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Ben

Lent as a challenge to journey with others

My dear friends,

I hope your Lenten journey is going well and drawing you closer to God.  Years ago, I was working on my Ph.D. in philosophy (which I never finished) and I came across a fascinating book by Merold Westphal on the hermeneutics of suspicion.  I cannot remember if it was in this work or another that the author was speaking about atheism for Lent.  The point is that often Christian believers want to dismiss criticisms of religion without hearing the deep truth in the criticism.


One great feature of the Independent Sacramental Movement is allowing competing voices to have a place at the table.  ISM pastors recognize they must be where God’s people are and these people have real questions deeply rooted in the world.  The questions that atheists bring are legitimate questions and we cannot run to simple answers to avoid walking with the person and seeing their concerns.  I am not saying Christians cannot defend the faith, but we must always understand where each person is coming from to the best of our abilities.  Often, atheists are atheists because of the failure of us Christians to live up to our professed beliefs.


Lent is often compared to a journey as is the entire Christian life.  It is a journey that we all must go on, but no one is to walk alone.  This past week, I spent time reading the new edition of “Extraordinary Catholics” magazine.  I highly encourage you to check out the magazine as there are a number of fascinating articles to foster spiritual growth during Lent.  Lent is a time of transformation and discipleship.  We are all a little rough around the edges and need God’s presence and action to help us become those vessels of peace, love, joy and hope.  The magazine can be found here: Magazine (extraordinarycatholics.faith)


A couple of articles stuck out as I thoroughly enjoyed the discussion of the omission of the Alleluia during Lent.  The article points out the history of the practice and how a contemporary ISM community brings back an ancient custom but in a contemporary way.  Of course, it is important to note that this is a Western perspective as most Eastern churches continue to use Alleluia during Lent. 


The other article which inspired me brings me back to how I began this post.  The article is entitled “Yes, And.”  The author writes:


If this works in improv, why doesn’t it work for us, as pastors and lay people? Why do pastors have such a difficult time listening to people’s life stories and, instead of shutting them down or saying no, affirming them? Why can’t we, as lay people, hear someone’s life story and frame our response as, “Yes, and...I accept and love you because God accepts and loves you”? Instead, we too often repeat trite words, like “love the sinner, hate the sin,” or we say, “I can’t talk to you because I believe that your ‘choices’ are somehow against God’s plan!” The scriptures inform us that we are made in the image and likeness of God, walking with each other on the path of salvation as the “Body of Christ.” Instead of running to exclusivity, we need to respond like Christ Jesus, moving past all this and into “Yes, and...”

People often turn to the ISM movement because they want someone to journey with them.  We have an opportunity to be the hands of feet of Jesus but that often means we must leave our comfort zone.  We must improve our ability to listen and understand one another.  Last year, I took a class on bioethics from the Orthodox perspective.  One of my classmates spoke about how he would counsel a couple who wanted to have children but could not in a way that horrified me.  He spoke about telling the couple that it is a good thing they could not have children because many parents are disappointed in their children.  God foresees that the child they would have would be problematic and God saved them from such grief.  That kind of reasoning does not journey with people who are really hurting and can drive people away from their faith.


People are hurting and we in the Independent Sacramental Movement should be a place to love and affirm.  That does not mean that we must always agree with views and beliefs, but it does mean that we have an obligation to treat each person as a child of God.  God, help me during this season of Lent to better journey with your people.

Peace,

Ben

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