Epic Journey

Epic journeys are commonplace in these times.  Thousands have climbed Everest.  Men have walked on the moon.  I know several people who have walked the Appalachian Trail.  A teenage girl from Holland, Laura Decker, sailed around the world by herself, finishing in January of 2012.  I have contemplated a bicycle tour across America.

Why do we humans have a need for such adventures?  We like to test our limits, as Robert Browning wrote,

“Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp,
Or what's a heaven for?”

The Bible has a cautionary tale about human striving and ambition.  As the ancients built the tower of Babel they did so saying, “Let us make a name for ourselves.”  As medieval architects constructed grand edifices intended for the worship of God I suspect there was a thin line between pious devotion and human pride.

I am writing this in early December, contemplating epic journeys, like the one Joseph and Mary took to Bethlehem from Nazareth.  By modern standards it seems like nothing, only 100 miles.  Still, walking from the hills of Galilee to the mountains of Jerusalem would have been an eight to ten day journey, with the threat of robbers along the way.  Every image we have of that journey shows Mary on a donkey, but the scripture mentions no beast of burden.  She walked. 

And when Jesus was born we are told that shepherds came to witness, telling Mary of angelic messengers announcing his birth.  Mary, we are told, pondered these things in her heart.

I wonder if the longest journey we make has nothing to do with mileage or terrain but has more to do with heart-pondering.  The reason we make epic journeys and test the limits probably has less to do with how much are bodies can take as it does with a desire to discover what we’re made of – who we are.  I wonder what Mary and Joseph learned about themselves on that journey to Bethlehem?  As Jesus grew and chose a path that his parents likely would not have chosen for him, that too was a journey he was taking them on.  What did Mary ponder as she witnessed his crucifixion?

The most epic journeys are about self-discovery, journeys that require no special equipment or extraordinary endurance.  The Christmas story invites us to go on an epic journey, to see if we can travel the same road Jesus trod.  It looks so pleasant at the stable entrance, but terrifying at Golgotha.  This epic journey tests our character, in order to discover what we’re made of.  Such a journey might just be our salvation.  After all, isn’t that what we hope our epic journeys are for?    

A Reason to Believe

           Belief is popular right now.  I know it is early to talk about Christmas but it seems that Christmas is the season for believing.  Macy’s had a promotional campaign two years ago.  “Believe,” was emblazoned on their storefront in New York during the Thanksgiving Parade.  What were they asking us to believe?

           Last Christmas, Sears borrowed the idea and promised that they were a store that “gives you something to believe in,” (like great products at a great price!) – Oh, brother!  Coca-Cola advertises on their December billboards – Believe – accompanied by cola-drinking polar bears.

          The popular animated film, “Polar Express,” loosely based on Chris van Allsburg’s wonderful children’s book, takes up the theme of belief, as if it is enough simply to believe in belief, itself, whatever that means.

          For you skeptics out there, I guarantee that even the most cynical person believes in something.  Even atheists believe.  They believe in knowledge, or science, or reason, or . . . something.  I love science, especially the way scientists are always discovering new things that make the old things they used to believe no longer valid.  Recent discoveries about dark matter, string theory, and the possibility of almost infinite parallel universes have caused astronomers and physicists to scrap old theories and come up with new ones.  Hmmm, I guess we’re supposed to take the new theories on faith.  Ooops!  Did I really use that word?  Does that mean that even the scientific method depends on belief of some sort?  I believe it does.

          Anyway, belief is essential to being human.  And everyone wants you to believe their version of truth.  In a sense, everyone is an evangelist.  I met a small-business owner who is a true-believer in American capitalism, and he has an evangelist’s fervor when talking about our land of opportunity.  I know a foodie who believes that being a vegetarian is the only way to live, food wise, and she speaks with evangelical zeal as she tries to make converts of her friends and acquaintances. 

          Belief gives passion to our living.  But passion can also spill over into fanaticism.  And even hatred.  If you don’t believe like I believe then there must be something wrong with you.  And since I don’t agree with that last sentence, then that must mean there is something wrong with me.  Oh my, my.  Belief is essential to being human, yet belief also can contribute to our problems with each other.   Rodney King’s famous quote, “Why can’t we all just get along?” can be answered with, “Because we believe different things.”

          I hope I have your attention.  Belief can unite us.  Belief can divide us.  As a Christian, Methodist, and ordained minister, you may assume I have beliefs that are important to me.  Indeed.  But I also believe that what is essential to believe is that God formed us to be reconciled – that is, to be in relationship, in peace and harmony, with God and one another - maybe not always in agreement, but always in the spirit of reconciliation. 

          If that sounds like an impossibility, then I hope you will stay tuned.  I have more to say about this soon, if you are interested.  I want to give you a reason to believe.