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Living theology
By Rev. Susan Baller-Shepard
Presbyterian minister
To get to the religion department in Gilmore hall, with a heavy-laden backpack, I had to climb long flights of stairs, as if to study religion, one had to arrive at the threshold, breathless, with heart racing, as if this was the proper stance with which to approach it. My first adviser insisted I study the pantheon of great German minds: Bultmann and Moltmann, Tillich and Buber, Schleiermacher, Hegel, and Heidegger. Hannah Arendt was the only female in the group, and it was implied she was included for good measure, riding in on Heidegger's shirttails. My adviser wanted me to go to the holy land, which in his mind, was Tübingen, Germany. He told me often that my studies of theology would be sorely lacking if I did not go. I did not go. At eighteen, I did not see the point.
After college, I worked in churches and community centers in the U.S. and in England, then went to seminary to complete a dual competency degree: master of divinity and master of social work. At seminary, I was introduced to feminist, womanist, liberation, and process theologians. I ate up process theologian Marjorie Suchocki's work. Wrote my ordination exams quoting Schleiermacher's notion of religion as "absolute dependence," Tillich's as "ultimate concern."
Still, something was missing. For the social work degree, I was working with sexually abused children, prison inmates, teenagers who had become wards of the state, drug addicts. For so many of the people I worked with, life was about survival, trying to get through the next five minutes. Then, the next five. The study of religion seemed very pie in the sky compared to the struggles these women, men, and children faced daily. I researched recidivism rates of female inmates: what made them return to prison, what kept them out. What theology could speak to this, I wondered?
In September, the Emergent Village, part of the emerging church movement, hosted "Theological Conversation with Jürgen Moltmann." I was struck by the fact the Emergent Village chose a theologian from the German pantheon. Last year, I worked with a German philanthropist, Peter Hesse, on a book he was writing about development work in Haiti. He would say, "Oh, this is a very German thought," and it made me wonder what I had missed by not going to Tübingen, made me wonder again how much gets lost in translation.
Nearly 30 years after I began studying theology, I want to know where everyday people, adults and children, find meaning. As a minister, I've stood at the maw of a grave with parents, watched addiction cut a swath through families, seen people get up, make coffee, do laundry, and get on with their lives even after the unthinkable has happened. I've watched people settle into mystery, as if onto a couch. Life and theology get reconfigured as people live lives they never thought they'd be living: the good the bad the ugly the unanswerable.
The fact that a person trusts she or he can make it through a day, upright and breathing, despite the fact that life has dealt them a harsh blow, that is amazing. It's not academic theology, not necessarily systematic theology, it's lived theology, breath by breath. This is the theology that interests and inspires me now, as I watch courageous people live out their daily lives.
Rev. Susan Baller-Shepard is parish associate pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Normal, Illinois. She is editor of spiritualbookclub.com and its blog.
By Susan Baller-Shepard |
December 28, 2009; 11:53 AM ET
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Posted by: ccnl1 | January 4, 2010 5:56 PM
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CalSailor,
Humans have survived for something like 200,000 years, the majority of that time without the need of the "hugely important dimension" of invented religions, and under conditions unimaginably harsher than the conditions that we experience today.
Believers tend to see the "hand of god", or "the strength of faith", or "the living theology" where they want to see it, and to not see it where they don't want to see it.
Reality, however, is everywhere, whether you choose to see it, or not.
Posted by: PSolus | January 4, 2010 2:44 PM
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PSOLUS:
Is there a difference between survival instinct and the belief that says "life is good, in spite of everything, I choose to stand with life"? Elie Wiesel in his play Ani Ma'amin (I believe) has captured this difference. In spite of everything, I believe. It is THIS which gives me the courage to stand up again and again and repeat that phrase. I cannot conceive of life without the relationships I have experienced. If you do not believe, then you cannot understand the position of the poster, or indeed, any of us who find endurance in the midst of pain and disaster. For many of us, what keeps us from breaking is the shared life of the religious community. It is not possible to prove it; that is the difference between faith and knowledge.
Perhaps what is hard wired is the difference between those of us who are of faith and who find strength in that relationship, and those of you who do not see that need. It cannot explain courage or its lack, or optimism or its lack. It can only explain the personal meaning one assigns to one's understanding of life. From my perspective, your life is missing a hugely important dimension. You all may feel me foolish. But that's fine with me. The language and experience of faith is worth life itself.
Pr Chris
Posted by: CalSailor | January 1, 2010 11:04 PM
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the rev dr kamal karna roy aka & was born as joseph geronimo jr, a strategist of world religions group said : religions have to be more meaningful in average lives of citizens in democracies. loss of relevance of religions have given free ride to corruptions @ societal bases of people. religious leaders must try to investigate into the issue. see below if u may:
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cover up@Mercy nursing home @ disabled,elderly lwatertown NY 13601@ 218 stone st
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Showing posts 1 - 1 of1 Gargi lahiri Ms _planner
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.■monica nixon on Fri, 4th Dec 2009 10:03 pm
affairs related covered up death of elderly, 85 yrs old w@need of essential investigation prior to death & post death warrant of honor of s citizen who sustained life ib civilized denocratic living, as continuation civil rights of person living or dead. tje death relates to woman who apparebly died of natural causes on 11,24, 2009 in watertown, new york 13601 ! nursing home complex run by mercy of northern N Y at 218 stone st, watertown, new york 13601, reported by rev dr kamal k roy aka j g jrm & commented by associate above named.* civil right of a person continue in memory of deceased such rights must be honored in democratic rule, said dr k k k roy,@ above cover uo\p at mercy’s.
darling oxford MS
Albany, NY
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Posted by: robin1231hotmailcom | January 1, 2010 10:09 PM
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"and the greatest of these is love..." Faith in God's love, to love, and be loved "keeps me upright and breathing."
Posted by: Joan50 | December 31, 2009 9:20 AM
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Amen to Psolus' comment!!!
Posted by: ccnl1 | December 28, 2009 4:25 PM
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"The fact that a person trusts she or he can make it through a day, upright and breathing, despite the fact that life has dealt them a harsh blow, that is amazing."
"That" is simply the result of survival instinct; it's hardwired into our DNA.
It has nothing to do with trust or any imaginary gods.
Posted by: PSolus | December 28, 2009 3:48 PM
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Again, Amen!! to Psolus' commentary.