This past Sunday I did my Q&A Sunday service, entitled “What’s It All About, Alfie?” for the 12th year. Congregants wrote questions–way more than I could possibly answer–(1) on theological issues, (2) on Unitarian Universalism, (3) on thorny problems of living, and (3) on my personal/spiritual life. At the time I introduced the program, I said that I would try to respond to the unanswered questions on my blog–but the sheer volume is going to prevent that. So I have decided that I will respond to four of the most compelling questions from each group. It will be difficult for me to choose only sixteen, because the questions were of such high quality, and virtually all interested me. But alas, time is limited, and I could lose myself for weeks in all these questions–so here goes on a few of them. I’ll do the theological questions first.
THEOLOGICAL ISSUES
Question: “Who is God? How do you reconcile defining something that can’t really be defined?”
Answer: God is only the most common name for that which we cannot name. Many other names are used, including Beloved, Holy One, the Sacred, the Great Mystery. Sometimes when I pray I begin, “One Whose Name I Cannot Know.” We should understand that all naming is merely metaphor, because we are dealing in mystery. We cannot know or understand the Infinite with a mind that is finite, and so we make comparisons with what we do know. I like Tillich’s phrase “the ground of our being.” Buddhists, who are non-theistic, speak of reality itself.
No one can prove or disprove the presence of God. One chooses to believe or not–to take Kierkegaard’s “leap of faith” or not. I choose to believe. I believe I am accountable to something greater than myself, though I cannot define or describe or label what that is. Nevertheless, I have staked my life on it.
Question: “How can we understand the presence of evil in this world?”
Answer: This is the thorniest theological question of all time. The closest answer I have found is in the Book of Job, when God answers Job’s agonized questions with a series of questions of His own, beginning “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” In other words, you are not God, you cannot understand these mysteries, and since your cannot, you must simply live by faith.”
Evil is horribly operative in our finite world, but I believe there is an infinite realm where it is not operative. I speak of a spiritual dimension in which all is reconciled, a realm of perfection, or one might say, the mind of God. Individuals sometimes have mystical moments in which we feel “all is as it should be” or “everything is perfect, just as it is.” I think in those moments we have dipped into that other world. I think it is our true home.
Question: “What is the purpose of prayer?”
Answer: At one time in seminary I found myself in a spiritual fog, and my prayers seemed to go no higher than the ceiling. I had heard of a wise Jesuit priest who sometimes counseled students, and so I went to see him and poured out my heart, and wept and wept. He listened quietly. And then he said, “Prayer is not about changing God. Prayer is being with God.”
I believe that prayer can take many different forms, but it is always the sincere outpouring of the heart. Prayer is valuable because when you pray, any false note will become apparent, and so you will find your heart’s own truth, a guide which will serve you well. Prayer will help you focus on what is significant, will bring compassion as you pray for others. Prayer will ground you as you go through your days, being pushed and pulled by so many competing forces.
The scripture says, “Pray without ceasing.” In other words, we are admonished to go through our days with the understanding that we are essentially creatures of Spirit.
Question: “How do we handle dark nights of the soul?”
Answer: We must understand that these times of disintegration and lostness come to all spiritual seekers, even the saints. In fact, these low periods seem to be a natural and necessary part of the spiritual journey. During these times, we cannot feel the comfort of our faith, and we seem to wonder whether there is any God or even any meaning to life itself. It is from these times of radical doubting that the deepest faith is born.
How do we handle the times? We accept them. We descend into the dark and live there as long as we need to–while still carrying on our functioning in the world, though we may feel that we have become an empty shell. We must allow the emptiness in order for the new growth to take place.