I just finished an excellent book - Christopher McDougall, Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World has Never Seen (New York: Vintage Books, 2009) - which I'd like to share a few reflections from (thanks to my brother for sharing it with me!)...
The book is an account by a contemporary sports writer and running enthusiast about an Indian tribe, the Tarahumara, in a remote area of Mexico who have managed to conserve their ancient tradition of running long distances in the mountains even to this day. The author is intrigued by the group's continued existence in spite of untold adversities and weaves a fascinating account of personal growth and transformation over the course of his journey. It's a wonderful read and I won't spoil its many surprises. However, I did want to share just a couple of excerpts:
'We say the [race] is the game of life...You never know how hard it will be. You never know when it will end. You can't control it. You can only adjust'...And...no one gets through it on their own. Even a superstar...couldn't win without a village behind him" (41).
It may sound cliché but in many ways it really does "take a village." Whether in actual running or in the game of life itself we don't and can't get through it all on our own. We need support, friendship, and solidarity with others in order to reach our highest potential.
"You can't hate the Beast and expect to beat it; the only way to truly conquer something, as every great philosopher and geneticist will tell you, is to love it" (124-125).
Here the author is referring to the extreme fatigue and adversity ("the Beast") that can set in for runners at various points in their races. As experience shows, trying to defeat such forces directly usually only emboldens them all the more. Rather, what is needed is the sort of love for them that accepts them for what they are even as it also refuses to be defined by them.
In a way, perhaps dealing with prejudices and misguided individuals and institutions in our own lives is a bit analogous. We might not be able to defeat the opposition we sometimes face outright or immediately but, in continuing to exist, in living with the pain and yet knowing that we're greater than it, we gradually start showing the truth for what it is. Just maybe, little by little, step by (sometimes challenging) step, we allow a little more light to shine, a little more of what is real and what is good to be known among us.
Peace,
Padre Chuck
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Beyond Superstition
As a follow up to the previous post, I'm sharing an example of a recent statement (just one among various others offered by some religious leaders) from a Roman Catholic bishop, Bishop Thomas Tobin of Rhode Island, on the topic of same-sex marriage and civil unions. Here's an excerpt (the complete text can be found at: http://thericatholic.com/detail.html?sub_id=4183):
"Can there be any doubt that Almighty God will, in His own time and way, pass judgment upon our state, its leaders and citizens, for abandoning His commands and embracing public immorality? I encourage Catholics to pray for God’s patience, mercy and forgiveness in these distressing times.”
Sadly, in contrast to the point made by Frank Schaeffer mentioned in the previous post, here we have a clear example of a purported spiritual leader who has lost sight of the authentic mercy, compassion, and ineffability of God and replaced them with his own limited prejudices. In effect, according to this statement, we have a god sealed off and boxed up into neat and tidy ecclesiastical language rather than the sacred mystery who is both beyond us and always with us - and, for Christians, revealed to us in Christ. What's more, we're also treated to a superstitious image of the divine - a picture of a vindictive god seemingly always at the ready to unleash divine retribution upon sinful humanity. Such theology was discredited ages ago and only confirms all the more decisively the moral bankruptcy of its author and others like him whose fear blinds them, binds them, and then, tragically, wreaks spiritual and emotional havoc among those who look to the supposed inerrancy of their spiritual authority for guidance - for example, by emboldening prejudices and even violence against LGBT people and encouraging others, as it were, to hide in the closet rather than accept and love themselves and others as they really are.
One recommendation that the bishop makes, however, I can indeed affirm: as a Catholic (albeit not a Roman one, but one nonetheless) I do sincerely pray for God's patience, mercy, and forgiveness - not to stay the ire of a vengeful deity but in hope that voices of true compassion and goodness will touch the hearts and minds of all God's children and bring healing and renewal to the church and to the world.
Peace,
Padre Chuck
"Can there be any doubt that Almighty God will, in His own time and way, pass judgment upon our state, its leaders and citizens, for abandoning His commands and embracing public immorality? I encourage Catholics to pray for God’s patience, mercy and forgiveness in these distressing times.”
Sadly, in contrast to the point made by Frank Schaeffer mentioned in the previous post, here we have a clear example of a purported spiritual leader who has lost sight of the authentic mercy, compassion, and ineffability of God and replaced them with his own limited prejudices. In effect, according to this statement, we have a god sealed off and boxed up into neat and tidy ecclesiastical language rather than the sacred mystery who is both beyond us and always with us - and, for Christians, revealed to us in Christ. What's more, we're also treated to a superstitious image of the divine - a picture of a vindictive god seemingly always at the ready to unleash divine retribution upon sinful humanity. Such theology was discredited ages ago and only confirms all the more decisively the moral bankruptcy of its author and others like him whose fear blinds them, binds them, and then, tragically, wreaks spiritual and emotional havoc among those who look to the supposed inerrancy of their spiritual authority for guidance - for example, by emboldening prejudices and even violence against LGBT people and encouraging others, as it were, to hide in the closet rather than accept and love themselves and others as they really are.
One recommendation that the bishop makes, however, I can indeed affirm: as a Catholic (albeit not a Roman one, but one nonetheless) I do sincerely pray for God's patience, mercy, and forgiveness - not to stay the ire of a vengeful deity but in hope that voices of true compassion and goodness will touch the hearts and minds of all God's children and bring healing and renewal to the church and to the world.
Peace,
Padre Chuck
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