TIDE, BREEZE, OR RELIGION TALK?

According to data compiled from interviews of 35,000 adults, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has documented that nearly half of Americans (44%) have left the faith tradition of their upbringing. Apparently, training up a child in the way he should go so that when he is older he will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6) isn’t exactly working the way some of us have thought it would. The research indicates there is a large exodus underway out of historical, traditional Christianity, as represented by Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, into “independent” contemporary style churches, or, in increasing numbers, no organized religious affiliation at all. Interestingly, similar trends are evident in other religions, too. Americans en masse are departing from it.

What is one to make of this? One’s answer will depend in large part upon how he or she views the world.

On one end of the spectrum, some Christians point to this data as proof certain that Christ’s mission to save the world beyond their special group has been a colossal failure. They have or will soon declare themselves to be a chosen remnant that will be spared the damnation that is about to fall upon everyone else. Join them or get swept away in the tide of apostasy that will precede Satan’s takeover is their message.

Others see the trend away from traditional religion as a fresh breeze of God’s spirit blowing across the land to liberate and renew people of faith. For these folks it is a time of transition from old forms and power structures that long ago lost their vitality and relevance. Many are speaking of experiencing a spiritual awakening once they shed old religious habits of thought and practice.

At the other end of the spectrum, there are those who just don’t give a rip. All this religion talk has no connection to how they think and live.

I think the answer is somewhere in the middle.

Please, dear God?

Today I got hit in the face with perspective. It happens to all of us from time to time. Most of the stuff we tend to fuss over loses all importance with the arrival of very sad news. The 9 year old daughter of a family friend is in the final stages of advanced brain cancer. Doctors have told the family to hurry if they want to take one last trip to Disneyland.

I have known this child for several years. Her mother and our daughter are very close friends. She has been one of our grandson’s favorite playmates. She is a vibrant, spunky, beautiful young lady who has fought valiantly through surgeries, radiation and chemo therapy. And, although this news is not altogether unexpected, it still hits one right in the face when the doctors say the time is rapidly approaching. We are crying with them and praying for them.

I must say I absolutely hate it that such heartache and suffering exists. I join with all who wonder why it has to be so. But there are no satisfactory answers. Sure, I know all the platitudes and verses we recite on such occasions. They don’t solve the mysteries of suffering and mortality. To the grieving parent facing unspeakable loss they can sound flippant, sterile and almost insulting. God’s goodness is hard to get a handle on when a strikingly beautiful young girl is succumbing to vision destroying, balance robbing, head distorting brain cancer right in front of you.

I can’t explain God. I can’t fix any of this. I am at a loss for words. But I care. I feel it deeply. My heart breaks with theirs. I try to keep hope from flickering out. And, I remember that when we lost our son years ago comfort gradually displaced our mourning. Somehow, the pain and tears ran their course and gave way to the realization that it would be ok. We would laugh again. We got through it then, and they will get through their sorrow in the coming days. May that be what God whispers to them through the hugs and love of so many who will go with them through this hard time. Please, dear God?