Reply #25: A mature person calls everything into question [View All]

[DerekG]

My story is quite the opposite. Three years ago, I was a secular humanist. But it proved to be unfulfilling. I was an idealist, but there was no love in my heart; I condemned injustice, but I was blind to my own capacity for evil. (Note: I am NOT suggesting that these travails exist for other humanists.)

But then a funny thing happened. I was in my morning Milton class, and the professor was referencing the gospel story of the resurrection of Lazarus. I hadn't thought about the tale in years, but when the instructor expounded on the meaning of Jesus weeping for the bereaved family, I was hit with a sort of thunderclap. When the session had ended, I sauntered to my car, and cried for a half hour. In the months to follow, I scoured the King James Bible, read the religious works of Dostoevsky, Tolstoy and Lewis, and poured over the writings of clergy/social activists like Dorothy Day, A.J. Muste, Thomas Merton, Rev. King, and the Berrigan brothers. Since then, I've become something of a Christian socialist.

If it is any help to you, I'll provide a link to a famous sermon dealing with God and suffering: the progressive Rev. William Sloane Coffin's "Eulogy for Alex."

http://www.pbs.org/now/society/eulogy.html


Good luck in whatever path you take.