In the Monday' s USA Today, I read "The Forum" and a column by Oliver Thomas, the author of "10 Things Your Minister Wants To Tell You (But Can't Because He Needs The Job). It was entitled"Q: Why religion?"
My first reaction is, "Here we go. More from the fundamentalists. I was wrong.
It probably wouldn't have even found itself buried away in the "self-help" section at Borders..
For some time now, I've been concerned about a possible correlation between an increasing distaste for organized religion and an even greater decline and fall of our Ethics.
As I approach the end of my tenure on earth, the progression that bothers me more is the latter as opposed to the former.
One possibility for the order of concern is that the time spent with organized religion has convinced me that my belief in God may be a gateway toward a secure future. At some point in my life "organized religion" was a life-saver. I embraced it for the very same reason Thomas was citing: Religion makes us want to live.
Another reason for the result of my priortizing is the many workshops I gave on the subject of business ethics. In addition I was priviledged to co-edit/write a national column on the subject.
The materials used in editing/writing were the many thoughful replies received to an ethical question the column posed the previous month.
Quite a few of the responses were more reactionary than thoughtful. In hindsight, reciting the letters in their entirety without editing might have provided the audience with a more tasteful dessert with whatever meal they had just consumed before I got up to speak
Let's face it. The subject of Ethics wasn't any more popular back then than it is now. In some cases it was like talking to people who wished to regain their youth before they discovered that meant they would have to retake Algebra..
Back to the column and my reaction. No, I'm not some Evangelist, but, religion is a highly personal subject for me. I'm a rather infrequent churchgoer now. Like others, I have come up with more reasons for not attending church than Mark Twain did in arguing why we really don't want to go to heaven.
During the 80's my church involvement became quite prolific. It came at a time when there was a strong need for that "surrogate family" to which Oliver Thomas refers as a byproduct. It was a time for me to watch and join a movement of congregation members who not only praised the Lord - but "passed the ammunition". It was more than a Kiwanis meeting.
The focus seemed to be that of "doing the right thing", something else I'm reluctant to discuss in depth as I've fallen way short at times. However, talking about the healing that comes from pursuing a sense of self/ via the workings of a church is something aI would embrace every day.. Like sky-diving- it's not for everyone.
Thomas writes about successful survivors of concentration camps: "It was those who found meaning in their lives - - shared their meager rations with others and went about encouraging their fellow prisoners."
He did not call it religion nor did he ever once use the term "Kum-baya".
One conclusion was that while people need to find a meaning in life - that meaning wasn't necessarily religious. He stated the "meaning" referred to was something not amenable to the scientific method of analyzation. He suggested it came from addressing three questions:
Why am I here?
What does it all mean?
How should we then live?'
Each time I watch a Sunday political show or hear/read political commentary I sub-consciously ask myself one or all of those questions
Answering just one is a lifetime accomplishment. One assumes if you can master all three you're probably ready for "The Rapture".
Thomas was not selling Religion. He wrote of indecent souls as well as indecent congregations.
To me, he seemed to be saying that whether we were observing the Moral Majority, the white collar criminals on Wall Street or the lobbyists on K-street, it was within ourselves as to how we wished to live OUR life and establish OUR legacy.
As a graduate student finishing my Practicum I worked as a church counselor. Those who have fears that they couldn't attend church because they did not feel worthy enough did not understand the battles church members were facing that were not unlike their own.
The difference may have been that those churched attendees recognized how churches often perform the function of a surrogate family. They decided to attend the "tryouts" while determining if going to church was the right fit.
Per Thomas: "Religion makes it easier to be decent - to maintain the positive core values, mutual accountability, and constant striving for self-improvement to become a better person."
He writes:"The community church approach often provides strength in a time of need and offers a lifepath for those who want to leave this place in better shape than when they found it."
He is also paraphrasing something I first learned and then spoke of often in my counseling: "You can't help others very much until you learn to help yourself. It's not unlike the instruction the flight attendant gives parents as to the priority of installing oxygen masks."
How helpful this concept might have been for family members attempting to provide homecare of their Alzheimer relatives.
Thomas mildly rebukes the clergy for failing to keep their eye on the ball while evangelizing about "The Last Supper", "Ramadam" or "Yom Kippur". He recommends a focus on purpose, meaning, and helping folks who wake up and say, "Do I really want to get up this morning?"
"People need a reason to live. Religion often helps find that answer". It was fascinating to me that in stating this he quoted Nietzsche: "If one can answer the 'why' of life, he can cope with almost any 'how".
Is Religion the answer to us finding ourself and practicing good ethics? I don't know, but, it is remembered how when watching people practice their faith as opposed to just preaching it, the unspoken message started to creep into my life - and later my blogs.
If and when YOU are ready - the "ammunition" is already there - and I'm surely not talking about the blogs.
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