3
we develop an optimism that defies the ancient Biblical story. We express a wonderful naivete. We
truly are confused when there is antagonism.
We like to believe that our shared humanity will incline us to live harmoniously. If we share a
planet, we reason, we should make the most of our bonds as brothers and sisters of the world. All
people should be content to live in peace.
God knows better. God knows that no matter how intimately we are connected, we will be a
people divided, a people preoccupied with power. Who could be closer than brothers in a womb?
Yet even among brothers there will be bad blood. How much more so are our divisions among those
with whom we hold little in common beyond our humanity!
A sermon preached by C. S. Lewis on October 22, 1939, remains relevant to our situation. In
Oxford, England, with many undergraduates present, many of whom would soon face death, C.S.
Lewis said:
If we had foolish unchristian hopes about human culture,
they are now shattered. If we thought we were building up a
heaven on earth, if we looked for something that would turn
the present world from a place of pilgrimage into a permanent
city satisfying the soul of man, we are disillusioned, and not a
moment too soon.*
Any optimism we may hold for a close brotherhood, a close human bond, is based on an illusion
that we now should be living in God’s peaceful reign.
We are on a historical and spiritual journey that one day will have God’s household ushered into
this world. That is Christ’s promise for us. But we are en route. We have not arrived at the destination
God has in store for us.
Rebekah’s pain is our reality:
Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples born of you shall be divided;
the one shall be stronger than the other,
the elder shall serve the younger. (Genesis 25:23)
Humankind shall struggle from its infancy. Humankind, as it grows stronger, fights more fiercely.
Humankind differs, no matter how much alike we are. Even if we are as close as being twins, we shall,
nevertheless, be different. The better acquainted we become with our brothers and sisters around the
globe, the more we realize how divergent our lives are.
In times of confusion we may be tempted to echo the words of Rebekah, who said to the Lord,
“If it is to be this way, why do I live?” In times that are confusing, we are not to be led into the
temptation of helplessness and despair.
Gilbert Meilaender suggests that it is time to be more realistic. Meilaender, who teaches at
Valparaiso University (Indiana), says the time has come for us to teach our youngest generation
something different than our grand illusions. He suggests that we should tell our young:
My child, the world is always a dangerous and threatening
place where death surrounds us. When I brought you for baptism
I acknowledged that I could not possibly guarantee your future.
 |
 |
 |