Attacked by the "Killer D's"

In speaking of the many mysteries surrounding Easter theology, Ken Brown and Garrison Keillor team up to shed some important light.

"Doubt is not merely negative; it is purifying, both historically and personally. It reminds us of our finite perspectives, that the experience of God is always a little beyond us, broader than we can take in. It leaves us grasping, and that is a good thing. Garrison Keillor expresses this better than I can (HT: Shuck and Jive):

There is comfort for the doubter in the Passion story. You are not alone. Jesus’s cry from the cross was a cry of incredulity. The apostle [Peter] denied even knowing Jesus three times. The guy spent years with Jesus, saw the miracles up close, the raising of Lazarus, the demons cast out, the sick healed, the water-walking trick, all of the special effects, but when the cards were down, he said, 'Who? Me? No way.'

He repented. I would too, but not quite yet.

Skepticism is a stimulant, not to be repressed. It is an antidote to smugness and the great glow of satisfaction one gains from being right. You know the self-righteous — I’ve been one myself — the little extra topspin they put on the truth, their ostentatious modesty, the pleasure they take in being beautifully modulated and cool and correct when others are falling apart. Jesus was rougher on those people than He was on the adulterers and prostitutes.

So I will sit in the doubter’s chair for a while and see what is to be learned back there."

Ken Brown - C.Orthodoxy.blogspot.com

Jack speaking now:

It is always the dark, or "negative" things in life that cause us to stretch beyond our comfort zone to approach the truth. By the dark things, I mean all those marvelous "D" words like doubt, delay, disinformation (slander that sticks), distress, defamation (gossip that sticks), death (sleep that sticks) , deformity, depression, danger, dogma and all the others you can think of.

When attacked by any of the killer D's, our equilibrium is not only challenged, it is damaged, and that places us in peril.  I recall once while serving as a lifeguard at camp when I needed to go up on the roof to change the clock. Once there, a relative simple operation turned deadly when I disturbed a nest of hornets, who reacted as hornets do. What could be worse than being on a roof when the swarm came after me? Probably nothing. I was not only thwarted from my task, I was overwhelmed with danger, fear, certain injury, if not death. Fortunately, I can fly, so I simply took off into the stratosphere, avoiding injury and further complications.

Of course I can't fly, but I certainly tried that day hoping to create enough escape speed to go up, but since gravity ultimately wins every contest,  I hit the turf, limping frantically for the lake. If I did that today, I would certainly die, but then, my adrenaline took over and I survived with only a few stingers to remove.

Sometimes we feel like life attacks us at the worst possible moment, whether with a single killer "D" or a compounding swarm of them.  You know, when it rains it pours kind of troubles?  Illness causes a loss of employment which triggers a forfeited rent payment. At that point, the education loan comes due just as the the car starts making those funny "cachunk" sounds. Soon, every part of life sucks so we try to fly with our too-often-exalted faith wings, only to discover they don't work as advertised. I know of several people who live in such places, not because they are losers or sinners who bring it on themselves, but simply because life isn't always fair, and all the pseudo-theology in the world won't make it so.

At such times those super-faith friends try to carry themselves and  their suffering friends into the stratosphere with cliches that don't help, much less work. Their well-rehearsed answers and positive statements about Jesus taking care of everything may help for awhile, but they don't change things often enough to make them dependable, and people doubt. Or as my dad used to say about good intentions, "They don't pay the butcher".

In the thoughts at the top of this blog,  Ken Brown and Garrison Keillor speak the truth about the life of faith experienced by honest believers.  A life of faith is anything but a walk in the garden with the Lord swatting away the all the killer "D.s". Simply put, life is the killer "D's" getting to us when we are not prepared for them. If we would all honestly acknowledge that simple fact before applying the universal language of faith to every issue, many dissatisfied and distant former believers would still be in the fold.

In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul says that faith and hope are the lesser of the big three virtues. Why? Because faith and hope are only needed here where the killer "D's" can get to us, not in the next world where they can't. The only need for faith or hope is in the presence of doubt and darkness, and my two friends above have reminded me that it is ONLY in such places where they either prove themselves or don't.