God in the Works

Lord, teach me to be generous.
Teach me to serve you as you desire;
to give and not to count the cost;
to fight and not to heed the wounds;
to toil and not to seek for rest;
to labor and not to ask for reward,
except to know
that I am doing your will

My Catholic sister Karen introduced our small group to a small devotional book that was based on The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. Ignatius lived primarily during the first half of the 1500s and in his early life became a solder, had his right leg shattered, and during the months and months of healing became a strong follower of Christ, eventually founding the Jesuits. He is one of the many Christians of the past who left for us a legacy and example in their struggle to follow the son of God. The prayer above is attributed to him.

I have found his prayer as more than words and rather a yearning of the heart. Having felt that I have just mechanically served our Lord in the past, I now focus on serving with a new heart and vision. The excitement of youth reminds me of this call and invigorates my service. One example involves my daughter who is now serving Jesus in the bodies of orphaned HIV+ children in Tanzania. It only took her a week to come to start loving everyone and everything there. Her excitement is similar to that of many of the All Souls brothers and sisters I am coming more and more to know. In a recent gathering with some who have a special heart for justice issues, I asked a question that congregants of All Souls will be asked in the near future - How are you seeking the peace of the city? The answers rang loud with concerns and love so deep that I was especially proud to be in the body of believers. Some of the things people were doing included supporting local businesses (e.g. local food, etc.), trying to understand racial dynamics, helping a Mechanicsville resident with some necessary home repair, developing relationships with Amachi mentees, becoming an integral part of the community where they lived, praying, developing and struggling with intentional relationships with Christian and non-Christian co-workers, and making life style changes to speak justice to others. The list goes on. We pray "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done...." The work of the kingdom continues.

Jesus said there were two great commandments - Love God with your entire being and love your neighbor. Our neighbors would have to include our families, our co-workers and/or boss, our clients, our All Souls family, our geographical next door neighbors, those who have no homes, and neighbors whose lives we affect by our choices and behaviors. We soon realize that there is no one who is not our neighbor. We pray as we seek the peace of the city that we will love God with our all, that we will love each other in our community, and that we will love the city, its people and God's creation and all that is in it. The world will know we are Christians by our love.

Father you created me
and put me on earth for a purpose.
Jesus, you died for me
and called me to complete your work.
Holy Spirit, you help me
to carry out the work
for which I was created and called.
In your presence and name -
Father, Son and Holy Spirit
Teach us to love you and our neighbor
as you loved us. Amen

Sword of Truth: Balancing Faith and Reason

Originally posted at: http://wp.me/puJQo-4B

A year ago, I started the series Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind. Over the course of the last year, I've read all 12 books, a total of almost 10,000 pages. Some may ask, what in God's name possessed me to read 10,000 pages? The story that Terry Goodkind weaved was, by far, one of the best stories that I had ever read. I could identify with the main character (Richard) and the intellectual appeal to reason. The characters had depth, the issues that were addressed were complex, and Goodkind's ability to weave multiple storylines kept me reading.

While I was down in Florida earlier this month, I finished book 11 and couldn't wait to read the final book and finish the journey that I had started. After purchasing the book and reading at a breakneck pace, I neared the end of book 12. Yet, as I read, the ideas that Goodkind had started early in the series were coming together...and they were not something that I could agree with.

Roughly around books four and five, the main villain for the latter portion of the series was introduced: Emperor Jagang. Jagang is the leader of the Imperial Order, a movement which is largely fanatical in nature, advocating that humans are evil by nature and cannot be redeemed until the afterlife. As the series progresses, readers are introduced ad nauseum to the ideas of the Order and what it stands for--blind faith in the Creator. This is a stark contrast to the Wizard's Rules, which are based on reason and logic.

As book 12 ended, it became clear that the Order was representative of Christianity--ideas of the former remnants of the Order being referred to as "men of God," the emphasis on faith over reason, and humans being inherently sinful all came to the fore and were clearly related to religion. The story was resolved--reason and logic triumphed over blind faith. The tangible, law-governed forces of the world won the battle against those intangible, emotionally-based forces.

In the process of reading, I was disturbed by what I read. What Goodkind was implying shook me up a great deal and has caused me to question my beliefs in a way that I didn't think possible. Religion was characterized as villainous, evil, and stealing the magic away from life. Those who followed it were brutish, inhuman, and vile people. Let me pause for just a moment and say that Goodkind is an adherent to Rand's philosophical view of objectivism. Objectivism, in short, is concerned with "rational self-interest" as Rand put it.

Ultimately, Rand's ideas are played out in the battle between Richard and the Order. Richard represents the rational mind--the man who chooses to think and despite prophecy, enacts his own free will, confounding the rest of the characters. The Order represents the lack of rational thought, with most of the ideals held dear by the Order seeming absurd and contradictory when juxtaposed to the Order's cause.

What is perhaps most disturbing, yet not surprising, is that the side of religion is characterized as being a way for people to escape rational thought. Characters tow the party line as the Order brutalizes entire populations into following its dogmatic approach to existence. Time and time again, individuals abandon rational thought in favor of a better existence in the afterlife.

As a disillusioned, yet professing Christian, I find the ideas in the series difficult to grapple with. While there may be some circles of Christians that lack rational thought, there are also those who value being able to think rationally. Perhaps it's because I am older and in grad school that I find the central premises of Goodkind's works (and thereby, Rand's) to be so tasteless. I agree that rational thought has a place in one's day-to-day interactions. However, so does faith. To make a sweeping statement that all religion is merely an escape from rational thought is dangerous. I will agree that some individuals may use faith as a crutch, rather than incorporating rational thought into their thought patterns. I may even agree that in the past, many religions have brutalized others into towing a dogmatic line at the risk of physical or intellectual death. I do not agree that this is always the case.

In my understanding, faith and reason have what some scholarly circles call "dynamic interplay" or "dialectical tension." That is, one cannot exist without the other and exist in tension with the other. Faith and reason must be in balance with each other. Faith must not abandon rational thought and neither must rational thought abandon faith. Even Paul encouraged Timothy to keep a level head about him, to reason with what he heard (2nd Tim 4:5). Blind faith needs reason to balance it out, to ground it, to say, "Remember that you have a mind of your own and that God meant for you to use it." Reason needs faith to lift it beyond the bounds of time and space, to remind it that there are miracles, and to say, "Don't get sucked down into the mire of human existence--not everything is rational or knowable." Thank God that unconditional love isn't rational, and that Christ is the perfect balance of reason and faith.

Presiding Over a Funeral

Sunday, June 27, I woke up to find a text and voicemail informing me that a coworker's spouse had passed away unexpectedly the day before. I called to offer my sympathy and help and found the voice on the other line asking "how could God do this to me?"

Her husband, only fifty-four years old, was a good man. He housed others when they had need, employed a nephew from New Jersey when he was jobless, took care of his parents in the end of their lives, and most recently took guardianship of a preteen great-niece-in-law. He was everything to his spouse. He opened doors, cooked, shopped for groceries, took their niece to doctor appointments, and pumped gas in all the cars. Now, he is gone and the life she has known with him for the last 17 years is over. She must start over.

I work with a good group of ladies (I am the only guy). They began the process of finding ways to serve. We sent money, cards, food, and bought lunch for after the funeral. My concern was that the family was not currently connected to a church and may be in need of help with the funeral home and graveside services. My coworker and I talked about spiritual matters from time to time. So, I offered to preside over these services even though I had never done so in the past.

With a bible and my guitar in hand, the Lord graciously led me through these services. I was a little nervous and actually did not have things planned out exactly. I spent some time in the Word, in thought, and then waited to see what the moment needed. All I can say is that God is faithful and good. I was complemented on a job well done. She told me that "it was exactly the way he would have wanted it."

I have never been in a pastoral position quite like this one. What I experienced amid the grieving family was a unique connection with God. For the first time I saw people through His lens of shepherd. I briefly understood how Jesus must have cared for His people, how he cares for us now.

For a day in time, this family, who came from various states, near and far to gather in memory, was a small flock that the Lord cared for. He was not harsh. He did not try to justify His authority at the finger pointing. He offered comfort and hope. He offered Himself, reassuring them that He is there in the suffering.

How much they received, I do not know. It will certainly take time. What I do know is that the joy I spent in service to this family is something I want to experience again.