You have crossed a border into a new land
May daily be renewed by your Holy Spirit
“You’ll have perceived that I was moving toward God in these years without directly encountering God. I once likened my gradual, tedious process of coming to faith to riding on a train. You’re sipping your coffee and all around you people are sitting nearby reading the paper and doing the ordinary things. But then you look out the window and you realize there’s a lot of territory behind you. Gradually over the course of the journey you have left the realm of atheism. At some point you have crossed a border into a new land.” David Brooks, NYT “It’s Nothing Like I thought it Would Be”
Articles on religion
The New York Times has had an unusually large number of articles recently about religion. It’s not the Times of many years ago when the sermons preached at the larger city churches would appear on Monday. There’s the excellent piece by David Brooks, mentioned above. Also, one by David French on “Why Are So Many Christians So Cruel?” and another “These Spiritual Democrats Urge Their Party to Take a Leap of Faith.”
Each set off a string of angry and contemptuous comments. For example, on French’s piece “I am finding the NYT is steeped in religion in this holiday season. I do not think becoming religious is the answer to this country's (or any country's ) problems. Religion is the problem. Embrace a relationship with your god, but keep it personal and away from the rest of the world.” And on the Democrats urging a leap, “Talking up human made religious myths and "faith" without evidence for claims as plausible as the tooth fairy or Santa Claus would be the worst way to increase my desire to vote for Democrats. I already have to tolerate politicians' general lip service to nonsense religious belief as it is, there is no need for more.”
Brooks got his share: “If there are gods, they've been very disappointing. So, no. I'll take the awe, the wonder and the beauty and enjoy them as they are. It's the Universe. Pretty great. But, nothing more.”
Message after message.
I was encouraged to see that the most recommended comment on Brooks’ article was “It saddens me that so many responses are just attempts to discredit or diminish your experiences. Thank you for sharing a deeply personal journey. Your courage and honesty are moving.”
When the Times prints any article touching on religion the haters appear. Or is it fear?
The desire to make us hide
When Sister Michelle and I were doing our research to write about antisemitism (here and here and here) one of the things we learned was that one of the strategies of antisemitism was to allow no space in which you could be Jewish. “No space to be in - don’t stick out – “Antisemitism works by increasingly restricting spaces where Jews can feel welcome and comfortable, until none are left.” (Einat Wilf, a former Labor member of the Knesset.) We see it in the pressure on Jewish students to hide the Star of David around their neck. Many of the comments in the Times were similar, e.g., “keep it personal and away from the rest of the world.” The anger goes beyond separating church and state. It’s more hostile and authoritarian — remove all signs of religion from my world!
Pray for them. Write something thoughtful answering the comments (modern apologetics). And then say the Office.
Awe, practice, belief
I also came across “I Took Religion Out of Christmas. I Regret It” by lapsed Episcopalian Larissa Phillips. That was in the Free Press. I was glad to see that there were fewer nasty responses in the comments (the FP commenters are known to be brutal). Phillips had written, “I decided my family could do without Christianity. I didn’t realize how much structure and beauty it could give us.” She realized she missed the Christmas Eve service. She had an especially difficult time when preachers mentioned “obedience.”
I wrote this in the comments -
“One way into faith is to understand that religion involves at least three elements. The experience of wonder and awe (often called fear in the Bible); practices that offer ways to acknowledge and respond to that wonder like Mass, daily prayer, adoration, serving the stranger and poor; and intellectual belief. The last gets you into things like digging deeper to understand ideas like obedience (as in how St. Benedict understood it as listening with one's heart. We don't have to accept the most narrow minded understandings). Many people seem to come to faith along one of those paths. In time the other two may emerge because, at least among those of faith they are interdependent. In any case I hope Ms. Phillips has a lovely Christmas in whatever way she chooses to do that.”
Stuck on belief
She knew about the “wonder and awe.” Many commenters told her that was all there was and to settle. To me the thing that became obvious in reading so many of the comments in the Free Press and the Times was how stuck we get about “belief.” The Times also had another writer holding forth on the Virgin Birth. He feels a need each Christmas to “respectfully” dissect some Christian belief. I found myself reflecting on .. well .. myself. For me the wonder and awe just happens. A gift. The practice takes work. But I know that if I go to mass, say the office, and reflect on God and the world as I walk — it makes it easier to see the wonder and awe. But “belief”? I used to say, “there is some part of the creed or a hymn or a prayer that I disbelieve every Thursday.” I learned to not take my believing and disbelieving too seriously. Now it rarely comes to mind. I just say the Office.
One of the lovely and healing things about the Office is that we can say it regardless of how we feel. or whether we “believe” today. We can offer it even when we don’t believe.
Emily Wharton: God has gone away …
Adam Dalgliesh: My father was a parish priest. When I lost my faith he said, “If you find you can no longer believe just act as if you still do. If you feel you can no longer pray just go on saying the words.” — P. D. James, A Taste for Death
Giving yourself over to "religion"
Sister Michelle sent this message to the Order of the Ascension a few days ago calling our attention to the David Brooks article. “My atheist older brother sent it to my family this morning saying both he and his wife found it very moving. I've been interested in David Brooks' path toward faith and he's a wonderful writer. So many of the experiences he mentions are both familiar and wondrously described. It's also clear he has some work to do on the practice and stability fronts - he seems to be aware of that and also seems to struggle a bit with the resources available to him. In some ways, he's approaching things as an a la carte menu of religious choices, which is how daily life is structured for most of us. I think it's hard to see an alternative without having giving yourself over to "religion."
Have a blessed and merry Christmas,
This abides,
Brother Robert, OA