Another book;
another discussion. I have a feeling this is the pattern of the rest of our
lives. I have now been given If God Is Love: Rediscovering Grace in an Ungracious World by Quakers Philip
Gulley and James Mulholland. I’m just a few pages into the first chapter but I
already know I often find Tao in the peacefulness of the Quakers. My grandma
was a Quaker and the peace that surrounded her felt like that cool blast of air
in your house when you walk in after a really hot day.
I freely admit, as Dan grows in his faith,
I am forced to grow in mine. He is a sharer; he wants to explore his faith
actively, by sharing what he thinks and discussing the conclusions to which he
has come. Practically every night we have conversations about the nature of
grace, whether evil really exists, whether the HP (Higher Power) really keeps
watch on every single thing that goes on in the cosmos. We talk about books,
the Bible, the craziness of the world and whether Donald Trump is really a brilliant
actor performing an elaborate piece of performance art as his boredom in a slow
economy deepens.
Sometimes I am exhausted by my son’s active
mind. Other times I feel the loss of his companionship, which occurred just a
few days ago. I have no doubt my son has made me a better person, albeit an
exhausted one. Since he accepted his call, I have witnessed him grow in ways I
never anticipated. He is wiser, more compassionate and more thoughtful. He is
also more likely to question and requestion his responses to everyday
challenges. Most of the time, his spiritual lens is getting clearer but still,
quite often, it is murkier than before his Call. I’m guessing as he begins his spiritual
study, his questioning will be more commonplace than his answering. Doubt is
implicit in faith.
It must be an occupational hazard.
Questioning as part of the journey is replete in If God is Love. The authors tell of their early years as newly
ordained clergymen with answers fresh out of the Bible and their seminary
textbooks. They acknowledge the power of a punishing God but argue that this
punishing God does not reflect Jesus’ teachings of unconditional love. This is
a conundrum of the Christian Church.
The authors also argue that grace, as they
describe as God's "unfailing commitment to love all persons regardless of belief,”
does not work as a life raft thrown to the repentant by a loving God as so
typically portrayed but as a life raft already waiting for you if you trip
along the way. The authors propose that Grace is not relational to sin but to
love.
As a Taoist, the idea of grace as
Gulley and Mulholland describe it is certainly intrinsic to the Tao but an
unnecessary explanation of the river of peace the Tao offers. Tao and grace may
be similar – they both rely on an interconnected web (The Way in Taoism and God's unending love in Christianity). A
believer in the power of the Tao tries always to incorporate in life a constant
understanding that every single action and even lack of action affects the Tao,
moving the Taoist closer or further away from it. On the other hand, Christians are motivated to be morally appropriate and loving in order to be deserving of God's infinite love.
For me, Tao is somewhat like
the brass ring on a carousel. It is always there; you pass it many times as the
music of life plays and the carousel turns. Your forward trajectory moves you
closer until it begins to move you further away. That is the contradictory nature
of Tao. But unless you actively reach for it, by listening to the way Tao is
working within you, fully realizing the Tao inevitably remains out of grasp. When
faith emanates from within, it is the spiritual practice of listening to the
voice within that becomes paramount, not the rules and regulations that early tribes and Christians have proposed for the faithful in order to be 'judged' by God as acceptable for God's love.
I agree that Grace, defined as deeply
relative to love rather than redemption, is a far more powerful attraction to
the Christ than Judge God. Gulley and Mulholland admit that an unconditionally loving God may
be more difficult to ‘sell’ than hell fire and damnation and certainly more
difficult to raise funds for but a powerful, vengeful god, looking to separate
rather than include, completely misses the point of Spirit, leaving the faithful
afraid and paranoid of God’s wrath.
To be afraid of God? What a horrible misuse
of God’s love as it is expressed through Grace. If all three Abrahamic faiths
always promoted a loving, inclusive God what a wonderful world this would be. And
I must admit, perhaps if God’s love had always been the main course of the spiritual
meals meted out in my young life, I might still be drawn to the Table rather
than the Tao.
