We Are All God's People

Tom was the son of Catholic parents and the product of twelve years of Catholic education. He grew up in the full knowledge and formation of his faith tradition and seemed comfortable with that.

However, some years after his marriage, Tom had a difference of opinion with the local pastor and withdrew from the Catholic faith community. Because he was still a faith-filled man, he raised his children in the knowledge and love of God, but without the support and participation of the local parish. As a caring and loving individual, Tom lived out his faith on a day-to-day basis, recognizing the beauty, sacredness and goodness of each person he met.

In his later years, Tom was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Although Tom himself was at peace with his relationship with God, it was his mother who contacted me with her concern that Tom "get himself straightened out" with the Catholic Church. She carried within herself the words of some long-since-dead priest whom she remembered as saying "Outside the Church there is no salvation." She worried about her son and was concerned for his eternal future.

We talked together for sometime as I focused on God's generous love and Tom's loving response during his many years as husband, father and neighbor. Fortunately God does not judge us as severely or harshly as we judge ourselves or one another. Nor is God confined to the limits that we place on His mercy and forgiveness.

Concerning Tom's membership (or lack thereof) in the Church, I pointed out to her the words of the great St Augustine (paraphrased here). In the fifth century, he said: "There are many whom God has that the Church does not; there are many whom the Church has that God does not." In other words, membership in the Church does not assure salvation, just as lack of membership does not preclude salvation. Fortunately for all of us, God sees a bigger picture than we humans are able to grasp.

Tom's future is obviously in God's hands. That is a good place for it to be since Tom knows God and is on a "first name basis" with Him. With this awareness, Tom's mother was also able to find peace in the situation.  We have no responsibility, obligation nor competence to judge one another.  Thanks be to God, that too is left in God's capable hands.

What Are Your Goggles?

There is a country western song entitled "Billy's Got His Beer Goggles On". It is about how drinking too much beer affects Billy's perception of reality around him.

This set me thinking about the goggles that I wear or have worn throughout my life. The various viewpoints I've held that have affected the way that I perceived life, people, relationships, the world, etc.

When I served as a priest, I viewed things through the goggles of the Catholic Church. People, relationships, lifestyles, finances, medical science, scripture, worship - everything was filtered through the teachings and stance of the Church. Whether I agreed with that viewpoint was not the issue. Only that there was that set of goggles which affected how I saw and related to reality around me.

As a nursing home administrator, I found that my goggles changed. There is life after/outside the perspective of the Church. Not that they were opposed to each other, or even in conflict. Only that now I saw things from the point of view of ministering to people who were nearing the end of their lives, or to the families of those folks, and doing it while observing the many State and Federal regulations involved. It was also to be done within the parameters of the company that hired me in such a way as to make a profit. It was a different set of realities, and my goggles changed accordingly.

Now as I find myself in the automotive industry, another set of goggles is available to me. I am especially aware of those goggles because the owner/boss that I am working with has been in this industry for 40+ years. Of necessity, he eats, drinks, sleeps and lives automobiles, their sales, trades and repairs. Reality seen through his eyes has a definite slant or perspective.

As I reflect on the various goggles that I have worn (and there are many other smaller sets that I have not mentioned), I have come to two conclusions. First of all, I see the importance of not identifying myself with the goggles at any time. I am not any one of the various viewpoints that I lived through in my lifetime. These are simply perspectives on reality that I carried for a time.

Secondly, no set of goggles is the same as the reality that they perceive. Reality is set apart from any particular viewpoint or filter through which it is viewed. In other words, the Catholic viewpoint, the nursing home viewpoint, the auto dealer viewpoint is just that -- a perception of reality that is both insightful and distorting at the same time. Insightful because it gives a deeper perception into life; but distorting because it is limited to the narrow confines of this one perspective.

I am reminded of the story of the four blind men trying to describe an elephant. The one holding the tail described it as similar to a rope. With his arms around a leg, the second man waxed eloquent comparing the elephant to a tree. The third man, with his hands around the trunk, assured the others that the beast was like a fire hose. Finally, the fourth man, taking hold of the ear, contended that the animal was like a large, tough leaf. All were right, but not completely; all were also wrong, but not totally.

No matter what goggles we wear, it is important for us to realize the limitations as well as the benefits of our perspective. That is especially true where God, faith and church are concerned. God is bigger than any of our perceptions. God is distinct from all of our views. What freedom there is in knowing that.

What are your goggles? How do they help/hinder you?