For many of us in the church, the season of Lent is a time of self-reflection. It has often been a time of penitence – of reflecting on our failures and trying to atone or to discipline ourselves so that we will be better. I think that all of life is a time for self-reflection and improvement. Lent gives us sanction to do so without having to justify our self focus. As a Minnesotan I am grateful for that permission
I am beginning my reflection with a heightened awareness that although I may be “one” self, I cannot avoid having multiple roles that are in conflict with one another. Although I have one self, or pretend I do, I live in multiple worlds with multiple identities. In my reading this past week I have been blessed by three writers who have reminded me of the continuing struggle we have to combine our wishes with reality. Our roles are in conflict. In particular I point to the world world of social media and information and the world of sport and the life of faith. I begin with the world of Christian Faith.
In the first devotion of the Give it Up! Lenten booklet published by the Stillspeaking writers, Kenneth Samuel pointed out that on Ash Wednesday - and of course on all days - ... we are mindful of the ashes [dust] from which we were created. With egos in check, we are keenly cognizant of our weaknesses and frailties. And we are humbly grateful for the wondrous mixture of dust and divinity that God has formed in each of us.
I enjoyed that line and plan to use it again.
We are not only a mixture of dust and divinity. As Brendan Greeley pointed out in Business Week, we are also both consumers and product when we make use of Google, Facebook, and other online services. We want to use the service. They want to make money. Their money is made by providing information about us to third parties. If they cannot do that, they cannot stay in business. Along with most users, I wish my privacy protected. I also wish to have as much free service as I can. Those two are not compatible. The title Mr. Greeley's essay was spot on: “Are We the Consumers, Or Are We the Product?” The answer of course is we are both.
David Brooks did a thoughtful job of analysis of the world of sport and the life of faith in his column “The Jeremy Lin Problem.” The problem is holding together the world of sport and religious faith. Brooks avoids the Tim Tebow model and points out the polarities of those worlds. The moral universe of modern sport is oriented around victory and supremacy. The sports hero tries to perform great deeds in order to win glory and fame. It doesn’t really matter whether he has good intentions. His job is to beat his opponents and avoid the oblivion that goes with defeat. On the other hand For many religious teachers, humility is the primary virtue. You achieve loftiness of spirit by performing the most menial services. (That’s why shepherds are perpetually becoming kings in the Bible.) You achieve your identity through self-effacement. You achieve strength by acknowledging your weaknesses.
My observation, and this is only an observation although I would be glad to see data either pro or con, is that Americans do not like living with such polarities and so will resolve them by pretending they do not exist.
David Brooks ends his column by stating that the resolution is not possible. Brooks cites Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik. I would cite Reinhold Niebuhr and the insight of Martin Luther that we are simul justus et peccator. (Do a search for that and have fun!)
To live in multiple worlds, and I believe we have no choice, is to accept the necessity of compromise.
My lenten reflections this year will be the compromises I have made: are they still acceptable to me, how are they working out, how might I have to modify them? How about you?
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