Morning Meditation

And so I am sitting in a Catholic Church and asking myself how it is that the daughter of a good old Baptist boy is graduating from a Catholic Middle School. There are many answers to that question. Some of those answers relate directly to Shan Tora. Others relate to Brokerbelle and myself.

Those that relate to Shan Tora are simple. Shan Tora has attended public school and we did not like what we saw there. We removed her from public school. Within a year, a student showed up in the same public school with a rifle. Although thankfully no one was injured, we can not say that we were surprised that it happened.

Christian evangelical school was worse. There was a sense of strong legalism and even worse in some of the leadership.

Finally, we moved to Catholic School. The classes were small. There was an emphasis on learning. There was a sense of morals and at the same time the students had fun. We could work with the teachers. It was an answer from heaven, at least for Brokerbelle and myself.

And of course, Shan Tora takes religion. And so from time to time we have discussions on different beliefs. We discuss not only the difference between Baptist and Catholic. However on occasion we also discuss Judaism, Hinduism, Islam and Buddhism. I have traveled extensively and have many friends of many different faiths. One delightful evening many years ago, I spent an evening in New Dehli with an evangelical, a Hindu a Sikh and an atheist discussing matters of faith. I have friends that that have invited me to synagogue and others that have invited me to Hindu temples and some others that have invited me to mosques. Sometimes, I have attended as their guests.

How do I classify myself. Generally I think of myself as an evangelical. However, as I sit in church watching a priest celebrate mass I think of the many contacts I have had with Catholicism and friends who were Catholic.

Some of those contacts I list below just for interest. It is interesting to me because I place myself in a box called evangelicalism but some sometimes the box is a bit weak and other influences seem to leak in.

It all started when I was born. I was delivered at Mercy Hospital, a Catholic hospital, in Liberty, Texas. Liberty was an old city still retaining the Catholic influences of the Spanish. My family were long time Baptists. Relatives had helped to found the first Baptist church west of the Mississippi river. My Great Grandmother was a wonderful Christian woman, my Grandfather a deacon in First Baptist Church in Liberty.

Both my father and I attended Baylor, a Baptist college. My father was a wonderful Baptist deacon serving on numerous building committees and seeing many Baptist churches built. In my young adult years I was a deacon, and a lay Baptist minister. In my later years, I have laid many of these titles aside. Now I am just a student, a husband, a parent and a friend. Even in these basic relationships I have way, way far to go and to learn.

But Catholic contacts were always close at hand.
Early in my life I almost died from something that they thought was scarlet fever. And I spent some amount of time in the hospital. I remember nuns in their habits standing around my bed and praying for me. Prayers rendered in good faith should never, in my opinion, be refused because of theological difference. Our theology grows and evolves and we should give freedom for people to grow in their faith and relationships.

Later my Aunt, a talented woman lawyer, converted from being a Baptist to being a Catholic. And oh, I remember the horror of it and the consternation that we all felt. After all, it was supposed to work the opposite way around.

Then there were all my catholic friends in New Orleans. I knew Baptist boys that went to Jesuit High School. One of my best friends in High School was a committed catholic who set out to become a priest. He was a person who loved God.

I began to be a student of history and Christian history in particular. As I studied history, I began to focus on early Christian history and the papacy. Later I studied medieval history and even wrote my master’s thesis on one of the early popes, Nicholas I.

Even later, after I obtained a law degree, I began to run into the Catholic Church. One Sunday evening we had a Catholic priest visit our evening service at the Baptist church in Houston, Texas. He obviously knew God and when he prayed there was great power.
We also had friends that were Catholic.

In time, we found ourselves associated with a Catholic charismatic parish and even were Godparents to a Catholic child. In short, we became convinced that some Catholics knew God as well as we did and sometimes even better. Our evangelical box sustained a leak or two as we learned that we must look at people and their relationship with God on a personal basis instead of on a group basis.

And so as I sat in Catholic church, I am thinking about this strange spiritual odyssey . I think of evil inquisitors that say “Kill them all, and let God sort them out.” And I think of Torquemada, Grand Inquisitor of Spain who burned those who were not in agreement with Catholicism. And I know that both evangelical and Catholic have areas of history that they are not proud of.

And I also remember that both evangelicals and Catholics have those who truly love God such as Francis of Assisi and Pope John.

I also come to a few conclusions. If you really love God and love your fellow man, then I consider you to be my brother or sister. Loving God and not loving your fellowman is not good enough. Jesus said “you would know them by their love.”

And so if you love God with all your heart, mind and soul and you love your fellowman, you have meant this individual’s test for fellowhip. However, if you are doctrinally correct and hate those who differ from you, then I disagree with you.

And so I take an opposite view from Dominic Guzman (founder of the Dominicans who persecuted the Cathars), who was content ot wipe out whole cities. Instead, I believe as follows: “I will not kill them nor despise them because they are different from me.” If someone is searching for God and trying to love his fellow man, then I will lay down my sword of judgment and commit that decision to God himself. Indeed, let God sort us all out.

Yeah, I know that will not fit anyone’s philosophy and will probably not satisfy either the evangelical or the Catholic. I will try to see each person as an individual as opposed to throwing them into my group classification system and I will try to see them with the eyes of God, individually, and leave final judgment where it belongs. And it does not belong to me.

And that is what my heart speaks to me as I sit in church listening to my friends celebrating mass.

HarleyDad.