Embracing Change

One final comment observation from the MacCulloch book:

"[O]rdinary Christians experienced their God through the Church's liturgy and in a devotional intensity which seized them in holy places. Once they had experienced the divine in such particular settings, having absorbed one set of explanations about what the divine was, anything from outside which disrupted those explanations threatened their access to divine power. That would provide ample reason for the stirring of rage and fear" (222).

This comment about some of the frequent dynamics of Christian (and other religious) belief offers a helpful reminder that none of us--however genuine, sincere, and heartfelt our religious experiences may be--has a corner on absolute truth. Rather than feeling threatened by or resentful toward different explanations or approaches to the sacred, perhaps what we're called to do is to stay open. Both as individuals and institutions, it seems to me that religious folk would do well to keep some perspective on our beliefs and a degree of openness to change and growth. We might not always agree with others' perspectives but remaining open keeps us alive and allows the Spirit to continue to move and work in our lives and hearts.