In a National
Catholic Reporter article from May 25, 2010, printed an article about 10
major faith and church struggles for our age as developed by OMI
priest, Ron Rolheiser. As we begin 2012 it might be worth
our while to ponder these points.
1.
A struggle with the atheism of our everyday
consciousness in a world caught up with materialism. This
is a very strong narcotic that places us at the center of our universe
rather than God. So, how do we combat the atheism of our
everyday consciousness? It requires us to be purposely
mindful of all we have and not fall into the trap of seeing ourselves as
the center of our universe.
2. A
struggle to live in torn, divided and highly polarized communities to
become healers and peacemakers even though we are wounded ourselves.
How do we become healers and peace makers when we too are
wounded in a divided world? In the Prayer of St Francis he
asks God to help him sow unity when there is division first by seeing
the whole cloth of creation as one and envisioning us being part of the
process where the torn edges are joined together by finding a common
thread of hope to bind all.
3. A
struggle to live, love and forgive beyond the infectious ideologies we
daily breathe. We need to be neither liberal nor
conservative but rather a people of true compassion. Going
beyond ideologies is a difficult challenge for they tend to define who
we are. We find those of opposing positions as detrimental
to a process of forgiveness. Yet we are asked to be
compassionate, to walk a mile in the shoes of the other to begin to
understand others and treat them as we wish to be treated.
4. A
struggle for a healthy sexuality that is both chaste
and passionate. A healthy sexuality in a society that on
one hand glorifies rampant sexuality or denigrate the sexuality of
individuals through ostracism, mutilation and death demands we stand for
justice. None are slaves to the sexual desires of others
nor should they become victims of brutal misogyny.
6. A
struggle to cope with personal grandiosity, ambition and pathological
restlessness in a culture which nurtures immediate and ongoing
gratification. We also find ourselves in a society that creates
expectations for personal success regardless of the cost to ourselves
and others. We are no better than our next sale, next take
over, the next whatever. We demand cheaper goods and
services regardless of the cost to human lives in our country or other
nations so we can become sated. We find, however, that we
are never sated and we bemoan the fact that we have become a debtor
nation on the backs of the poor. Let us explore our hunger
for more and demand justice for others in how we comport ourselves.
7. A
struggle to not be motivated by paranoia, fear, narrowness and over
protectionism in the face of terrorism and overpowering complexity, to
not let the need for clarity and security trump compassion and truth.
This struggle is a result of our need to control what we think is ours.
Look at the birds of the air, the lilies of the fields, Jesus
told us, your Father is always mindful of them. Then he
takes an even broader step by telling is to share what we have with
generosity. By doing that we can begin to escape a rampant
paranoia that we won't have enough for we will encourage the generosity
of others. Yes, the problems are complex but it is better
to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick and injured with
compassion and thus built trust in a world that only sees war.
8. A
struggle with moral loneliness inside a religious, cultural, political
and moral dispersed society; to find a soul mate who is there with us at
our deepest level. Is there anyone out there who
believes, feels and wants to make change happen? Are the
rules of religion, culture, politics such that we turned off and
dissuaded from finding others with whom we can share our lives?
9. A
struggle to link faith to justice, ecology and gender and to get a
letter of reference from the poor. Like all of the
struggles noted before, we must find ways to balance all by not placing
ourselves as the center of the world. Justice can happen
when we are willing to make a commitment to it. Our world
ecology will not wither if we are willing to take steps to change our
expectations and curb our demands on its bounty. Gender
will cease to be a barrier when we value each individual as God's
special creation. Trappist monk Fr Louis, aka Thomas Merton, had a
mystical experience on the streets of Nashville on the rare visit he
made to his physician's office. Standing there on a street
corner he saw all around him radiating a brilliance that could only be
God's presence hidden in their lives. He mused that if
everyone could have seen this there would be no more wars, hatred or
fear yet there would also be an unhealthy desire to bow in worship to
one another and not the God who is present among us.
10. A
struggle for community and church to find the healthy line between
individuality and community, spirituality and religiosity, to be both
mature and committed, spiritual and church to one another. Western
culture has focused on the importance of the individual to the
exclusion of the importance of the community. When faced
with a tribal culture, western concepts of individuality could not and
cannot grasp what this means in the lives of billions in the world. We
need to learn to listen more to one another and see ourselves not as
loners but part of a whole where the good of the individual is as
important as the good of the whole community, where there is a synergy
that must happen if we are to grow as God's people.
As we progress in
2012 it might be good to keep these points in mind to determine how we
as individuals can start to make a difference not just in our own lives
but in the lives of those around us thereby beginning a change in the
way the world operates. Impossible? I
remember a song that was popular some years ago called High Hopes.
It was about how the impossible can happen. An ant
was toppling rubber tree plants that were massive in comparison to its
diminutive size and a ram was butting a huge power dam to create a hole.
Each was successful despite the enormity of the challenge.
Emmanuel, God is with us, is what we need to be successful too
for we have High Hopes that his kingdom will come because we are willing
to struggle with the hard questions.
