June 20, 2004
Here and There
Linda A. Knieriemen
How to be both “here” and “there”. That is the question for this morning. I’m not talking about physically being in two places at the same time. I mean psychologically and spiritually how can any of us who are bombarded by the tragedy in the world around us keep a healthy sense of optimism about our lives. When “over there” U.S. soldiers and citizens are dying brutal deaths in the Middle East; when terrorism continues to threaten our freedoms, how do we “here” maintain a positive attitude about the world in which we are raising children? The painful realities of the world “out there” stream almost nonstop into our living rooms and onto our computers and can so easily violate our hard won battle for inner happiness that is “in here”. To get specific, I wonder how the family of Paul Johnson, decapitated this week in Saudi Arabia, will observe Father’s Day this year. To be alive in the world and to care about what happens in this world means that there are times we will find ourselves angry, fearful, or hopeless. How can a Christian be both “here” and “there” and be at peace?
That’s the question I heard from one of you last week. How can I live both with the pessimism I feel after watching the nightly news and with the optimist offered by a resurrection faith?
It’s a good question, a necessary question, and unfortunately, not a new one. It names a universal problem, but one for which we find guidance in the writings across the ages.
In reflecting on this question, I offer you a folk tale, a Biblical mentor, and a life philosophy.
We begin with a folk story[1]called “Both Here and There” by Jeremy Tarcher which identifies the challenge in this way:
“It seems that in ancient times there was a king named Akbar, who had a brilliant and clever prime minister named Birbal. King Akbar was always asking questions that he hoped would baffle Birbal, but Birbal was always able to answer and so save his life and his job.
One day King Akbar asked Birbal if he could bring him someone who was Here and not There. Birbal brought him a thief, saying, “This thief is only in the world trying to get money and goods to increase his wealth Here.
Then King Akbar told Birbal, “Bring me someone who is There and Here”. Birbal responded by bringing a wandering monk and said, “He completely neglects all aspects of this world, including his body and his well-being, to focus entirely on the world beyond.”
“Very good,” said King Akbar. “Now bring me someone who is neither Here nor There.” Birbal left for a while and then returned, presenting to the king a beggar, saying, “This man is neither Here nor There, because he is always envious of everyone else in the world. He’s not participating in the world in any sense and, at the same time, has no concern for spiritual matters. Thus, he is in no way there either.”
“Very good again,” exclaimed a pleased King Akbar. “Now, is it possible that there is anyone in the world who is both Here, and There?”
“Yes, your majesty,” answered Birbal, and he brought forth an honest householder couple. “This man and woman work in the world and tend to their family, but do everything with God in their thoughts. Because they do the work of the world and allow their spiritual practices to carry them through both the good and the bad times, they are a man and woman who are both Here and There.”
This man and woman represent an ordinary family, an honest, hardworking family because of their spiritual practices, and are able to be both Here and There.
Is it possible to find a suffering child who knows peace?
Is it possible to find a grieving man who also knows joy?
Is it possible to find an imprisoned woman who sees beauty?
According to the folk tale, this man and woman get through the bad time, not just because they hope for good times, not because they ignore the bad times, but because they call on their spiritual practices all the time. For the suffering, the grieving, the imprisoned, connection with God, the ability to know peace to see beauty is possible. I have seen it and so have you. It happens people are able to see their finite circumstances within the context of their relationship with the infinite God.
A story, and now a Biblical example:
As he writes to the church in Philippi, in what is modern day Turkey, a thriving city at the crossroads of east and Paul is experiencing one of those not so good times. From his jail cell Paul writes to the Philippian church as one who has been flogged, chained, humiliated, and subjected to the same persecution he, prior to his conversion previously afflicted on others. He has the empathy of this church, in part because its members have also known persecution.
I want to highlight a few things about Paul.
He doesn’t deny his present circumstances. He names the difficulty under which he lives and admits his suffering.
He is not an isolationist living a narrow protected life. He has traveled widely and is savvy about the Greek and Roman world surrounding him.
Paul reports to the church where he is and what his situation is, but he isn’t ranting about how bad things are. His thoughts are on his friends in the budding church in Philippi which has also come under the heavy hand of Rome, encouraging them to keep their thoughts on higher things, to rejoice, to pray, even as he is doing in his captivity. He dare says that peace is possible for them if they do.
Despite his struggles and the threats against him, there is a warmth and tenderness to Paul in this letter. He is not combative and rigid as he is in other letters, but stands as a towering figure able to look past the present disturbances and irritations with confidence, encouraging them to do so as well.
Eugene Peterson’s modern translation, The Message, puts Paul’s recommendations this way:
“I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.
Affected by societal upheavals, the oppressive forces of the Roman Empire, and persecutions for their faith, the Christians in Philippi are still to rejoice, still think about God, and still behave in ways which will please God. Paul warns them not to get stuck in the singular rut of their problems, but to draw on their spiritual life, on which he has been instructing them, because that will enable them to keep moving along life’s bumpy road. Paul offers more than a philosophy of life (which the Romans and Greeks had done); he offers a practice. Of course, in his not so humble way, he holds himself up as an example. It would be more irritating if his example weren’t a good one!
For us today, the hazards of getting stuck in a similar rut are augmented by the bombardment of messages from TV, radio, and the internet. It does seem that the morning news is seldom good, but to ignore or deny it is only a temporary solution. Paul’s recommendations to our Philippian brothers and sisters back then are for us today as well -- fill your minds with things, higher things, the “best” things, “beautiful” things, and “praiseworthy” things. Ponder these things; meditate on these things; let this be the rut you are in! When you do this, you will find the peace of God -- the sustenance which sustains in the here and there, in the good times and the bad times.
The 14th Century mystic, Meister Eckhart described this quality as “dual consciousness” and likened it to a hinge and a door. The hinge stays perfectly still while the door swings to-and-fro, letting in and letting out the many things of the world. Some of us are like hinges allowing the door to swing only one way and we become overwhelmed with the traumas of the world or our own lives. For others of us the door goes the other way and we try to deny the suffering of the world around us. We can choose how our inner hinge works. We can control the door. We can decide to look for good news, direct our thoughts toward it, train the brain muscles to return to the best, not the worst, to the beautiful, not the ugly, to things that are praiseworthy, not things worthy of criticism. We have to be intentional about thinking of these positive spiritual values.
I enjoyed the interview of a medical student in a gerontology rotation with an 82 year old man as it was reported in the New York Times on Thursday morning. He said, “My only job is to get up, push the gray clouds away, and let the sun shine down”. In any faith, that’s a spiritual practice.
A folk tale, a Biblical example, and finally, a life philosophy:
For many of you, the 20th Century master of such spiritual practices was The Reverend Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, made famous across the world for his many books promoting “Power of Positive Thinking”. He gave the world a practice, one which Paul back in that jail cell writing letters would have applauded. Dr. Peale tells a story of a woman who stewed in bed thinking of the problems she had to face that day and by the time eight o’clock rolled around she was too exhausted to get up. The alternative, as he presents it, is the successful businessperson who had a sign on her bathroom mirror which said:
Think a good day.
Thank a good day.
Plan a good day.
Put God into it.
Give it all you’ve got -- get going.
Start and end the day with God.
Concentrate on the positive, the thoughts which will guide your life in a fulfilling direction. Just because it has become a cliché doesn’t mean it doesn’t still have a place for you and me today. It’s more than “think positively”; it’s more than “don’t worry, be happy”; it’s a life philosophy with God in it from morning to night. Christianity is not just about coming to worship, not just about belief, it is about a relationship, one which grows, one which means something more than a yearly Christmas card to God, or a phone call to heaven when you’re in trouble. Christianity is about a relationship which is the best, the most beautiful, the most praiseworthy of things; it is in the confidence and rest of that relationship that we can survive the tragedies, the terror, the suffering we see and we experience.
Let it be so for you. Let us pray.