ROB HUDSON AND ME - ANSWERING THE UNANSWERABLE QUESTIONS!

Dear Readers: It seems I don’t know how to do a SHORT blog! But, never mind. Here is this month’s offering:

I recently had a wonderful email exchange with Rob Hudson – one of our newer members at Trinity. If you were at our church picnic over Labor Day weekend you remember Rob answering the question “What does being a part of Trinity mean to you?” with the answer that he spent his life trying to stump all of his Jesuit priest teachers in school with what he thought were the “unanswerable questions”. The only answer he ever received to these difficult queries was “you must have faith!” In Rob’s words “all I ever got back from those priests or nuns was “the F word”.

When Rob joined Trinity he thought he’d take the opportunity to try out some of his unanswerable questions on me – and thus began this email exchange that I’ve referred to. When it was all said and done, it was Rob who suggested that I turn it into a blog – and since I have such a dickens of a time coming up with anything for blogs (but I’m trying!!) I thought I use Rob’s questions and my answers this time. (Remember Rob – this was YOUR idea!) So here goes (with only slight editorial modifications to protect the writers -- and with Rob's approval -- it was actually his idea!)

Hi Pastor Nan,
I'm going through my old email, and found your question (based on mine as to whether or not Jesus was divine). You asked: "If you found out today, that unequivocally, Jesus was neither divine nor the Son of God, what difference would it make in your life?"

Of all of the mysteries of faith, I struggle most with the divinity of Christ. It seems awfully convenient for God to send his (or her?) son to Earth to connect with people, and the stories seem more like a contrivance of man than a true story. Is it possible to accept God as an all-powerful creator, but not to accept Christ as my savior? I'm having trouble believing. The more I learn about how human interpretations of God have shaped what I was taught to believe, the more skeptical I am of the belief system, and the more inclined I am to view church as a community of people than a pathway to the Divine. Also, the little doubting spark of energy inside me gets a bit more fuel; what other beliefs, with study of history over time, are just waiting to be dismissed as human constructs? How do you reconcile the magical and the spiritual with study of human misinterpretation or misuse of the Divine acts of God? ROB (or J.O.E. – Jesus Or Else!)

FROM REV NAN: Good questions all!! But you didn't answer the original question – which was "what difference would it make in your life if you found out that Jesus was NOT divine??" Answer that one -- and we'll go from there. Pastor Nan

FROM ROB: Eh. For me, it wouldn't make much of a difference; because I'm not sure I believe it in the first place (I who still shudder at the Exorcist and get creeped out by Lovecraftian movies about demons). Very funny! :(

FROM REV NAN: SO -- if it already doesn't make a difference -- what's the catch? Are you feeling creeped out because you were taught something that may be a lie? Are you angry that the whole world is caught up in some kind of religious conspiracy? Join the club!

The first thing we learn in seminary is that everything we thought we believed -- we don't. Everything we thought was true, probably isn't, (or maybe we heard what we wanted to hear!) That God isn't nearly as mean and bad-tempered as we chose to believe -- and that Jesus' death on the cross was tragic and cruel -- but may have nothing to do with my hereafter... that all of that "stuff" was constructed by the powerful elite of the early church who wanted to control the people, governments, money and all the rest -- and they did! They stifled science, mathmatics and philosophy. They ignored the gifts of women and minorities and punished anyone who said anything differently. (Burning witches at the stake was a favorite pasttime -- most of those "witches" were strong, independent women who spoke up to authority.)

So what are we left with? I think something better, actually. Just what you suggested. A gathering of people who want to make life better -- for themselves, for others and especially for those who may be marginalized or forgotten for some reason. Who else in society will do it? Who else HAS done it??

Good, faithful (read religious) people have done some extaordinary things over time -- like built the first hospitals -- the first colleges that excepted women, blacks or other minorities. There wasn't an Ivy League school in the country that would accept a Jew until Harvard did in the 1960's (it's historically Congregational -- remember them?? The Puritans!). The Women's Temperance Society started by the Methodists makes you shudder until you realize that it was an early attempt to protect women and minor children from abusive husbands/fathers and boyfriends who got drunk and beat up their families! Churches led the fight for abolition
and were the first groups vocal about the Viet Nam war. And I could go on.... and on, and on...

"The Church" has done a lot of damage -- but "the church" -- by which I mean a small group of Presbyterians hell bent on bringing justice to the world or some UCCer's who want to make our streets safe for gays and lesbians -- is still doing great stuff!

Who else is? - on such a regular and well organized level? American Red Cross? (Started by a religious woman!) Amnesty International (started by religious folks!) NAACP (started by strong willed Baptists!) Would they have been so motivated without a "religious" bent? Don't know!

It's ok to strain your religion through your own perceptions and abilities to believe. You can leave the magic behind and still have a faith that works!

So what do you do with prayer -- and rituals -- and all that? Well, you remember that God isn't Santa Claus!

I like one of the Buddhist explanations of life. It goes something like this:

We are all part of a great ocean of water that flows along -- until one day, we fall over a great cliff into a waterfall -- and as we are falling, we separate from the great ocean as a tiny bit of spray -- a single iota of water -- a droplet of infinitesimal proportions... and in that moment we say to ourselves "Look at me!! I am completely unique! I am unlike anyone else and I am powerful beyond measure! I'm SO special!! There is something else out there that knows me -- that loves me -- that seeks me -- that is watching me. I'm going to try to control it! I'm going to try to ...... "

And just when we think we have it all figured out -- we join the rest of the great watery mass at the bottom of the cliff and swirl on as one gigantic sea! Pastor Nan

FROM ROB:
I guess I also feel like if that was a lie, maybe God is a lie, and maybe we just punch out of life into the ether or disappear completely. That philosophy starts tending towards "nothing we do matters," and on a daily basis, that there is not someone watching over us to help. That would be a chilling revelation -- if we were
alone. -- Rob

FROM REV NAN: Here are my thoughts on your comments. First: I'm sorry to do this, but I think you're blowing smoke up my nose (or some other part of my anatomy that pastors shouldn't refer to!) Your responses sound just like what you were taught in all those good Catholic schools. Let's see if you really believe what you say, ok??

Here's the challenge: You say you would be saddened/disheartened/devastated
to learn that "God was a lie" BECAUSE then it would feel like "nothing we do matters" (your words, not mine). So I gather from that comment that you are VERY concerned that "your life matter" -- and by inference, that it matter to God! Right? Is that what you mean? Because if THAT is what you
mean I need to ask you: "How many times a day do you stop to ask yourself: 'Is this important in the wider scope of things?' Or 'Is God pleased with this thing that I am doing?' or 'what can I be doing that would make my life matter more?' HMMMM?

Being a person who is so concerned that your life "matters to God" I am sure you must frequently be questioning your motives/actions/thoughts/... and oh, yes -- that of course since you want God to know that YOU are HERE -- not just that GOD is THERE -- you are frequently thanking God, praising God, and invoking God into your life, work, relationships, etc, etc. etc..... I've got to be on target here -- right??
Given your grave concern for pleasing God and having a life that matters???

So, maybe you don't praise/thank/invoke God every day?? How about every week? HMMM? OK --So have you asked yourself any of those questions this decade??? IF you really WERE concerned that your life "mattered" what difference would THAT make?? I preach this stuff every Sunday to a bunch of empty chairs --people just like you want God to "be there" when they want God -- but have very little time to invest in a God who won't answer their every prayer and be "present" in a tangible way TO THEM PERSONALLY! How hubristic can we get! It’s all about MY God – not OUR God (you know, the one we pray to in the Lord’s Prayer?)

And about that whole "watching us" stuff and "being alone" – Good Grief!! Have you stopped to consider that you are one of about 7 billion people on this planet and that being "alone" is almost impossible?? That the one thing that we know about God is that God wants us to be "in community" --
that we should love and depend and care for one another??! That we are, in fact, "God" to each other -- but do we really care?? We want a "personal” God to "watch ME" and make sure that I get all the good stuff and that I'm taken care of! That's the God we want!! We seem to have forgotten that the God that has been revealed to us is the God who says (among other things)

"As you do it even unto the least of these, you have done it to me"
"If your brother is without a shirt, give him yours!"
"Clothe the naked; feed the hungry, visit those who are in prison."
"Do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God."

And I could go on!! Alone, Rob???? Start feeding the hungry and reaching out to those in need and then tell me how alone you feel. Volunteer at the local AIDS walk-in center or the Arch Street Center for the mentally ill and then we'll talk about whether or not your life has meaning – but, frankly, if you do
those things, I know it won't be much of a conversation anymore.

What you really mean by your questions is what we have all somehow learned over time -- and
it's so sad and so irrelevant! It's this: "If God doesn't take care of me, then what good is God? If God doesn't reward me and see me and praise ME, then I have no time for God, and if God can't seem to make it on my schedule, then I'm not interested in God.”

Given all these "realities" it sure feels like God is dead -- and THAT must be why we feel so lonely and unfulfilled!! It's all GOD'S fault! Do ya get my drift, Rob? Amen and Amen!

FROM ROB: Wow! You are 100% right! Thank you for being honest. I have a lot to
think about.

Dear Readers: Rob, not a very frequent church-goer, was with us for worship the following Sunday! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!