Category: Truth

Politics Won’t Save Us

When traveling recently, I saw a very large sign that read, “Save America. Vote Republican.” I can imagine a similar sign from a Democrat.

I believe that politics matters and therefore who we vote for matters. When I consider who to vote for, I look for those who demonstrate some sense of social justice, mercy, and faithfulness. I have in mind the prophet Micah’s words about what God requires of human beings: “Do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.”

I expect that those who are committed to justice will have some understanding of what is unjust in our society, what government policies and actions are unjust, and what steps a government can take to address injustices. I also want people in government who demonstrate mercy and compassion, who are not entirely self-absorbed and out for personal power. As far as walking humbly with God, I will settle for a demonstration of some humility. I tend to avoid politicians who do a lot of God-talk.

Politics are important and I take voting and participation in the political process seriously. But I expect very little from politics when it comes to salvation. The unethical ways that political campaigns are run and the ways that many voters are manipulated by appeals to the worst in us do not indicate much in the way of a rescue from what is tearing us apart.

We have ways we talk about our torn selves and society. We use psychological terms (repression, suppression, denial, avoidance, wishful thinking, rationalization, anxiety, obsession, addiction, etc.) and sociological terms (systemic racism, ethnocentricity, discrimination, sexism, power structures, class conflict, etc.). But there is another term that, outside religious circles, gets little mention. And that is the word, “sin.” It points to the underlying spiritual condition of our fragmentation.

In the New Testament letters of Paul, “sin” is often used to refer to the underlying power that affects our lives. Indicative of this are various phrases he uses: “power of sin,” “enslaved to sin,” “freed from sin,” “captive to the law of sin,” “sin that dwells within,” living “under sin,” and not letting “sin reign.” With this language, Paul indicates that sin is at the root of all human brokenness. He, therefore, rejects the idea of listing various sins that we must then work on eliminating in order to better ourselves. Our problem goes much deeper than something we can simply work on.

The problem of sin is the problem of our alienation from the source and center of our being and identity. Ultimately, the change that is necessary is spiritual. All other solutions to this fundamental problem are simply ways of managing our emotional, mental, and physical brokenness so that we can, on some level, maintain relationships, employment, daily business, some semblance of “success,” and the ability to “carry on.”

That is why scriptures, in one form or another, call us to the recentering of our lives. Our deepest need is to be reconciled to God. And, given the depth of our problem, only God can do this. So, Paul writes, “In Christ God was reconciling the world to God’s self.” (2 Corinthians 5:19)

The Gospel of John points to an enlightening that must happen for us to begin to acknowledge the depth of our problem. We are told that the Spirit of truth comes to prove us wrong about sin (It is worse than we think). The Spirit brings us to a point where we acknowledge that our problem is something we are unable to manage. It is more than all our psychological and sociological descriptions and solutions.

Furthermore, the Spirit must prove us wrong about sin, “because we do not believe in [Christ].” (John 16:8-11) We do not believe in the need for God as our Rescuer. We think we can solve our problem. We do not need outside help. We do not need the work of reconciliation that God has accomplished for us in Christ Jesus. So, the Spirit comes to enlighten us.

When we find ourselves giving up on ourselves to fix our problem; when we come to recognize our radical need for help and begin to turn to God, our Liberator, it is the Spirit proving us wrong about the nature of our condition and drawing us toward the help we truly need. Spiritual change is on the way.

Filed under: Grace, Humanity, Spirit, TruthTagged with: , ,

Those of us who are White need Black history.

My White children grew up in a Black neighborhood and Black church. They went to Black schools where they sang the Black national anthemn and learned Black history. This experience deeply enriched their lives and expanded their knowledge and understanding. Above all, it gave them a truer view of American history than they would have received in many other places. I would like something of their experience for all children.

It is deeply troubling to see the current White backlash to teaching children the realities of American history—the good, the bad, and the ugly. This determination to keep the truth from our children, will only hurt and stunt their lives and close them off from others whose experience is different from their own.

In a speech last year, Richard Corcoran, the Florida education commissioner said, “I’ve censored or fired or terminated numerous teachers. There was an entire classroom memorialized to Black Lives Matter and we made sure she was terminated.” (Washington Post) And this action helps our children?

Many states have introduced new laws on how history and current events are taught. It is clear that the impetus for these laws is a fear of students receiving viewpoints of American history other than that of a White view. Without history seen through the lens of the Black experience and that of Indigenous peoples and others, we are left with a skewed and White supremicist view—a view that makes the White experience and perspective the norm: Our revolution, the constitution we created, the leaders and presidents we put in place, and the laws and policies we instituted. We then operate as if the only history is the one we tell ourselves.

The history of this nation as experienced by African Americans is very different from those of us who are of European descent. We need Black history—as well as the history of Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans without which we do not have American history.

We especially need to receive from those who have experienced oppression, the “underside of history.” We love stories of “our” heroes. We need the stories of those victimized by our heroes; we need their struggles, their overcoming of oppression, and their leadership in movements for change. We simply need reality. Our children need truth. It will set them and our nation free.

I look at this issue as a follower of Jesus who sends me out to all. I need to hear from the experience of those Jesus sends me to. My family and I need others; we need the views of others—those whose experience is very different from ours. We do not need to remain in a White bubble or a particular class bubble. We do not need to remain in our “comfort zones”—nor do our children.

We do not need to be afraid of the truth, including the truth about ourselves, our brokenness, our nation’s history, and our complicity in the racism of our nation. With God who is Truth Itself, there is forgiveness and healing and liberation.

Filed under: Justice, Liberation, Racism, TruthTagged with: , ,

Martin Luther King On Spiritual Blindness

“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

These words of Rev. King are from a sermon entitled, “Love In Action,” in his book, Strength To Love. This sermon has for its text the words of Jesus from the cross: “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” The quote above comes from King’s reflection on the last part of Jesus’ words: “They know not what they do.”

For King the reality of these words—“they know not what they do”—runs through all of human history. Wars, slavery, and Jim Crow were “perpetuated by sincere though spiritually ignorant persons.” Therefore, “sincerity and conscientiousness in themselves are not enough.” We can be sincere and conscientious about all the wrong things. King lifts up the Apostle Paul’s words concerning those who “have a zeal for God, but it is not enlightened.” So, it has been with a White nationalist Christianity.

King is pointing to the problem of spiritual blindness. He speaks of “head and heart—intelligence and goodness.” King calls us to an intelligence that is spiritual in nature. (I think of Jesus calling upon his followers to “be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”) King makes clear that what he means by intelligence does not come merely by formal education:

I know many people of limited formal training who have amazing intelligence and foresight. The call for intelligence is a call for openmindedness, sound judgment, and love for truth. It is a call for [people] to rise above the stagnation of closedmindedness and the paralysis of gullibility. One does not need to be a profound scholar to be openminded, nor a keen academician to engage in an assiduous pursuit for truth.

King reminds us of words from the Gospel of John:

“This is the condemnation,” says John, “that light is come into the world, and [people] loved darkness rather than light.”

The point is this: The “sincere” embrace of what amounts to false values, ideologies, and commitments keeps us from the truth and in the darkness. If we refuse to acknowledge the false thinking that we have used in order to secure us from addressing our fears and insecurities, and to secure us in our prejudices, we will remain closed. We must relinquish our false ways and false thinking—false to our true humanity, false to love toward others. We must let go of what we are guarding in order to be open to the truth. We must be committed to the truth no matter how uncomfortable it makes us. We must stay committed until the truth sets us free. We must let the truth break the bondage of our fabrications about ourselves, our nation, and its history.

This is a word for our time. King speaks of “gullibility.” We have massive gullibility. When politicians and corporations so easily hook into our passions, prejudices, fears, insecurities, and self-absorption, we end up directed away from our true needs and the needs of our life together as a nation. We devolve into ever deepening divisions. The way out is for individuals to become aware of why they make the decisions they make and contrive the rationalizations they give for their decisions. We must each turn from what is false and take actions directed to what is real. As we read in the Gospel of John, “Those who do what is true come to the light.”

Filed under: Justice, Spirituality, Truth

Gifts in a Time of Pandemics: Knowledge

At this point, in human history, there is an astounding accumulation of knowledge, along with many ways to access this knowledge. We do not need to be experts in infectious diseases to make our way through the present pandemic. We simply need to be open to receiving and learning from others.

Communally shared knowledge is a gift in a time of a pandemic. Experts in the field of infectious diseases, who are on a learning curve with a new virus, share their knowledge, observations, and proposals with one another and the public. We experience this knowledge as a gift when we listen to someone like Dr. Anthony Fauci. We are given steps to take.

As with all gifts, however, knowledge must be received and acted on. In the midst of a new virus that continues to spread, the knowledge that wearing masks can help us is a gift. But this knowledge can be received or refused. It may surprise us when people refuse to wear masks under our present circumstances, but all of us have the capacity to reject knowledge.

On the one hand, we are creatures that are infinitely open. We open out to the universe. We open out to the Mystery of the universe, to the incomprehensible God. This openness makes all knowledge possible. On the other hand, we are able to close in upon ourselves and close ourselves off from knowledge. We get sidetracked by our addictions and obsessions. Our fears, prejudices, hurtful dependencies hinder our openness. Here are questions we can ask ourselves: What goes on inside us that would get in the way of receiving and responding to much needed knowledge in this time of a pandemic? What keeps us from being open and receptive to knowledge?

As important as empirical, scientific knowledge is for responding to a pandemic, self-knowledge is especially critical. Interior knowledge of ourselves, the awareness of our motivations, attitudes, feelings, and commitments helps us to discern what gets in the way of receiving knowledge, why we avoid particular subjects, and why we rationalize behavior.

When we recognize and relinquish that which has us closed and allow ourselves to be open and receptive, we do not have to do battle with science or any form of knowledge. We are freed to change our lifestyles in order to address the realities of a pandemic. A loving openness to others will have us wearing masks not only for our own sake but for the sake of others.

Our responses to the surges of COVID-19 infections and deaths have demonstrated how closed we have become and sidetracked by our idolatries and false allegiances. I saw a video of a man raging against wearing masks. He saw mask-wearing as an offense against his “freedom.” The words on his tee-shirt said it all: “Selfish and Proud of It.” Without relinquishing his idolatry of self, he will be incapable of wearing masks for the love of others.

Loving openness frees us to receive from others—not only for addressing a coronavirus pandemic but for addressing the much more entrenched pandemic of racism. Many have been helped toward a degree of openness by a virus that has shone a light on the disparities and injustices in our society. But, of course, those injustices have always been there available to be seen by a loving openness. The video of the death of George Floyd and the actions of the Black Lives Matter movement have brought a sustained focus on what has always been there. These actions have gained the attention of Whites who are willing to be open and who have turned attention to their own racism and the systemic racism of our society. What will maintain this focus and bring about work for change will be a growing openness. Without such openness, we remain in darkness. And remaining in darkness hurts us and others.

If we allow ourselves to be open, we will change. If we go back to our same old rationalizations, we will go on losing our souls, and knowledge will escape us. It makes no difference whether we call ourselves Christian or view ourselves as enlightened. Openness to knowledge brings true change. Above all, love makes us open. The good news is that knowledge and love are not far away when we are open. And God will help us to be open. Therefore, Jesus says, “Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find.”

Filed under: Mindfulness, Racism, Society, TruthTagged with: , , ,

Listen and Testify

“For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” (John 18:37)

Jesus testifies to the truth, and those who are committed to the truth listen to what he says. But before Jesus testifies to the truth, he listens to the truth: “I do nothing on my own, but I speak these things as the Father instructed me.” (John 8:28) So Jesus listens and then speaks.

And Jesus is our example for listening and speaking. He is our model for what it means to be truly human as God created us to be. We, like Jesus, are to listen to “the Father.” We are to live from the source of our being. And then we are to testify to what we receive. In a world of lies and deceit, we are to testify to the truth.

Of course, that means that we have to turn from lies and deceit to the truth. Above all, we have to turn from the fundamental lie of our human condition, the lie that denies our creatureliness, that would have us operate as if we were the source of our existence—as if we could come up with our identity apart from God.

Jesus calls us back to reality, to the source of our true selves that is never far away. God is near and the word of truth is near. It is, as Saint Paul reminds us, on our lips and in our hearts, when lips and hearts are surrendered to God, when we worship in spirit and in truth and are open to the Spirit of truth. And “when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” (John 16:13) The Spirit guides us into who we are to be and what we are to do.

In a world that is deceived about our essential selves and callings, we are sent to be witnesses. We are to testify to what we hear, we who are growing into listeners of the truth. In this way, we are light in the darkness. It is a high calling, being listeners and testifiers to the truth. It is a calling we receive in Christ. As we are conformed to the one who is the Listener and Testifier, we become listeners and testifiers.

Our world, our society, needs those who receive and declare truth, the truth of being human and being community—the truth that demands the commitment of our whole selves, the commitment to love and have compassion for one another, to live as one humanity in God, sharing in all of creation’s oneness with God.

Our societies and the world need the witness of those who receive the Spirit’s guidance for the situations of our time and for the unfolding future, people who hear what the Spirit is declaring in the present. The world needs to hear something other than that which comes from the political and moral ideologies of our time or from the entrenched ways of a false humanity that operates as if it were its own source of being.

Gracious God, give us eyes to see and ears to hear. And then give us the courage to speak and to act in this time in which we live.

Filed under: Faith, Prayer, Spirit, Truth, WitnessTagged with: , ,