For February 24, 2024, 2nd
Saturday in Lent, Day 10
I do not ask my students at Riverbend Maximum Security
Prison
about their spirituality — I would not intrude on something
so personal.
On occasion, however, they do share their views with me.
For a number of them, perhaps for all, the class creates a
setting where,
as one student put it, “For two hours a week, we are no
longer prisoners."
~ Dr. Amy-Jill Levine*
What does it mean to be a prisoner of
unexamined faith? Have you ever asked yourself, "What exactly
do I believe about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and/or the Bible, the rules and
expectations of my particular religious affiliation and practice, and, perhaps
more importantly, why do
I believe or accept it?
What or who has influenced you in your beliefs?
Maybe you do have questions but aren’t sure who or how to
ask. Sometimes it is just easier to go with the flow, follow the
crowd, and just believe what an authority figure tells you is correct,
especially if they’re ordained and/or are extremely persuasive. But Lent is a
time to begin to look more closely.
There are no easy answers but within a
trusting community, there are great opportunities to examine your absolutes,
your maybes, your confusions, and your questions. Maybe you’re curious
about other denominations and even other faiths and practices, how they are
different and similar yet not certain where to look for dependable and
trustworthy information. Ask a librarian, search online, read several articles
or books on the same subject by different authors with different backgrounds
and credentials to think about. Perhaps you've examined your faith in the past
and are confident in all that you believe, great! Yet now and then it is useful
to review as in the grocery or hardware store list updates; some things
retained, some things crossed off, some new things added. Think about finding
or beginning a reading group to discuss, agreeing first that agreement on content
isn’t necessary and will not be forced.
Lent is the perfect time to check in
with yourself again for some self-examination and discovery of what it means to
oneself to be "faith-full"
even with certainties, doubts, questions, and uncertainties that linger and
change.
We have heard with our own ears, O God,
our ancestors have told us,
What deeds you performed in their days,
in the days of old** ~
And, Dear God, those stories are so important in our faith journey and
yet, there seems to be so much conflicting information, differing opinions ~ go
this way, that's right, that's wrong, don't ask...I get confused. She said/he
said/they say, and I like all of those people, how can they think so
differently? I think I know what I believe about all the
important things but I'm not always sure why or if what I believe is the
right thing given all the shouting and controversies. Another moment for a
long, slow, deep, breath... Today I will give up going
through the motions of believing that I completely understand my
faith. I will take on asking people I trust how to begin to sort out
what I really believe and why. I will pray for
an open mind and for the opening of the gates of my heart and soul to allow for
changes in thought if they should appear; for the open-heart and mind to allow others to decide for themselves; and also for the patience to accept
that my journey of examined faith will ebb and flow with doubt and
certainty as long as my earthly life. amen.
*Dr. Amy-Jill Levine, Professor of New Testament and Jewish
Studies at Vanderbilt University School of Divinity. She self-describes
as a "Yankee Jewish feminist who teaches in a predominantly
Protestant divinity school in the buckle of the Bible Belt," Levine
"combines historical-critical rigor, literary-critical sensitivity, and a
frequent dash of humor with a commitment to eliminating antisemitic, sexist,
and homophobic theologies."
**Psalm
44:1 NRSV
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