Explaining Evil with One God

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            For faith systems that are polytheistic or pantheistic, it is easy to explain the existence of evil by assigning its source to one or more gods.  In monotheistic religions, especially those that attribute the creation of all things to that one God, explaining the source of evil is problematic. One of the attempts to do this resulted in the elevation of Satan/Lucifer to near deity status. In some cases, the source of evil gained god-like status in all practicality.

 

            I don’t claim to have the whole answer.  However, I am convinced that much of the “fire and brimstone” we talk about is an extension of our internal conflicts.  We fear rejection when we don’t meet expectations.  Our need to be loved is so great that we feel pain when we are not, or think we are not, loved. We express this in images of torment and externalize the cause of pain as an evil being foreign to our spirit. 

 

            There are people who are at least intuitively aware of this internal working that we all have.  They prey on the fear and make you pay for some sign that you are loved.  Sometimes this is coming from a pulpit, but more often it comes from family members who make love conditional. 

 

             More and more I am appreciating the expression a friend shared with me recently: God loves you and there is nothing you can do about it.

 

             One of the corollaries of the doctrine of the Trinity is the lesson that God loves all that  you are and has taken the initiative to let you know that.  We don’t have to understand how.  We don’t have to understand why.  We do need to trust it.

 

             Society will never be perfect.  It is made of human beings.  The physical world will not always give us perfect days and easy living.  It is constantly changing.  There truly are some things to fear.  But fearing that you are not worthy of love is not one of those things.

 

             Leave the house of your emotional fears and move into the house of love.   

 

 

Into Community

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On Mother’s Day we celebrated Communion and baptized some children.  This was the common thread I saw in all of the different activities of the day.

 

 When we are born, we need to bond.  Our earliest caregivers allow us to bond to others.  When there is no bonding, emotional problems develop, usually in the form of anti-social behavior.

 

 So we celebrate families in any form where children are brought into community, daily receiving and learning to give love.  In such families we learn that we are loved even when there is nothing we can give in return. 

 

 When we mature we need broader communities.  We realize that the family of origin is not enough even if it is healthy.  We form other communities.  The church is such a community. 

 

 A sacrament is a pledge of something.  The sacrament of baptism is for us a pledge that we are part of the community of faith that is the church.  We can speak about being children of God, members of a church family, brothers and sisters in the anointed oneness (Christ).

 

 The sacrament of Holy Communion is the pledge that you are welcome always.  You are welcome, especially when everything around you is telling you are not worthy of love or of being in community.

 

 The challenge is that sometimes people don’t feel they are worthy or acceptable.

 

Those who did not feel acceptance into community, who did not bond well in early childhood or who have felt painful rejection from primary communities are the most in need of the family of God, the community of faith.  They need to be reassured that they are welcome.

 

 The real challenge is what to do with those who endanger others.  Bigotry, prejudice, and anti-social or sociopathic behavior put those who are most vulnerable at risk.  Users and abusers of others need to be confronted for the protection of the community. The tragic irony of our time is that too often the one who should be confronting the abusers is the one who is abusive.  That can be an unloving parent or, sadly, the church.

 

 

Full Light

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The idea of walking into a bright light is connected with divinity and the afterlife.  Do we ever stop to think that light, which we call white, is actually every color?  Unless we look through a prism or observe a rainbow, we miss the beautiful colors that all blend together to make full light.

 

 

 

            As a way of describing the “glory of God” we use an image that is very inclusive.  Why then do we want to exclude so many people for so many reasons from the community of light?  Excluding any one part of the full spectrum makes true white light impossible.  I think the same is true of humanity.  Unless all people are included we do not experience the true light.

 

 

 

            At the same time, we will not appreciate the full beauty of the light unless we get to see the separate colors.  Each color of the spectrum contributes to the beauty of the whole and can be valued individually, but when all other colors are excluded the remaining color becomes tedious and boring.  With people we also see their full value when compared and contrasted with others in the full color picture of life.

 

 

 

“If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.” 1 John 1:7

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lowered Expectation, Greater Acceptance

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Lost in the translation of a famous conversation is the difference between two Greek words for love.  Agape is the word for love described in 1 Corinthians 13.  It is unconditional and willing to sacrifice for the good of the one loved.  Philo is the kind of brotherly love or caring that may guide our actions, but is much less willing to endure all things. This is the way I see the conversation between Simon Peter and Jesus on the shore of Lake Galilee in John 21, using “love” for agape and “care” for philo.

Simon, do you love me more than any one else does?  [Remember you claimed once that you did?]

Jesus, you know that I care for you.

Simon, do you love me. [I’ll drop the comparison to others.  Do you love me with the same sacrificial, unconditional love that I have shown for you?]

Jesus, you know that I care for you.

Simon, do you care for me?

Yes, Jesus, you know that I care for you. [Wait. What happened here?  You know that I cannot live up to your standards of love, but you love me anyway?]

Simon, follow me.

 

As Simon Peter I cry “LIFE! I can’t live up to this expectation to love!  I know I said I could.  I said I would.  But I can’t!  I tried.  I failed.  I just can’t do it. I am too weak. But I still care.

 

And to my great relief I hear, “I know, child of the earth.  I have known that all along.  Still, that kind of love I give to you freely.  I love you as you are.  Come with me for I will always love you unconditionally.”

 

When we fail to live up to expectations, even our own expectations of ourselves, we may feel that no one can still love us.  Yet, the Living One does love us in full awareness of our failures.

 

When we feel the most unlovable, when we need it the most, God’s love is there for us. Love is a wonder!