Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 9—The Georgia Bulletin, September 8,1983
Urgent Questions That Bubble To Surface
BY KATHARINE BIRD
Around the age of 50, Leo Tolstoy, the renowned
Russian author, was at the peak of his career. He had
achieved fame and acclaim with such enduring
masterpieces as “Anna Karenina” and “War and Peace.”
He was healthy in mind and body. He was married and
had a large family.
Nonetheless, theologian John Haught related, Tolstoy
“felt a great sense of inner disturbance.” For no apparent
reason, “questions would arise with urgency” within
Tolstoy and come bubbling to the surface. “Why?” “What
for?” “Why should I go on living and working?” “What is
the meaning of life?”
Ultimately, Tolstoy’s inner distress led to a profound
religious conversion which altered the course of his life
until his death in 1910. He adopted a lifestyle of
simplicity and poverty in sharp contrast with his former
life as a wealthy landowner.
Tolstoy testified to the doubts that plagued him and his
conversion in several writings, including “A Confession.”
For Haught, a professor at Georgetown University in
Washington, D.C., Tolstoy’s questions were by no means
unique. Questions about the meaning of existence occur
to many people, Haught insisted, the laborer as readily as
a scholar.
Furthermore, Haught suggested, it is by means of such
questions that people are most likely to bring up their
questions about God. For people often are led into
thinking about God and their relationship with God by
reflecting on the course of their lives.
For example, Haught observed that his “students ask
God questions wrapped up in career choices.” Students,
especially if they become disillusioned with the career
objectives voiced by their parents, are apt to begin
questioning their own identity. They’ll ask. “What am I
going to do with my life?” Haught said.
The Georgetown professor frequently uses the writings
of Protestant theologian Paul Tillich with students,
Haught finds that students like Tillich and the idea of God
they get from him.
A prolific writer, Tillich taught theology and
philosophy for many years in Germany until emigrating to
the United States in 1933 where he taught at such
universities as Harvard Divinity School and the University
of Chicago. He died in 1965.
When encouraging people to discuss God, Tillich liked
to “start with people” and their concerns, with their
hopes and values, Haught explained. For people relate
meaningfully to God “when they see he can answer and
help in concrete situations,” Haught added thoughtfully.
In leading discussions with adults about God, therefore,
Haught said he might well begin by asking such questions
as: “What would give you the most happiness?” or “What
is your deepest heart’s desire?”
Another of Tillich’s insights, Haught said, was his
ability to identify situations where people are likely to be
brought into asking questions about who God is and how
he interacts with humans.
For Tillich, God frequently shows up in “depth
experiences” — situations where people are surprised into
taking another look at themselves and their set
relationships and values, Haught said.
Often that occurs in connection with another person.
We hear “the voice of God” in the loving attention of
another person, Haught explained. He used the example
of someone who is plodding along rather miserably,
convinced that he is unlovable.
Then, one day, Haught continued, someone comes
along and breaks through that person’s reserve, offering
him love and acceptance in spite of his faults. That
unexpected encounter can make the person “feel
genuinely good” about himself and give him a “new
starting point in life,” Haught asserted.
Listening to Haught that day in his Georgetown office,
it occurred to me that people raise their questions about
God in many different ways. It also struck me that
listening to people as they grope for insight into their own
experiences of God can help me mightily in my own
search.
ONE OF THE MOST UNIVERSAL questions
about God — Why is there suffering in this world?
— rises not from an abstract inquiry about the
existence of evil and pain, but from the depths of
one’s continuously wounded spirit. (NC Photo by
G.E. Pefley)
The Whisper Of God
BY FATHER JOHN CASTELOT
Once, When the prophet Elijah was fleeing for his life
from the wrath of the irreligious Queen Jezebel, he
stopped to take shelter in a cave. Directed by the Lord to
stand outside and await his arrival, Elijah looked for some
spectacular manifestation of the divine presence.
Soon a violent wind sprang up, a sure sign that the Lord
was present. “But the Lord was not in the wind. (I Kings
19:11)
The wind was followed by a shattering earthquake.
Elijah thought this surely signaled God’s presence, for that
was how be manifested himself to the people at Sinai.
“But the Lord was not in the earthquake.”
Next came a fire, another biblical symbol of divine
presence and power. “But the Lord was not in the fire.”
Finally “there was a tiny whispering sound,” and
when Elijah heard this, he hid his face in his cloak. He
realized that God had come in a most unimpressive,
unexpected way. And Elijah was right this time.
People fret and doubt and tear themselves apart with
anxiety because they think God does not care about
them. They run around in a panic looking for him, hoping
for some reassuring bolt from the blue.
But if they would just be quiet and listen calmly, they
would hear that “tiny whispering sound.” For those who
listen, the sound can become a shout: “Relax. I am always
with you. There is nothing to fear.”
The very name “Yahweh” has been translated, “He
who is always there.” He truly is always there, always
caring, loving, forgiving. “For I am God and not man, the
Holy One always present among you; I will not let the
flames consume you.” (Hosea 11:9)
Mark’s familiar gospel story of Jesus’ stilling the storm
on the lake is a powerful lesson which speaks directly to
people’s concern that God won’t stay by them.
As Mark tells the story in Chapter 4, a sudden squall
threatened to sink the boat with all hands aboard. Jesus
was “sound asleep on a cushion,” apparently completely
unconcerned about what was happening.
Finally the disciples woke him and said, “Teacher, does
it not matter to you that we are going to drown?” Then
Jesus quieted the storm and asked: “Why are you so
terrified? Why are you lacking in faith?”
In this account, the boat is Mark’s community. It is
buffeted by the storms of hostility and persecution. Like
the disciples, its members are tempted to think that the
risen Lord has left them to their ugly fate. But when they
call to Jesus, he demonstrates he has been there all along.
The question he asks — “Why are you lacking in faith?”
— remains th§ same for all Christians who doubt his love,
• If someone asked you what you wanted
to know about God, how would you reply?
• In Dolores Leckey’s article, did any of
the responses she received surprise you?
• What is the point of Celie’s comments
about God, in Mrs. Leckey’s article?
• In Monica Clark’s article, what does
Steve Prince mean when he says he’d like a
lightning bolt to strike as a tangible sign of
God’s presence?
• In Katharine Bird’s article, why does
John Haught say that he often begins with
his constant care, his powerful presence.
The compassionate, caring, forgiving Jesus is really the
embodiment of a divine love which has revealed itself all
through history.
Think of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:21. Even after
they disobeyed God and gave human history a tragic
twist, God still showed his concern: “For the man and his
wife, the Lord made leather garments with which he
clothed them.”
The loving care of God for his creatures is so constant,
so tender, that it can be described as positively maternal.
Second Isaiah ascribes these words to Yahweh:
“Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness
for the child of her womb? Even if she should forget, I
will never forget you.” (Isaiah 49:15)
people’s concerns and hopes in a discussion
of God?
• Were the questions that plagued Leo
Tolstoy unique to him, according to Ms.
Bird’s article?
• What example does Father John
Castelot give to demonstrate that God is a
loving and compassionate parent?
• What point was Father Castelot making
in discussing the whispering sound Elijah
heard when God’s presence was made
known?
Discussion Points And Questions