D-Day

On 6th June, 1944, the allied forces landed on Normandy beaches in France to begin the battle to push the Nazis back, and so defeat Hitler.  Another war was over.  More were to follow.  78 years later, we continue to live on the edge between good and evil.  We know the right way to go but we just can't seem to get our act together.  

Recently, I was privy to one of those many table conversations older, farang males love to host in my Bangkok.  They can be boring and crazy but this one fascinated me.  The older, atheist male from Canada proclaimed how ridiculous it was to believe in God, as all those bible stories are just absurd.  Well, fair enough point made for him.  Let him be, but my friend, the atheist, finished his tirade with the bottom line that God was to blame for the tragic state of our world.  Huh? He doesn't believe in God, but he blames God for all our problems in this life.  You can't have it both ways.  Who was it that said - You ain't seen nothing yet?    

We will let my friend have his day in court.  Putting aside God, in whom he does not believe, we will uphold two key ingredients for being church, as proclaimed by the present, ongoing Synod of the Church.  One is that we journey together, listening to each other.  This is not some motherhood statement but leads us into deep dialogue and true encounter with each other.  The other is that we reach out to all, touching those on the margins and the periphery of church and society.  To not do either means we have failed as church.  

It is the anniversary of  D-Day.  How can we not believe in God?  Otherwise how are such ideals possible?  If just left to us, they become mere pie in the sky.  As people of faith, we know better.  God, not humanity, which is still finding its way in this crazy world, is the source of all human hope and every human vision for the sake of a glorious future of all and of the earth.