Chaplain's Corner

Although at the present the events related to radicalized Islamic terrorists are far from us, there is a growing sense of vulnerability that people are feeling. Some are changing travel plans, others are developing a more rigorous vigilance about their surroundings, law enforcement of every kind has this reality on the radar screen and many are dedicated to nothing but monitoring those who are known to belong to such groups.

What does all that have to do with a chaplain in a small southeastern community in Manitoba? We are, after all pretty far removed from all this. Well, a quote sent to me by a friend recently started me to thinking that the seeds of this kind of radical thinking lie buried in each of our hearts. Granted, few of us will ever act out in ways that a terrorist might, but as I reflect on the quote, I see manifestations of this fanaticism in many corners.

Andrew Dickson White, a U.S. diplomat, historian, and educator, and co-founder of Cornell University wrote, “the cardinal doctrine of a fanatic’s creed is that his enemies are the enemies of God”. Now, let’s turn the dial down a bit and examine this statement. Andrew White is talking about dichotomous thinking, black and white conceptions of life, the world and others. Dichotomous thinking is characteristic of people that are often called fanatics, extremists or fundamentalists; whether it be in the areas of politics, philosophy or religion. They are people that cannot see life through any other lens than the extremes:  good vs. bad, beautiful vs. ugly, white vs. black, us vs. them, (whoever “them” might happen to be) – you get the picture.

I’ll be honest; I grew up in such a community. No, it wasn’t comprehensive, quite selective in fact, but in that selective area, I was a fanatic, those in the “them” category couldn’t be anything but God’s enemies. Now, I’m not going to share who the “them” were, simply because I don’t want to offend anyone and this conception has not been part of my thinking in a very long time. But deep within each of us, we have the capacity to consider our enemies – God’s enemies, we all think at times that God is on our side.

I think what this should tell us is that God isn’t on any of our side. God is no fickle potentate who is given to choosing allegiances. The truth of the matter is that God is on nobody’s side in this common way of conceiving sides. Some of you will instantly read this and say, “Larry, you are wrong on this one, remember Romans * where it says, ‘If God is for us, who can be against us’?” My response would be, “God being for us, is much different than God being on my side against someone else.”

God being “for me” is an expression of the undeniable truth that God is for us all. We forget that God love me and “my enemy” alike. His offer of his gifts of grace are made indiscriminately, made to those I believe to be enemies and to myself alike. This is very different than God being on “my side.” God is for us all, he desires the same for us all, his longing is the same for us all. We are the ones that carry enmity in our hearts, not God.

The Bible talks of us being God’s enemy, not so much about God being our enemy. This isn’t to say that God is indifferent to “the terrorist”, but it is to say that his grace is sufficient for them as well as us. Maybe we need to stop “taking sides against” others and join God in desiring that his grace come to us all.