WHERE IS GOD IN THE SCHISM?
A couple of days ago, Steve Skardon posted a thoughtful reflection on scepiscopalians (find it here ) about the presence of God in the schism of the old Episcopal diocese of South Carolina. I recommend it. Coincidentally, I have been thinking of this for a long time, as I imagine many of you have too. Skardon has raised a timely and important point that we should all ponder now. The question is, Where is God in the schism?
Here are my thoughts about this question:
Here are my thoughts about this question:
The problem of the relationship between the human and the divine is as old as human existence. The ancient Mesopotamians were the first to commit to the written word the relationship between events and the divine, in the epic of Gilgamesh. The Hebrews gave their slant on that story in the Book of Job, one of my favorite books of the Bible. The question is as old as humankind, Why do bad things happen to good people? If God is all powerful, all present, and all good, how could he stand by idly and allow people, even his own people, to suffer so terribly?
Where was God at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school? at Sandy Hook? at Mother Emmanuel? at 9-11? at Pearl Harbor? at Auschwitz? at countless other places of insane violence against God's creation? We individuals do not escape either. Bad things happen to each and every one of us. It is the human condition. At some point every one of us flails our fists at the God we think has abandoned us. The truth is, God has not abandoned us, and we, like Job, must not abandon him, even in our darkest hour.
Elie Weisel, the great witness of the Holocaust, said that one night he and other prisoners at Auschwitz put God on trial to determine if he had abandoned his people. The court convicted God. They decided God had indeed turned his back on the Jews. How else could anyone explain what was happening? The rabbi pronounced the verdict and then summoned all to evening prayers, to the God they had just condemned. The point is, they knew instinctively that God had not abandoned them even if they could not know it intellectually. This was the same faith that Job had kept in nearly as hard times. It is the faith that all of us must keep. God does not abandon us. The divine presence is always there even though it may be impossible for us to rationalize it.
I am sure that all of us have felt the presence of the divine in hard times. I know I have. A few years ago, as my father lay dying, I was with him alone in the nursing home one day. Suddenly I felt a strange but very real presence in the room hovering over him and me. I have never felt anything like it before or since. It was a serene blanket of comfort. I sat still by Dad for a long time, until he spoke his final words to me, "I have to go to court next Tuesday and I want you to go with me" (he had been Pensacola's chief of police for years). He died peacefully in his sleep the next day. At first I thought the invisible presence had been angels. Then, I thought later perhaps it was his beloved parents who had come to collect him and to comfort me. Either way, I felt it was God, or its agents, who came to Dad and me when we needed them the most even though we had not summoned them.
So, back to our question about God in the schism. The grand old Episcopal diocese of South Carolina, one of the nine founding dioceses of the Episcopal Church, a body that once counted 32,000 baptized members, now lies broken into four pieces and bleeding in pain. The largest part, the independent diocese, is losing communicants and income at an alarming rate. The two largest parts are locked in a fierce legal war to the finish. There is brokenness, pain, discord, suspicion, anger, fear, and an immensely scandalous legal war going on and on. Fatigue, exhaustion, and even despair are all around. So, where is God? Why does not God stop this?
I think there are three prime reasons why events occur: God, nature, and human choice. Now, part of our problem is how we define God. What do we mean when we use the word "God"? Too often people see an anthropomorphic being, like us only greater. Some people see a superman who can do anything. Some see Santa Claus who rewards "good" people and punishes the "bad." Both of these are wrong. God is not an object like this up there somewhere in space. God never defines itself (God does not have gender so should not be called "Him") in the scriptures but leaves only enigmatic statements such as "I am that I am." God is not contained in one form and never appears in the same form more than once. I see God as the great transcendent presence, the essence of being, that moves through the universe and history. At the creation, God made man in his own image to be its representatives on earth with dominion over all things. Over the last 4,000 years, mankind, primarily in the Judeo-Christian tradition, has evolved a revealed understanding of what God expects of human beings. God expects ethical and moral behavior that protects, preserves, and enhances God's irreplaceable creation. The crux of this long evolution was God's sacrifice for the salvation of the world, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the embodiment of the divine in human existence. I believe the religion that evolved from his experience has brought us to the highest understanding of the relationship between the human and the divine.
God is not a puppet master controlling what human beings do. It gave people free will, that is, the free choice of doing good or evil. Through the thousands of years of history, God revealed to humankind what he expected of human behavior. When people act in this manner, God is present in the transactions whether we are aware of it or not. For instance, Mother Theresa said she went through long periods when she did not feel the presence of God, but went on anyway doing what she knew God expected of her. She chose to do the right thing even though she did not necessarily feel God's response. She was the greatest saint of the twentieth century. People have free will and must choose every day between acts of good and evil. We cannot pin on God the choices that we freely make.
The most moving example of the recognition of free will came in 2015 at the seventieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War. The entire German government met in the Reichstag, in Berlin, for a most remarkable service that was telecast, such that no nation-state in history has ever conducted. In the name of the German people, they accepted responsibility for the War and for the Holocaust and all the death and destruction they meant. They said the German people as a group had freely chosen to do evil (not just following orders). They begged the forgiveness of the world and promised never to allow such again. Of course, Germany has tried to atone a little by giving billions of dollars to Israel. By admitting their evil deeds, accepting their guilt, confessing their wrongdoing, and atoning for their sins, Germany became the first nation in history to redeem itself from its dark past. Germany is now the premier nation-state of Europe.
This is something we Americans need to do with our original sin of slavery/racism. We have never come to terms with our own dark past, and until we do we cannot get beyond this evil. It is still too much with us. We should be like the Germans, accept our wrongdoing, admit it, ask forgiveness, and atone for it. This would be redemption from our sin.
So, in the schism in South Carolina, God is there. It is there for all the sides involved. I do not believe, however, that God could be pleased with the division of Christ's body that has happened, with the brokenness, the pain, the animosity, the legal warfare. I do not think these are things he wants for humankind, the greatest of creation. I think God expects compassion, love, healing, selfless giving, and peace. This is our job as Christians.
The problem in South Carolina is that both sides believe sincerely and firmly that they are doing what God would have them do and it is the other side causing the trouble. The independent diocese believes the Episcopal Church has been taken over by secular humanism and has abandoned true faith. The Church diocese believes the Lawrence side has no legitimate complaint. This is not the time to rehash the blame (besides I have written 300,000 words about this in my book, A History of the Episcopal Church Schism in South Carolina, and have nothing left to say about that). However, the schism was made by human beings who freely chose their actions. It was not an act of God.
This is the time for everyone to reflect on what one believes God wishes for the good people of South Carolina. Lent is a good time to do this. Be still and feel the presence of God and renew your intention to be God's agent in the world. God is just as much there in South Carolina as it has been throughout history, even in the darkest hour.
These are my thoughts about the question, Where is God in the schism? What are your thoughts?
I am sure that all of us have felt the presence of the divine in hard times. I know I have. A few years ago, as my father lay dying, I was with him alone in the nursing home one day. Suddenly I felt a strange but very real presence in the room hovering over him and me. I have never felt anything like it before or since. It was a serene blanket of comfort. I sat still by Dad for a long time, until he spoke his final words to me, "I have to go to court next Tuesday and I want you to go with me" (he had been Pensacola's chief of police for years). He died peacefully in his sleep the next day. At first I thought the invisible presence had been angels. Then, I thought later perhaps it was his beloved parents who had come to collect him and to comfort me. Either way, I felt it was God, or its agents, who came to Dad and me when we needed them the most even though we had not summoned them.
So, back to our question about God in the schism. The grand old Episcopal diocese of South Carolina, one of the nine founding dioceses of the Episcopal Church, a body that once counted 32,000 baptized members, now lies broken into four pieces and bleeding in pain. The largest part, the independent diocese, is losing communicants and income at an alarming rate. The two largest parts are locked in a fierce legal war to the finish. There is brokenness, pain, discord, suspicion, anger, fear, and an immensely scandalous legal war going on and on. Fatigue, exhaustion, and even despair are all around. So, where is God? Why does not God stop this?
I think there are three prime reasons why events occur: God, nature, and human choice. Now, part of our problem is how we define God. What do we mean when we use the word "God"? Too often people see an anthropomorphic being, like us only greater. Some people see a superman who can do anything. Some see Santa Claus who rewards "good" people and punishes the "bad." Both of these are wrong. God is not an object like this up there somewhere in space. God never defines itself (God does not have gender so should not be called "Him") in the scriptures but leaves only enigmatic statements such as "I am that I am." God is not contained in one form and never appears in the same form more than once. I see God as the great transcendent presence, the essence of being, that moves through the universe and history. At the creation, God made man in his own image to be its representatives on earth with dominion over all things. Over the last 4,000 years, mankind, primarily in the Judeo-Christian tradition, has evolved a revealed understanding of what God expects of human beings. God expects ethical and moral behavior that protects, preserves, and enhances God's irreplaceable creation. The crux of this long evolution was God's sacrifice for the salvation of the world, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the embodiment of the divine in human existence. I believe the religion that evolved from his experience has brought us to the highest understanding of the relationship between the human and the divine.
God is not a puppet master controlling what human beings do. It gave people free will, that is, the free choice of doing good or evil. Through the thousands of years of history, God revealed to humankind what he expected of human behavior. When people act in this manner, God is present in the transactions whether we are aware of it or not. For instance, Mother Theresa said she went through long periods when she did not feel the presence of God, but went on anyway doing what she knew God expected of her. She chose to do the right thing even though she did not necessarily feel God's response. She was the greatest saint of the twentieth century. People have free will and must choose every day between acts of good and evil. We cannot pin on God the choices that we freely make.
The most moving example of the recognition of free will came in 2015 at the seventieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War. The entire German government met in the Reichstag, in Berlin, for a most remarkable service that was telecast, such that no nation-state in history has ever conducted. In the name of the German people, they accepted responsibility for the War and for the Holocaust and all the death and destruction they meant. They said the German people as a group had freely chosen to do evil (not just following orders). They begged the forgiveness of the world and promised never to allow such again. Of course, Germany has tried to atone a little by giving billions of dollars to Israel. By admitting their evil deeds, accepting their guilt, confessing their wrongdoing, and atoning for their sins, Germany became the first nation in history to redeem itself from its dark past. Germany is now the premier nation-state of Europe.
This is something we Americans need to do with our original sin of slavery/racism. We have never come to terms with our own dark past, and until we do we cannot get beyond this evil. It is still too much with us. We should be like the Germans, accept our wrongdoing, admit it, ask forgiveness, and atone for it. This would be redemption from our sin.
So, in the schism in South Carolina, God is there. It is there for all the sides involved. I do not believe, however, that God could be pleased with the division of Christ's body that has happened, with the brokenness, the pain, the animosity, the legal warfare. I do not think these are things he wants for humankind, the greatest of creation. I think God expects compassion, love, healing, selfless giving, and peace. This is our job as Christians.
The problem in South Carolina is that both sides believe sincerely and firmly that they are doing what God would have them do and it is the other side causing the trouble. The independent diocese believes the Episcopal Church has been taken over by secular humanism and has abandoned true faith. The Church diocese believes the Lawrence side has no legitimate complaint. This is not the time to rehash the blame (besides I have written 300,000 words about this in my book, A History of the Episcopal Church Schism in South Carolina, and have nothing left to say about that). However, the schism was made by human beings who freely chose their actions. It was not an act of God.
This is the time for everyone to reflect on what one believes God wishes for the good people of South Carolina. Lent is a good time to do this. Be still and feel the presence of God and renew your intention to be God's agent in the world. God is just as much there in South Carolina as it has been throughout history, even in the darkest hour.
These are my thoughts about the question, Where is God in the schism? What are your thoughts?
