Thursday 30 April 2009

From MLK,Jr. on faith casting out fear.

Abnormal fears and phobias that are expressed in neurotic anxiety may be cured by psychiatry; but fear of death, nonbeing, and nothingness, expressed in existential anxiety, may be cured only by a positive religious faith.
A positive religious faith does not offer an illusion that we shall be exempt from pain and suffering, nor does it imbue us with the idea that life is a drama of unalloyed comfort and untroubled ease. Rather, it instill us with the inner equilibrium needed to face strains, burdens, and fears that inevitably come, and assures us that the universe is trustworthy and that God is concerned.

I find King's qualification of Religion as "positive" is important. There are too many witnesses to religions that offer illusion and try to create a world that is not able to live within the real realm of everyday life. A non-positive religion would be one that tells you that you can eliminate the pains and worries of the day or you can find financial or physical well-being by trusting that God will do whatever you need to make your life better - the way you would like it to be. A non-positive religion is one in which you give the glory to God for your victory but no one hears of the glory given to God when there is utter failure and despair. Positive religion does not promise a glowing outcome. It promises that God will be trustworthy and with us no matter what may come our way. It is in the middle of that promise that we are surprised by how God never abandons us to our own wants and demands. Rather, God will transform the day no matter how the day appears to be going. We are often the ones that need to be transformed to see God with us in and through all things.

Connection: Don't give up on this day when it appears to be going down the tube. Instead, take the time to trust that you will be embrace no matter where things end...and we may be quite surprised by what comes.

Lord of this New Day, shape us by the power of your Holy Spirit. When we try to clutch to what we want and how we want it remind us of what we already have when we trust in you alone. For when you create such faith in us, we are sustained by your life-giving presence. Amen.