I can’t shake this feeling that if we practiced rather than thought, our world would be a better place. It would be more ethical, compassionate, and just. There would be strong pushes for equity and greater understanding when we fall short.
It seems a bit naïve when I write it down. Then again, I’m pretty sure this whole religious enterprise was built on thoughtful, imaginative, and compassionate engagement with the world around us. I’ve had a mantra cycling through my head that goes something like:
“Better Rituals/Habits make Better Disciples make a Better World.”
And, so I tire easily of well-constructed arguments (this one included). It’s not that theology and theory and reflection are bad. They’re not. It’s just that in my world they are so privileged that they can become mere exercises in mental masturbation.
I received an email this morning with three different thought papers about how the church can support LGBTQIA+ folx. The call to action was to talk in your congregation about how we minister to the LGBTQIA+ community. Are they important documents? Sure. And, knowing the sources I would guess they are well thought out, inclusive, and meaningful.
Yet, why are we still writing papers more than 10 years after our denomination voted to be more inclusive of these communities? Why are we engaging in thought experiments with congregations when we could be developing relationships with this particular community?
I don’t know the answer to that. Yet, I feel like there is something meaningful about the disconnection between our theologies and our practices. It’s a good thing to read and discuss issues like this. Blind following of charismatic figureheads rarely leads to good things.
I want to know what the community wants, and whether we can be responsive to those needs. Where was the call in the announcement to engage with people outside our walls about these educational papers (Hint: nowhere)?
When I imagine faith it’s a verb, a practice, an orientation. I don’t care what it is you believe, as long as it is equitable, just, and compassionate for you and the people around you. Ethics and philosophies and theologies matter only in as much as they quicken us to be and become more.
The way we orient and frame the world guides our values and relationships. Values and relationships inform our orientation and framing of the world. But, it’s hard.
Practice is hard without some imagination and discipline. It’s hard without community and support. I think that’s why we default to theory and discussion in safe groups.
We’re afraid. I’m afraid. I want to be bold but not stick out. I want to stand up and not be shouted down. I want to love without abandon without being abandoned for loving. I want my kids to know I tried, I lived, I imagined, taught, practiced, became the person I believed I could be.
It’s not going to make me rich. I most likely will toil away unknown. I won’t be remembered in pithy quotes or grand theories or taught in schools.
I’m learning that those things aren’t what make me real or valuable. What matters is the person in front of me (including the times I look in the mirror).
Did I love them the best I could with what I had in that moment?
Was I creative and curious in my relationship with them?
Did I respond to their world and experiences with compassion, empathy, and honesty?
Did I act in ways that reveal an ethic of love?
I think, when my time here is done, if I can answer “yes” just a little more each day, then I can rest easy.
Practice, especially the practice of faith, is not a one and done, all or nothing proposition.
It’s a steady walk along a gentle slope with places to rest and recover, ample opportunity to take in the view, and many companions to keep us company.
I can’t tell you what to do, what to think, how to imagine, I can only ask what kind of company do you need for your journey? And, how can I help?