, a person has a sense of that sacred reality overagainst all their other experiences in life. They have some place to go. It really is a strange old book. It is the mystery of it that has saved me year in and year out, and renews me now as it did thirty years ago. It is also solid and has the feel of being true and reliable. But, you have to know how to separate the wheat from the chaff. Every word is not gold; every story is not gold. Let him who has ears to hear listen to the what the Spirit is saying.
To let yourself be taken in by the Bible is to allow yourself to see life from the depths of a mystery and to begin to participate in that mystery of life. But, most people don’t read the Bible like that. Most people look for an answer to this and that, and then close it back up. The Bible is meant to be read with imagination and humor and hope and love. You can’t really read the Bible unless you bring your whole self to it.
But, if you do, the Bible takes on a holy and sacred function in life. In time, if you stick with it, the Bible becomes Holy Ground that you can return to again and again. And, Scripture begins to live within your memory and heart as well. It is a place you can go to, when the rest of life seems false. It is a place you can go to when you want to experience something outside of the same old day to day life. It is an opening to a new world. Karl Barth once called it “The Strange New World of the Bible,” even though he had been reading it for most of his life. Somehow, in his late 20’s the Scriptures began to glow. He felt like Moses at the burning bush. He realized that Scripture could be a place of true revelation, the reading of Scripture an occasion for meeting the LIVING GOD.
But, there is preparation for all this. Children need to be told stories, the stories of Scripture. And, then children need to learn to read the Scripture in a way that it means something to them. And, children and adults need to gain a basic sense of the whole of scripture, so that they become interested in reading and putting it all together in some way. Once this is in place, a person has a sense of that sacred reality overagainst all their other experiences in life. They have some place to go. It really is a strange old book. It is the mystery of it that has saved me year in and year out, and renews me now as it did thirty years ago. It is also solid and has the feel of being true and reliable. But, you have to know how to separate the wheat from the chaff. Every word is not gold; every story is not gold. Let him who has ears to hear listen to the what the Spirit is saying.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Looking for Meaning in Life with Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes is a book that is in the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, and is a book that many might be surprised to find in the Bible at all. Jewish people would probably not be surprised at all, but I think many Christians would. Because, the writer of this book (an old wisdom teacher) looks at his life and the way things are on earth and explains how it really depressed him to reflect on it all. He notices the injustice, the arbitrariness, and the fleeting nature of life itself. "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity," he writes. Yes, that is a refrain in this Biblical book.
In Ecclesiastes, we don't find any belief in life after death. He doesn't take consolation in a heaven or a coming kingdom of God. No, Ecclesiastes is a little like Bob Marley, who sang: "if you know what your life is worth, then you will look for yours on earth . . ."
And, that is what Ecclesiastes is left to do: find the meaning and joy and energy to live right in the midst of life itself. And, he seems to be having a hard time finding anything but more scenes of injustice and hopelessness, until something happens to him. Something that can only be described as a very earthy mystery. He was looking for a great philosophical answer that would make sense of all of life, but what he found when he wasn't trying was the power and goodness of life itself. Ecclesiastes finds his salvation from despair in eating and drinking and working and enjoying his life with the wife he loves.
I imagine the old wisdom teacher returning home one night when he had come to his senses, and he sees his old wife for the first time in years - he really sees her as she is, and he is filled with thanksgiving that she has remained with him and is still with him as he smells supper cooking over the fire. And, he looks over at her and says: "why don't we try a cup of that wine your brother has made?" And, his mind stops reflecting, and he starts living in the moment: smelling the food cooking, asking his wife what has been going on since he was gone, and really listening as he sips along on what turns out to be a very good bottle of wine.
Sometimes I wonder whether thinking and talking about heaven the way we do in Christianity does more good or more harm. I tend to think of the coming kingdom of God, a linear, historical conception, rather than "heaven," a spacial non-historical concept. But, whatever we religious people think about when we think about life beyond the grave or beyond this age, it seems to me that we are left just like everyone else to find meaning in the midst of life. Now, I have this hunch that if you think rightly about heaven/kingdom of God, it opens the present to you. Notice the way Jesus embraces and enhances life on earth and celebrates the coming of God's kingdom (the life to come). If you think wrongly about it, it alienates you from the present life. Notice the way those who "have" so often teach those who "don't have" to take heart because they will get theirs in heaven. True faith enlivens, awakens a person, whereas false religion deadens, falsifies a person.
I really like the analysis of the alienating and liberating potential of religion by Thomas Berger in the "Sacred Canopy." Berger was one of the pioneers in the field of the sociology of knowledge. He and Peter Luckman also wrote a book called the "Social Construction of Reality." I was deeply influenced by Barth's criticism of religion, and the criticism of Liberation Theology, and then Berger's book gave me a way of understanding it that took it even farther and deeper.
And, there are many non-religious false views on life that just plain kill the souls of thousands upon thousands. But, I have to say that I have seen people who have no expressed religious beliefs who do seem to find something deeply meaningful and joyful in the midst of life. And, it seems to me that those who rejoice in the created universe and experience the power and goodness of life and celebrate it . . . well, it seems to me that they are returning the kind of thanks that the Creator of all appreciates whether they are religious or not.
Our religion, if it is true, will push us beyond religion to a new language, a new community, a new hope. Our religion, if it is true, will unite us with the One in whom all things live and move and have their being.
In Ecclesiastes, we don't find any belief in life after death. He doesn't take consolation in a heaven or a coming kingdom of God. No, Ecclesiastes is a little like Bob Marley, who sang: "if you know what your life is worth, then you will look for yours on earth . . ."
And, that is what Ecclesiastes is left to do: find the meaning and joy and energy to live right in the midst of life itself. And, he seems to be having a hard time finding anything but more scenes of injustice and hopelessness, until something happens to him. Something that can only be described as a very earthy mystery. He was looking for a great philosophical answer that would make sense of all of life, but what he found when he wasn't trying was the power and goodness of life itself. Ecclesiastes finds his salvation from despair in eating and drinking and working and enjoying his life with the wife he loves.
I imagine the old wisdom teacher returning home one night when he had come to his senses, and he sees his old wife for the first time in years - he really sees her as she is, and he is filled with thanksgiving that she has remained with him and is still with him as he smells supper cooking over the fire. And, he looks over at her and says: "why don't we try a cup of that wine your brother has made?" And, his mind stops reflecting, and he starts living in the moment: smelling the food cooking, asking his wife what has been going on since he was gone, and really listening as he sips along on what turns out to be a very good bottle of wine.
Sometimes I wonder whether thinking and talking about heaven the way we do in Christianity does more good or more harm. I tend to think of the coming kingdom of God, a linear, historical conception, rather than "heaven," a spacial non-historical concept. But, whatever we religious people think about when we think about life beyond the grave or beyond this age, it seems to me that we are left just like everyone else to find meaning in the midst of life. Now, I have this hunch that if you think rightly about heaven/kingdom of God, it opens the present to you. Notice the way Jesus embraces and enhances life on earth and celebrates the coming of God's kingdom (the life to come). If you think wrongly about it, it alienates you from the present life. Notice the way those who "have" so often teach those who "don't have" to take heart because they will get theirs in heaven. True faith enlivens, awakens a person, whereas false religion deadens, falsifies a person.
I really like the analysis of the alienating and liberating potential of religion by Thomas Berger in the "Sacred Canopy." Berger was one of the pioneers in the field of the sociology of knowledge. He and Peter Luckman also wrote a book called the "Social Construction of Reality." I was deeply influenced by Barth's criticism of religion, and the criticism of Liberation Theology, and then Berger's book gave me a way of understanding it that took it even farther and deeper.
And, there are many non-religious false views on life that just plain kill the souls of thousands upon thousands. But, I have to say that I have seen people who have no expressed religious beliefs who do seem to find something deeply meaningful and joyful in the midst of life. And, it seems to me that those who rejoice in the created universe and experience the power and goodness of life and celebrate it . . . well, it seems to me that they are returning the kind of thanks that the Creator of all appreciates whether they are religious or not.
Our religion, if it is true, will push us beyond religion to a new language, a new community, a new hope. Our religion, if it is true, will unite us with the One in whom all things live and move and have their being.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Being Christian and Being Human: Which Comes First?
A topic that is discussed regularly in churches is “how to evangelize.” The assumption is that we Christians have something very important that we need to share with others. If the way of Christian faith is something that is deeply important and formative in our lives, it seems to make sense that we would want to share that part of our lives with others.
But, what is it exactly that we are to share? An orthodox set of beliefs about God, the world, Christ, sin and salvation? An experience of transformation through the way of faith? Or, is it something else? Or, perhaps, should we just keep quiet mostly and live the way of faith?
For some reason I have just lost the desire to think in this way anymore. Because it requires me to first of all identify myself in a way that divides me from anyone who doesn’t self-identify as a Christian. For some reason, I just can’t do that anymore. I am just playing a false role, assuming a false identity, when I try to discuss “evangelism” in the traditional way.
My first and deepest identification is with humanity, as a member of the human race, and that is where I experience a living faith in Jesus, the Christ of God. I experience Christ at the center of humanity more than at the center of the Church. I feel like I have gained the whole world of people as brothers and sisters through Christ, not like I have separated myself from the world in favor of identification with the Church. So, when I begin to talk about Jesus and God, my conversation includes those outside the church as much as those inside the church.
In fact, I don’t have an insider’s message to preach anymore. When I do fall into this, it is very false, unconvincing especially to me. I don’t have an insider’s special secret knowledge to teach to outsiders. I don’t think I am in possession of anything that I can give out to others.
No, for me, I can bear witness and point to a reality that is beyond, but somehow moves within. I can point to a living God that moves beyond our ability to perceive, but somehow can be perceived in the depths of our experience in this life. I don’t have something in my head or in my heart to give out to others as a religious possession. I don’t have a fixed set of beliefs to try and convert someone to.
I am a witness to something that is going on in this world that is talked about in the Holy Scriptures and has been talked about by prophets and teachers and holy people for ages. I have an energy at the center of my life to bear witness to God’s presence in this world.
But, this is not something I ever possess. No, my religion, is not MY religion. It is the experience of something that comes from outside of me, is experienced externally and internally, but never possessed. It must come anew each day.
There is a sense in which I am as internally poor and bereft as the most hopeless and foolish person on earth, but I have this connection, this relation to something outside of myself. I have this orientation of my soul towards the Creator and Redeemer of life. I call this orientation faith. Being open to the coming of God’s Spirit which is constantly moving among the creatures of this world. It is like the sunflower that turns towards the sun and receives its energy.
And, this orientation of the soul outward, towards the Divine – I believe this is the effect of the coming of Christ, to turn the heart that was turned in on itself outward towards the light of day, towards the goodness of God, able to receive gifts of the Spirit of Life. I believe that every heart has a yearning to be turned inside out, to be open to the Creator, to be infused by a peace and power and wisdom from beyond, to be united once again with our human roots in the Divine Creator.
In the history of religions, we find that there were holy men and women and children in every age. The Bible bears witness to this openness of the heart in the prophets and faithful of Israel, but also to the openness of the heart to God among the gentiles as well. And, we find in history that certain human beings among Buddhism and Hinduism and Islam, as well as Judaism and Christianity have had this orientation towards God as well.
Now, I believe that Jesus is at the center of God’s creative and redemptive movement in this world, and the most powerful expression of the very character of God. But,we should remember that Jesus found quite a few supposedly unholy people that were wide open to the coming of God’s grace, and he found many supposedly holy people who were closed off from any real communion with God’s Spirit. And, it seems to me that we have a similar situation in our day. To draw lines and separate people on the basis of religious affiliation just doesn’t seem any more wise or in touch with reality now than it was back then.
I want to say this: celebrating the hope that has come in Christ causes a person to feel confined in the Church, always wanting to go and throw the door open wider, and, indeed to stand a little outside the “holy communion,” so as to not miss communion with the rest of humanity.
I appreciate and need somewhere to gather and speak and listen to words about God and Jesus. I appreciate and enjoy having a place to gather and sing the songs of faith and pray together and be silent together in expectation of the coming of a power, a word, a touch of grace from God. And, I certainly appreciate a place where people gather and do these things in such a way that you feel you can relax, enjoy, and share that with "all comers."
But, this communion only remains vital and helpful if it has an openness at its center: an openness to God’s coming and an openness to the coming of the neighbor, whether stranger or friend, into its midst.
A communion that is truly living from the Spirit of God will receive the Jew as easily as the Christian, the Muslim as easily as the Jew, the atheist as easily as the orthodox believer. Because the unifying force is the Christ, who is at the center of humanity, drawing all elements of humanity together in him.
But, what is it exactly that we are to share? An orthodox set of beliefs about God, the world, Christ, sin and salvation? An experience of transformation through the way of faith? Or, is it something else? Or, perhaps, should we just keep quiet mostly and live the way of faith?
For some reason I have just lost the desire to think in this way anymore. Because it requires me to first of all identify myself in a way that divides me from anyone who doesn’t self-identify as a Christian. For some reason, I just can’t do that anymore. I am just playing a false role, assuming a false identity, when I try to discuss “evangelism” in the traditional way.
My first and deepest identification is with humanity, as a member of the human race, and that is where I experience a living faith in Jesus, the Christ of God. I experience Christ at the center of humanity more than at the center of the Church. I feel like I have gained the whole world of people as brothers and sisters through Christ, not like I have separated myself from the world in favor of identification with the Church. So, when I begin to talk about Jesus and God, my conversation includes those outside the church as much as those inside the church.
In fact, I don’t have an insider’s message to preach anymore. When I do fall into this, it is very false, unconvincing especially to me. I don’t have an insider’s special secret knowledge to teach to outsiders. I don’t think I am in possession of anything that I can give out to others.
No, for me, I can bear witness and point to a reality that is beyond, but somehow moves within. I can point to a living God that moves beyond our ability to perceive, but somehow can be perceived in the depths of our experience in this life. I don’t have something in my head or in my heart to give out to others as a religious possession. I don’t have a fixed set of beliefs to try and convert someone to.
I am a witness to something that is going on in this world that is talked about in the Holy Scriptures and has been talked about by prophets and teachers and holy people for ages. I have an energy at the center of my life to bear witness to God’s presence in this world.
But, this is not something I ever possess. No, my religion, is not MY religion. It is the experience of something that comes from outside of me, is experienced externally and internally, but never possessed. It must come anew each day.
There is a sense in which I am as internally poor and bereft as the most hopeless and foolish person on earth, but I have this connection, this relation to something outside of myself. I have this orientation of my soul towards the Creator and Redeemer of life. I call this orientation faith. Being open to the coming of God’s Spirit which is constantly moving among the creatures of this world. It is like the sunflower that turns towards the sun and receives its energy.
And, this orientation of the soul outward, towards the Divine – I believe this is the effect of the coming of Christ, to turn the heart that was turned in on itself outward towards the light of day, towards the goodness of God, able to receive gifts of the Spirit of Life. I believe that every heart has a yearning to be turned inside out, to be open to the Creator, to be infused by a peace and power and wisdom from beyond, to be united once again with our human roots in the Divine Creator.
In the history of religions, we find that there were holy men and women and children in every age. The Bible bears witness to this openness of the heart in the prophets and faithful of Israel, but also to the openness of the heart to God among the gentiles as well. And, we find in history that certain human beings among Buddhism and Hinduism and Islam, as well as Judaism and Christianity have had this orientation towards God as well.
Now, I believe that Jesus is at the center of God’s creative and redemptive movement in this world, and the most powerful expression of the very character of God. But,we should remember that Jesus found quite a few supposedly unholy people that were wide open to the coming of God’s grace, and he found many supposedly holy people who were closed off from any real communion with God’s Spirit. And, it seems to me that we have a similar situation in our day. To draw lines and separate people on the basis of religious affiliation just doesn’t seem any more wise or in touch with reality now than it was back then.
I want to say this: celebrating the hope that has come in Christ causes a person to feel confined in the Church, always wanting to go and throw the door open wider, and, indeed to stand a little outside the “holy communion,” so as to not miss communion with the rest of humanity.
I appreciate and need somewhere to gather and speak and listen to words about God and Jesus. I appreciate and enjoy having a place to gather and sing the songs of faith and pray together and be silent together in expectation of the coming of a power, a word, a touch of grace from God. And, I certainly appreciate a place where people gather and do these things in such a way that you feel you can relax, enjoy, and share that with "all comers."
But, this communion only remains vital and helpful if it has an openness at its center: an openness to God’s coming and an openness to the coming of the neighbor, whether stranger or friend, into its midst.
A communion that is truly living from the Spirit of God will receive the Jew as easily as the Christian, the Muslim as easily as the Jew, the atheist as easily as the orthodox believer. Because the unifying force is the Christ, who is at the center of humanity, drawing all elements of humanity together in him.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
I'm Back on the Blog: Church, State, Left, Right, and my children's generation
How can I be a minister and a lawyer? I have been asked several times how I can be a minister and a lawyer. What has one to do with the other? Aren’t the two vocations on a collision course with each other?
This is similar to the question: “what has religion to do with politics?” Isn’t religion supposed to stay out of politics and politics/government to keep its hands off of religion?
I have a couple of observations about why our ideas about separation of “church and state” are often so out of touch with the realities of “church and state.” It usually seems to me that when someone assumes that lawyering and ministry conflict, that this assumption is based on a misconception of religion and what being religious is all about. And, this misconception is that religion is “apart from life, and somehow insulated from life.” Therefore, anything that is really in the center of life, like politics, sex, love and hate, smoking pork/drinking beer, is foreign to religion. This antiseptic view of religion isolates religion from the dynamic forces of life. This is basically liberalism’s (modernism’s) view of religion, and many religious people accept that as the way to relate their religion to social and political realities.
But, in reality, religion is talked about regularly by politicians, even if what they mostly talk about is the fact that “they are religious.” Religion, if it has any force, does affect public affairs for better or worse. Religion, if it is Biblical, can’t help but comment on politics, since issues of abuse of power and social justice are right at the heart of Jewish and Christian tradition.
Now, if I am right that true religion is a dynamic force at the very heart of life: politics, work, love, sex, joy, hate, wine and song, then the real issue is not “the separation of religious communion and state” but “the nature of the relationship of religious communions to state.” Which is simply another way of talking about the relationship between religion and life. George McDonald once wrote: “Religion is not a part of life, but life itself. It is life essential.”
Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth and the life.” And, the God Jesus served spoke through the prophet saying: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind and all your strength.” For Christians and Jews, religion is life essential. Everything else has to find its place around this central commitment and orientation, including our attitude to the nation we live in.
In modern thinking, religion has become a subject among other subjects, and in modern post-enlightenment thinking, religion is accepted but kept in check by commitment to a rational, scientific way of thought. And, though I think true religion is much more than that, I can’t help but respect this modern, scientific approach, because of the havoc reaped by false religion over the centuries – religion that was “political will clothed in sacred dress.” Marx criticism of religion as ‘the opiate of the masses’ is a deep truth that should be embraced by Christians and Jews and all religious people of good will. Religion has often been hijacked by the interests of power to control, oppress, and conquer some of the deepest interests in human life: justice, decency, and dignity. And, if you really look at the origins of the doctrine of separation of church and state in the U.S., you will see that the founders of this country were very much afraid of the oppressive forces of religion which were against free thought running government. I think they sold "separation of church and state" to the public as "freedom of religion," but it seems what motivated many deep down was a yearning that government be "free from religion."
But, knowing that religion is regularly in the dynamic center of life, and knowing that rational controls need to be placed on religion due to its alienating, falsifying, and oppressive potential – where does this leave us? In what has been called a “post-modern” state of mind (that reminds me of an old Billy Joel song: “New York State of Mind:” great song; listen to it).
It leaves us with a sense that the right and the left are not making sense of the real forces that move and shape human life. It leaves us with a sense that the criticism of religion by science and the criticism of science by religion are both worth listening to, but that the truth is not that easy to grasp.
It is so encouraging for me to hear the younger generation figuring out the way my generation didn’t figure out that not only is the fundamentalist way inadequate, but also that the modernist way has serious shortcomings as well. It just seems like young people who think these days are saying things more in touch with reality than when I was growing up. I see many younger people who think wanting to reach a way that makes sense, refusing to accept solutions that don’t make sense. I think something is going to come of this in politics and religion. The left and the right are becoming worn out platforms, not just in politics, but in the living of life. The younger generation is listening for something real and something true and something that just plain makes sense. I’ve got some news for the younger generation: you may have listened long enough; it’s time to start speaking some truths you are coming to understand. Go ahead and express your understanding of things, even if it is still in formation. I don’t think your parents and grandparents are going to speak it as clearly as you can. Time to grow up and do the things we haven’t been able to. That is the challenge for every generation.
I have resumed blogging, because after a week of no blogging, I was ready to start trying to make sense of things again through blogging. I deleted the blog at first, but then found you can reinstate what you have deleted. So, I simply punched "undelete blog" and here I am. Most decisions are not that easy to reverse.
This is similar to the question: “what has religion to do with politics?” Isn’t religion supposed to stay out of politics and politics/government to keep its hands off of religion?
I have a couple of observations about why our ideas about separation of “church and state” are often so out of touch with the realities of “church and state.” It usually seems to me that when someone assumes that lawyering and ministry conflict, that this assumption is based on a misconception of religion and what being religious is all about. And, this misconception is that religion is “apart from life, and somehow insulated from life.” Therefore, anything that is really in the center of life, like politics, sex, love and hate, smoking pork/drinking beer, is foreign to religion. This antiseptic view of religion isolates religion from the dynamic forces of life. This is basically liberalism’s (modernism’s) view of religion, and many religious people accept that as the way to relate their religion to social and political realities.
But, in reality, religion is talked about regularly by politicians, even if what they mostly talk about is the fact that “they are religious.” Religion, if it has any force, does affect public affairs for better or worse. Religion, if it is Biblical, can’t help but comment on politics, since issues of abuse of power and social justice are right at the heart of Jewish and Christian tradition.
Now, if I am right that true religion is a dynamic force at the very heart of life: politics, work, love, sex, joy, hate, wine and song, then the real issue is not “the separation of religious communion and state” but “the nature of the relationship of religious communions to state.” Which is simply another way of talking about the relationship between religion and life. George McDonald once wrote: “Religion is not a part of life, but life itself. It is life essential.”
Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth and the life.” And, the God Jesus served spoke through the prophet saying: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind and all your strength.” For Christians and Jews, religion is life essential. Everything else has to find its place around this central commitment and orientation, including our attitude to the nation we live in.
In modern thinking, religion has become a subject among other subjects, and in modern post-enlightenment thinking, religion is accepted but kept in check by commitment to a rational, scientific way of thought. And, though I think true religion is much more than that, I can’t help but respect this modern, scientific approach, because of the havoc reaped by false religion over the centuries – religion that was “political will clothed in sacred dress.” Marx criticism of religion as ‘the opiate of the masses’ is a deep truth that should be embraced by Christians and Jews and all religious people of good will. Religion has often been hijacked by the interests of power to control, oppress, and conquer some of the deepest interests in human life: justice, decency, and dignity. And, if you really look at the origins of the doctrine of separation of church and state in the U.S., you will see that the founders of this country were very much afraid of the oppressive forces of religion which were against free thought running government. I think they sold "separation of church and state" to the public as "freedom of religion," but it seems what motivated many deep down was a yearning that government be "free from religion."
But, knowing that religion is regularly in the dynamic center of life, and knowing that rational controls need to be placed on religion due to its alienating, falsifying, and oppressive potential – where does this leave us? In what has been called a “post-modern” state of mind (that reminds me of an old Billy Joel song: “New York State of Mind:” great song; listen to it).
It leaves us with a sense that the right and the left are not making sense of the real forces that move and shape human life. It leaves us with a sense that the criticism of religion by science and the criticism of science by religion are both worth listening to, but that the truth is not that easy to grasp.
It is so encouraging for me to hear the younger generation figuring out the way my generation didn’t figure out that not only is the fundamentalist way inadequate, but also that the modernist way has serious shortcomings as well. It just seems like young people who think these days are saying things more in touch with reality than when I was growing up. I see many younger people who think wanting to reach a way that makes sense, refusing to accept solutions that don’t make sense. I think something is going to come of this in politics and religion. The left and the right are becoming worn out platforms, not just in politics, but in the living of life. The younger generation is listening for something real and something true and something that just plain makes sense. I’ve got some news for the younger generation: you may have listened long enough; it’s time to start speaking some truths you are coming to understand. Go ahead and express your understanding of things, even if it is still in formation. I don’t think your parents and grandparents are going to speak it as clearly as you can. Time to grow up and do the things we haven’t been able to. That is the challenge for every generation.
I have resumed blogging, because after a week of no blogging, I was ready to start trying to make sense of things again through blogging. I deleted the blog at first, but then found you can reinstate what you have deleted. So, I simply punched "undelete blog" and here I am. Most decisions are not that easy to reverse.
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