Something to Think About

"The work of writing can be for me, or very close to, the simple job of being: by creative reflection and awareness to help life itself live in me, to give its esse an existant....

For to write is love: it is to inquire and to praise, or to confess, or to appeal. This testimony of love remains necessary.....simply to pay my debt to life, to the world, to other men.  To speak out with an open heart and say what seems to me to have meaning....the best stuff has been more straight confession and witness" (Thomas Merton, Journals: April 14, 1966).

 

As a teacher of writing, my goal was to give each student a voice... a way to describe his or her own journey in life.  In Merton's reflection quoted above, he refers to giving the "esse" of life an "existant."  The word "esse" (or essence) refers to the core of a thing or person, that which gives its meaning, without which it would not be that thing or that person.  And "existant" (or existence) is related to the word "exit"--- to move out of, or to "stand out." 

 

Writing is a way to move the deepest things, the most significant things of our lives, from the core of our being to the outside, to a place where we ourselves and others can examine, explore, invest in, probe, think about, and further develop the things that we find most meaningful.  One famous writer once said, "I write to know what I think."  Until we begin to engage in the struggle to put into words the things that are most meaningful to us, we hardly know what those things might be.

 

I would love to teach a not-for-credit class where people would come together to write the things that mean the most to them, and then to share them with others -- not for critique of writing, but for deeper discussion and exploration of ideas.  And one of the topics I suspect would be most explored would be the core of our religious beliefs.

 

I am always struck by the fact that the Bible is a book of stories, of journeys, rather than a book of "beliefs" or doctrines.  Yesterday, I was talking to a woman who teaches a very popular Bible study at her (Methodist) church, a study that has grown to around 36 weekly attendees.  Later, as I was thinking about it, I began to think not that I would like to attend her class so much, but rather that I would love to hear her "story," her journey of faith that led to this point.  For obviously, with such a large attendance, there is more to this class than doctrine---there is a personal connection to the Truth she teaches.  And that is the story I want to hear.

 

Even when I watch Shark Tank, what interests me the most is not the principles (or "doctrines") of business the "Sharks" espouse, but rather their personal stories of how they came to espouse their theories.  I want to know their journeys from "a one-thousand-dollar-loan" to building a vast empire of real estate.  For to me, why you believe what you do is more important than what you believe.

 

Abraham, unlike his pagan neighbors and uncertain Hebrew family, did not believe in child sacrifice to appease God.  So here we have two conflicting views: those of the pagans (and the 'uncertains') and those of Abraham.  Which one should we choose?  How about the one who himself made the journey to the altar and was intercepted by an angel?  How about the one who can thenceforth personally testify that God does not desire the sacrifice of children, but who still desires that we surrender our children into His hands?

 

I have no interest in "interfaith dialog," but I have a great deal of interest in the stories of those who believe what they do.  If they have no story, in my opinion, all they have is the testimony of others --- which I do not discredit --- but sooner or later, God will say to each one of us, "I am the God of your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob"; in other words, "the God you have heard about from your fathers."  "But now," the Lord says, "it is between you and Me. From now on, this is personal.  This is the encounter for which your religion has been preparing you."

 

I have heard "The man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument."  So, unless there is encounter and experience with the Living God behind a belief, unless there is a "why" behind the "what," I take the belief with a grain of salt.  That is why I am sooooooooo grateful for the Bible, the stories of those who walked with God, and why I am sooooo grateful for the stories of those like St. Augustine, St. Francis, St. Therese, Thomas Merton and all those whose stories -- not just their "beliefs" ---- have become available for our perusal, for our thought, for our in-depth exploration.

 

When I hear the stories of others, it matters not to me whether they are Catholic, Methodist, Muslim, Jehovah's Witness, or Buddist.  I know I am hearing the "esse" of their existence, the core of who they are and why they believe what they do.  I know I am hearing the action of the Living God upon their souls, and I recognize the Presence of the Holy Spirit re-creating them as He re-creates the world in which we live. 

 

The journey of Abraham, of Jacob, of Israel itself is the starting point for Biblical Revelation of Who God Is --- the One Who leads and accompanies us and brings us to the end of our journeys.  And that is a story which deserves to be written.