In October I had the privilege of visiting Second Church Presbyterian in St. Louis, Missouri and St. Mark’s Anglican Church in Sheffield, England. Both are thriving.
Second Church gave me the title for my weekend with them: “Imagination, Empathy and Action: Being Christian in a Fragmented Age.” I not only saw these themes at work, embodied, and used as critique in St. Louis but also in Sheffield. In both communities it was clear that “the world, moist and beautiful, calls to each of us to make a new and serious response,” to quote Mary Oliver. And to continue to quote her: “That’s the big question, the one the world throws at you every morning, ‘Here you are, alive. Would you like to make a comment?’”
Second Church and St. Mark’s are alive and engaged in comment. Their comment is not with dogmatic certainty but with curiosity and humility making “a new and serious response” to questions of faith and meaning, what we believe and why. They are committed to attending to the pressing and particular needs of their own communities and consider the well being of humanity and the future of our planet as part of their sacred trust as well. They see these as responsibilities of the church. I sensed in both communities their sensitivity to the consequences of our actions – the actions of all of us – and the imperative to will and undertake immediate changes as demanded. Both communities in their humility and curiosity did not seem fatigued. Dismayed perhaps by the challenges of our world. But they did not suffer compassion fatigue.
Neither are they preoccupied with parsing their beliefs. Rather, their affirmations and questions rightly serve to connect them to a broader world and its concerns.“Salvation,” a preoccupation for many, is not about an idealized “some day” for some of us. Rather it is about participating in making this world a better place for all of us. Now.
Both communities take seriously religious/spiritual adult education. And have for a longtime. Marcus was insistent that “adult reeducation,” as he called it, was essential, vital, for the church today. Reeducation defined as “educate again for new purposes.” (Unfortunately the name is also associated with systems of detention in the people’s republic of China(!)) Without serious and contemporary adult education offerings in the church what we were taught as children becomes what we believe as adults. Or dismissed altogether because of glaringly unbelievable claims and incompatibility with what we know. Second Church and St. Mark’s are mature congregations. They have taken seriously adult education in their communities. And it has made a qualitative difference in their praxis.
Both communities are exercising imagination, empathy, action in this fragmented age. They are making a difference. I saw it. I felt it. I was honored to be with them.
I will close with a few things I suggest we consider as we re-imagine, reframe, reconstruct our understanding of faith and God and our life together. Not definitive… a work in progress…
- Be attentive to mystery, awe and wonder.
- Be curious more than certain.
- Relativize doctrine and dogma.
- Understand developing tradition historically.
- Honor the divine, the sacred, within the depths of life, human and other.
- Be inclusive of diversity. (Diversity are us.)
- All religions are efforts to understand and live in our world in the face of mortality. Learn from other religions even as we learn from our own.
- Be scientifically and intellectually honest. Religion and science must be in conversation. (Religion stands to be the greater beneficiary.)
- Creativity and imagination, beauty and compassion, kindness and agency, are essential expressions of humanity. Exercise them. Cherish them. (With full awareness that we are capable of cruelty as well.)
This is a start.
To close, two quotes from Mary Oliver. Which I might as well add to the above list:
- “You must not ever stop being whimsical… you must not, ever, give anyone else the responsibility of your life.”
- “Instructions for living a life: Pay Attention, Be Astonished,
- Tell me about it.”
And continue the conversation.
I will reflect briefly on the Christmas stories as I continue the conversation on our website.
Thank you, Marianne – a thoughtful and engaging reflection with meaning for me this Advent season. Your voice is clear and strong – including the thoughts and scholarship of Marcus as you speak to how we live as church in these strange and unsettling times. Mary Oliver’s use of the word “comment” is a treat! Thank you again.
Sue. As I mentioned to others, I missed this opportunity to respond to you on our site. Thanks for your support and encouragement. I am so glad you were part of the pilgrimages Marc and I led. Those experiences created a connection and a bond that is not weakened by distance or time. Marcus was the great voice of clarity. His clarity makes it possible for the rest of us to share in his work. He made decades of scholarship and thought accessible. And he never numbed it down. I miss him! And wonder how he would address our concerns today and the hope that is in us. But it is now our task to do just that. You are part of that healing work, Sue, thanks for keeping in touch.
I continue to teach New Testament in our church with an emphasis on discovery rather than certainty. I get a good group of seekers and we’re growing together. At 81 and after 51 years of pastoral work, I still have a lot to learn. Jerry
Jerry. I responded to you via email not through this post. So after time has passed, a brief response here too. I love it that after 51 years of pastoral work and 81 of pastoral life discovery is still a new thing! From my point of view that is just right. We do not, cannot know it all. We will always be discovering. With even a modicum of attention. And I am with you certitude is highly overrated. I wonder if our grasping for certitude isn’t an unconscious response to our death. As Blake says, Kiss the Joy as it flies and you will know eternity’s sunrise. I also think what underlies everything is do we have an existential trust. Come what may. Trust is not certitude. It is something else. It is not as subject to vagaries as certitude. Thanks for your lifetime of work, love, meaning making and making a difference. Don’t stop now!
Marianne,
A great article! Of course this is exactly what I have been working on this last year in my Post-Graduate Certificate in Theopoetics. I’ve completed the course and I’m revising the book I hope to publish for use in a classroom or perhaps as a book study group. The revision is in process and I’ll be glad to send you a copy of the manuscript when completed. If you are interested, of course. I used the material in a six week session this fall and will make the changes I find necessary before submitting it for publication. Dr. Scott Holland is my advisor on the project. The title of the Book is “Faith and Imagination: An Invitation tot he Practice of Theopoetics. Your article fits the theme perfectly. More later.
Gene
Gene. I did not respond to this post on our site…..but I did respond to you via an email. I am excited and engaged in what you are undertaking. And honored to be able to enter your work at this early time. As you know I too find the invitation to reimagine an important one. And theopoetics I think is an important view for reimagining our understanding of our faith and tradition. As we have discussed I don’t think theopoetics intends to be a replacement for theology but rather a method for doing it. Fresh lenses. To help us see more. And bring that more into our wonderment about God and our human experience. You are doing important work. Keep me posted.
Thank you Marianne for this message of inspiration and encouragement.
Elaine. Forgive my absence. I somehow missed the replies to my travel reflections. I am a Luddite. I found my visits to St. Louis and Sheffield encouraging as well. As I mentioned, they are both committed to adult education. And to the concerns of our world beyond the immediate concerns of the church and its “viability”. Because of their efforts and participation in making the world a better, more sane and compassionate place they are viable! Thanks for being part of this effort.