Today I was riding around on my mountain bike past streets that were significant in the story of my family. I am visiting Brisbane for a week or so and it was on the way to where I wanted to go. Beatrice Street, Broomfield Street, Woolley Street, Goldsborough Road. Brisbane is not old and even in the first half of the 20th century these places had grown and changed quite a bit. But in my lifetime they have changed a lot too. Where my great-grandfather lived, where my mother lived, these houses have gone. Where my father lived as a child is still there but everything around is different and the suburb has changed from an almost rural edge of town to one now seen as close to the city.
As I rode I pondered the stories of my family and began to think of the way one must let go of them. It has been on my mind a lot lately; that we are each just a story. We connect with the world by adding bits to our story. Each of the great religions too add to people’s lives by allowing them into a bigger world encompassing story. Of course not all stories we tell ourselves are true or helpful and empowering. And we can lie. Scott Peck explores this idea in his book "People of theLie". It has been a long time since I read that but if I recall correctly he saw a lot of people’s problems and human evil arising through the lies they tell themselves. He’s probably right. I have listened to a rapist rationalise away his actions and one can be almost fooled into believeing the lie along with him. I mean it has to be good in order for an otherwise "normal" person to be able to perpetrate such things and live with themselves.
But I am getting into darkness there and I didn’t want to.
As I continued riding into the beautiful bushland over Mt Cootha I began to ponder the stories of the older inhabitants of this country. I remember once hearing an aborigine talking about wilderness areas and the confusion the term first caused. His people thought the towns and cities and farms were the wilderness and early discussions with white fellas on declaring wilderness were consequently misconstrued. I can only glimpse the connections with bush that a tribesman might have had or might still have. It is about the stories again. Every tree,shrub, bird and animal would fit into their story. I am sad when my grandfathers house turns to a block of units, when indian mynors invade the city and take the nest site of parrots but these things are still part of my story. I am part of the conquest of the planet in my car, in my work, on my mountainbike. I cannot really imagine the desolation caused if all my stories were wiped out by wilderness. The wilderness of city, of farming, of mining. It is easy to say aborigines should stand up and take on our story. I mean they have been forced into it by history but how do you let go of a story that is no longer the way the world is when you love that old story. It IS you.
People cling to old notions of God for the same reason. They retreat into fundamentalism, even terrorism rather than rewrite the story. Each person must find the way to reconcile the old and the new for themselves. We need to help people find stories that are helpful, reconciling, empowereing and valuing of that which they must give away to go forward.
That’s what I reckon today after a ride in the bush anyway!
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Monday, October 15, 2007
House of Cards
I was talking to a friend the other day about our shared beliefs. It was a meeting over coffee prompted by his desire to convince people about "Answers in Genesis", the new name for the creation science cult. I say shared beliefs but we actually have little in common at the surface level of our doctrines. And basically I think he was there to make sure I was properly "saved". I was there to listen to him and perhaps broaden his perspective on God. I thought I might be able to convince him that Creationism was bad science and bad theology though I had decided not to try convincing him with all the simple facts that can be found if you look for them. I didn’t want to just argue. However from almost his opening words I knew it was going to have to be enough to just listen and be friends.
Some people construct their faith over time and it gets grander and grander. It seems like all their life is tied up in their neat beliefs ,with all the answers in the bible or some other orthodoxy. The trouble is that sometimes the answers that come to us in life are different to the ones we’ve come to believe must always be true. There are choices at these points and they are profound. What makes them profound is the way we’ve constructed our faith until that point. I liken it to a pack of cards. (Jesus may have been thinking about it too given Matthew 7:21-27)
A faith that is built up like a house of cards gets impressive quickly. Each card is the justification of a belief we’ve added to the structure. The trouble is that if any one of these is shaken the whole lot can fall. Then it becomes imperative to not only believe but also to protect the cherished notions. One belief is dependant upon another. Too much is at stake if one is wrong. Even if it becomes obvious then stubborn denial will hang in there because to collapse the whole structure is too painful to contemplate. That’s what any kind of idolatry can do to you.
I guess it’s our personal attachments and the stories that weave into our lives that sometimes makes wonderful christians fight so ungraciously with each other over beliefs and points of doctrine.
An alternative, if you bother to keep faith, is to stack your reasons for belief flat. The trouble is that it’s not that impressive even if you’ve built up a good pile. Its true that any one can be challenged or removed and the stack looks much the same. So in that way it seems safer and more honest, though you probably won’t boast about it. Occasionally you might look over and see the house of cards and be envious. And if you start challenging beliefs, ie. taking cards away, it may quickly seem likely that you could easily take all the cards away. That can’t be right. How can you have faith with no reason for believing?
How can you have real faith if you have any reason for believing at all?
What you could still be left with if you took away all the external reasons is fairly plain and unspectacular; Faith, Hope and Love.
Sounds familiar doesn’t it. Though in my experience it’s not often tried. Most would rather a magical God do things for them, or at the very least dish up justice after we’re all dead. It’s pure human ego and in the end…
…it all turns upon man
Some people construct their faith over time and it gets grander and grander. It seems like all their life is tied up in their neat beliefs ,with all the answers in the bible or some other orthodoxy. The trouble is that sometimes the answers that come to us in life are different to the ones we’ve come to believe must always be true. There are choices at these points and they are profound. What makes them profound is the way we’ve constructed our faith until that point. I liken it to a pack of cards. (Jesus may have been thinking about it too given Matthew 7:21-27)
A faith that is built up like a house of cards gets impressive quickly. Each card is the justification of a belief we’ve added to the structure. The trouble is that if any one of these is shaken the whole lot can fall. Then it becomes imperative to not only believe but also to protect the cherished notions. One belief is dependant upon another. Too much is at stake if one is wrong. Even if it becomes obvious then stubborn denial will hang in there because to collapse the whole structure is too painful to contemplate. That’s what any kind of idolatry can do to you.
I guess it’s our personal attachments and the stories that weave into our lives that sometimes makes wonderful christians fight so ungraciously with each other over beliefs and points of doctrine.
An alternative, if you bother to keep faith, is to stack your reasons for belief flat. The trouble is that it’s not that impressive even if you’ve built up a good pile. Its true that any one can be challenged or removed and the stack looks much the same. So in that way it seems safer and more honest, though you probably won’t boast about it. Occasionally you might look over and see the house of cards and be envious. And if you start challenging beliefs, ie. taking cards away, it may quickly seem likely that you could easily take all the cards away. That can’t be right. How can you have faith with no reason for believing?
How can you have real faith if you have any reason for believing at all?
What you could still be left with if you took away all the external reasons is fairly plain and unspectacular; Faith, Hope and Love.
Sounds familiar doesn’t it. Though in my experience it’s not often tried. Most would rather a magical God do things for them, or at the very least dish up justice after we’re all dead. It’s pure human ego and in the end…
…it all turns upon man
It all turns upon man
Man is once more faced with the problem of himself. He can cope with every danger except the danger of human nature itself. In the last resort it all turns upon man. Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Bonhoeffer's wisdom shines through the writings which survived him. My futile thoughts frequently return to the quote above. People connect to the world with stories large and small and some of the biggest include God. He is impressive and beyond. But at the heart, he too is human, an invention and when we stand facing the future as technologically powerful as we do now we are not truly afraid of much except that which we do to each other. It all turns upon man.
Bonhoeffer's wisdom shines through the writings which survived him. My futile thoughts frequently return to the quote above. People connect to the world with stories large and small and some of the biggest include God. He is impressive and beyond. But at the heart, he too is human, an invention and when we stand facing the future as technologically powerful as we do now we are not truly afraid of much except that which we do to each other. It all turns upon man.
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