“This
is the day the Lord has made.”
These words echo in the back of my mind every Sunday, but
what do they mean? In my upbringing, they were taken literally: God,
known as Jehovah or Yahweh, created heaven and earth and all living creatures.
He creates each day anew, and we should be thankful for the opportunity to rise
and breathe, and for everything that comes our way, whether pleasant or
not. It’s a very useful phrase. It directs believers’ attention away from
themselves and their own concerns. It focuses our thoughts, however briefly, on the mystery and
majesty of the world and encourages us to live each day to the fullest.
These words are also part of the refrain of a song sung
at my church nearly every Sunday. The full refrain goes, “This is the day the
Lord has made./I will rejoice and be glad in it.” I have sung these words for
over 20 years. In some ways, they seem like a typical Sunday school song for
small children—nursery rhyme inculcation into the faith. But even for adult, they are
powerful, simple, and can be misleading.
***
Like all spiritual songs and teachings, these words open
the door to conversation—with God, with other teachings, with other believers or
non-believers. They are not meant to be the final word. Unfortunately, many
believers abandon dialogue for a simplistic faith which requires (or allows) them to avoid
questioning anything. The Lord said it. I believe it. Period.
I have never believed this way; over the last few years,
however, my faith has undergone trials which have transformed and shaped it,
as all trials do. I have come to view the world and my place in it in different
terms. I no longer see God as an omnipotent Wise Man (He was always a man in my theology), looking down on us from above and rewarding or punishing us . . .
a cosmic Santa Claus. I no longer see God as outside of anything but inside and
all around us. It’s arrogant to say we are God, but I think it’s humble and
truthful to say we are a piece of God.
(I struggled in writing the above sentence as to whether
to use part instead of piece. A number of my friends would support part of God without hesitation. However, piece of God challenges us more. Piece suggests a
fragment, a broken part, minuscule and worthless. But a tiny piece can also be indispensable, such as the piece of a puzzle or a gear in a machine. A piece of glass is sharp and dangerous. Too
many of us have used our shard-like qualities to hurt others, so piece will
stand.)
I also no longer see heaven as a grand and glorious place
of castles awaiting us when we die. I have too many questions and doubts. A
dear relative of mine spent the last years of her life striving in vain to
convert members of her family to her way of thinking. She feared
that, when she died, these loved ones would be absent from heaven. To me,
this doesn’t sound like heaven.
I have no idea what awaits us when we die. Perhaps
nothing. Perhaps we simply stop. In the meantime, I take comfort in
Saying 113 of the Gospel of Thomas: “. . . the kingdom of the father is spread
over the earth, and people do not see it.” Each of us, these words suggest, can transform the world around us into heaven, yet most of us
choose to live in fear, ignorance, and selfishness. Transforming the
world is hard work. The hardest tasks begin inside each of us.
***
So, does this re-purposed faith make me an atheist or
agnostic? Some might say it does. To me, labels only limit people. They limit
how we see ourselves and how we interact with others. Yet labels define who we are as human beings: We understand our place
in the world and how we should act by associating with others who attach themselves to similar labels: Republican,
Democrat, liberal, conservative, male, female, African-American, Caucasian, working class, academic, musician, writer. Unfortunately, many of these labels are seen as opposites instead of what they truly are: a means of categorizing our experiences instead of shutting out others.
For most of my life, I
have considered myself a Christian; this label still holds meaning for me in
the sense of belonging, serving others, and being a certain
way in the world. It has less to do with what I actually believe or how I
relate to God. Today, I prefer to think of myself as a questioning human being—one
who hasn’t figured it all out but who has drawn a few conclusions based on what
I have learned and experienced. These conclusions work for me right now. They
may not work for anyone else. And they may not work for me tomorrow.
But that’s life. To me, that’s also the ultimate message
of those words: This is, indeed, the day Lord has made. Tomorrow will take care
of itself.
***
I’ve been asked to share some of the books which have
shaped my present thinking about faith, life, and being in the world. A few are
listed below. Each represents only a piece of a puzzle—a different way of
looking at the world or challenging modes of thinking. None offers the final
answer to anything, in my view, but each offers a step along the journey. Enjoy
the ride!
- Ellenberg, Jordan. (2014). How Not to be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking. New York: Penguin.
- Haidt, Jonathan. (2006). The Happiness Hypothesis. New York: Basic Books
- Holiday, Ryan, and Hanselman, Stephen. (2016). The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living. New York: Penguin.
- Mishra, Pankaj. (2017). The Age of Anger: A History of the Present. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
- Tippett, Krista. (2016). Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living. New York: Penguin.
Photo credit: https://openclipart.org/detail/260594/woman-sitting-sunset-silhouette
