Knowledge and Safety “Knowledge is power,” he told me. “Some people shouldn’t have it.” He spoke the quip casually, quickly moving on to another part of his story, but the words stayed with me. This man, a patient at the hospital, had been sober for twenty years, even through the deaths of a daughter as a young woman and his son at the age of four. He rebuilt a life that had been tattered by addiction, incarceration, and despair, but the cruelty of strangers, the betrayal of loved ones, and the loss of dreams had taken its toll. He knew that some people could be trusted with the tender parts…
-
-
Knowing God’s Love
The God of Job About a year ago, while working on a column about the Book of Job, I came across the passage below. Job has demanded that God be put on trial, that he answer his questions about fairness and justice, yet God answers nothing. Instead, God grills him. He asks Job: Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook or tie down its tongue with a rope?Can you put a cord through its nose or pierce its jaw with a hook?Will it keep begging you for mercy? Will it speak to you with gentle words?Will it make an agreement with you for you to take it as your slave for life? [1] Job…
-
Hannah and Claiming a Voice
Hannah Transforms Prayer Samuel was a Nazarite, promised to God for his lifetime by his mother before he was born. The biblical book that bears his name tells not only his story as the last judge of Israel, but also that of Saul and David, Israel’s first kings. This is a book of transitions. Politically, it shows how Israel went from being ruled by the guidance of prophets or judges to being ruled by kings. It also marks a religious transformation, a new understanding of how to pray. Our story takes place before Samuel was born, when his mother spoke heart-felt, but silent words to God. It would be more…
-
Tamar and the Power of the Trickster
Trickster Tales of Scripture In last week’s column, we looked at the trickster motif and its relationship to honesty. We concluded that sometimes we must earn the right to be told the truth. This week, we look at the same trickster theme, but consider how it relates to power. The trickster claims power, but not a power of violence or aggression. Though not always a force for love, at least the trickster doesn’t destroy. The Hebrew Scriptures are full of trickster tales. Younger siblings supplant older ones. Women survive and even save their communities by using their wits. Cleverness is appreciated, deception encouraged, and audacity rewarded. You could say that…
-
Honesty in the Face of Challenge
A Cycle of Lies Let’s call her Honey. She’d gotten pregnant. Her boyfriend was thrilled; she was not. If her parents learned she’d had sex outside of marriage, they’d be crestfallen. If her conservative Christian college found out, she’d be expelled. Since she was in a special program that would allow her to get a combined bachelor’s and master’s degree in only five years, she didn’t want to transfer someplace where she wouldn’t have the same opportunity. Besides, regardless of where she studied, Honey knew how stressful it would be to raise an infant while in school, and her career was important to her. She wouldn’t jeopardize that. To make…
-
Prayer, Power, and Love — Martin Luther King, Jr.
History as Story I’ve written before about how our stories create us, how the memories we hold make us who we are. [1] This is true for us as individuals and as a society. Now, as we in the United States prepare to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday, we explore this topic again, because how we tell the story of this man’s life and ministry affects how we either carry on, or obstruct, the work he did. Perhaps King’s story doesn’t seem complicated enough for multiple interpretations. After all, he led a Civil Rights movement, he believed in beloved community, and he said we shouldn’t…
-
No Forgiveness In Buddhism
In Buddhism, There Is No Forgiveness A few months ago, I attended a webinar in which the presenter stated that, in Buddhism, there is no forgiveness. This was not an idea I’d heard before. Because the presenter did not explain what she meant by this, I tried to guess. Could it be that if we dwell in the present moment, the past is gone, so forgiveness is unimportant? I thought of the story of the two monks who were walking along a road. They came to a river. There stood a woman, dressed in finery, looking uncertainly at the rushing water. She asked the monks to carry her across. The…
-
The Benefits of Laughing at Ourselves
Of Storms and Presidents Farce in the White House is nothing new these days, but we may have hit a new low. Does our president have such a tender ego that he can’t abide being wrong even about the weather? As you may have heard, he predicted that the hurricane, Dorian, would strike Alabama. Now he’s furious because the weather service in that area pointed out he was wrong. It didn’t even rain there. [1] Yet our president will never admit he made a mistake, not even a petty one, so he’s mad. Is he fuming at the storm itself, cursing God for not making it rain where he wanted…
-
On Faith and Privilege
Wealth and Piety Being poor doesn’t guarantee a strong nor an honest faith, but something in a precarious existence opens us up to religious devotion. The opposite can also be true. When we have prestige and wealth, we depend less on others, whether they are human or divine. Although the well-off and privileged may feel less need for a god who loves and holds them, many wealthy people attend religious services. This doesn’t prove they’re believers, of course. We go to churches, synagogues, and temples for many reasons, not all to do with faith. Still, the rich can be as pious as anyone else. They may pray and feel relief…
-
The Journey of Empowerment
Freedom and Power Last week, I wrote about the freedom of acceptance, that which comes with surrender, forgiveness, death. No matter our circumstances, we can become a bit more free by letting go. Other kinds of freedom are connected with power. For instance, some of us have the freedom to make decisions about our own lives. Others of us have lived with freedom long enough that we recognize our emotions and feel comfortable expressing them. If we feel sad or angry, we can say so. Along with these freedoms are some that only people with external power have the luxury of exercising, such as the ability to disrupt and destroy…