Sermon Preached at Northbrae Community Church, June 29, 2003
By Ron Sebring
In the Garden of Forked Paths
One of my favorite professors, Dr. Fred Craddock, studied for a while in Europe under a world famous theologian. I believe it was in Germany. In the oral tradition of my academic journey, I remember the flavor of the story as he told it, rather than the details. I picture him with a world famous theologian who was surrounded by curious students. From all sides, they raise their hands and ask questions. All this professor-theologian wanted was to get away from it all … so he took to hiding in various places on campus. Still, students found him, and continued to press him with questions.
Craddock found him, away from campus, sitting on a park bench feeding pigeons. As he approached, the old man’s shoulders slumped as if he were thinking to himself, "Oh no, here comes another one." But Craddock approached anyway, and lifted his hand for attention and started to ask his question. The old man spoke first, in a gravelly voice, and said, "Read Kierkegaard!" "What?" came the curious reply. "Read Kierkegaard," the professor continued. "You’ve got a lot of questions. You are trying to make sense out of a lot of things. If you want to get some real perspective, read Kierkegaard!"
And that was all there was to it. The professor got up and walked off. That had to be disappointing … here he was, wanting a quick answer, and what it got was an extensive reading assignment. But he took it to heart, and gained much from it. In my seminary training, I, too, took that suggestion to heart and read some of the works of Kierkegaard. In them, I found the basis for what later was to be my dissertation project.
Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) was a Danish philosopher who was born, lived, and died in Copenhagen. He lived just 42 years, yet became the founder of existentialism. He opposed rationalism, particularly that of Hegel, and argued that real life, and hence religion, cannot be captured in intellectual categories or religious beliefs. With that, he threw up a substantial challenge to Christianity, which at the time was wrapped up in doctrines, creeds and elaborate theologies. In his work, Either/Or, Kierkegaard recognizes three ways of being in the world: affection, cognition, and volition. Feeling, thinking, and deciding. [TOP]
People can get wrapped up in there feelings, and live in their hearts. Kierkegaard called this "romantic hedonism," And "sensualism." Others can get wrapped up in their thoughts, and live in their heads. Kierkegaard called this "abstract intellectualism," And "speculative thinking." Now while both of these are desirable, the problem is when sensualism and intellectualism become a retreat from reality. As such, they become a substitute for decision. Kierkegaard’s Point: Only through choice do we achieve authentic selfhood. And hence the title of his two volume work, Either/Or.
Life is a matter of either–or. Choice! Sensualism and intellectualism, by themselves, lead to boredom, melancholy, and eventually despair. Anxiety and worry. Much conflict. It is through choice that we move to a higher stage of commitment. Only through choice do we realize any kind of freedom. Kierkegaard calls this stage, the ethical-religious mode of living. And herein lies the challenge Kierkegaard levels against Christianity. While emotions contribute to it, religion is not really about "good feelings."
Neither is religion all that much about what we "believe." The greatest treasure we have is the power of our choices. And for our choices, we have to go inward. Personal responsibility and authentic choices cannot be legislated by law nor governed by outward authority. Authentic choices are most self-defining when the options are not that clear. Choice is the very nature of awareness. We chose to focus this way or that, on this feeling or that feeling, on this thought or that, on this action or that. Hence, every moment is a moment of choice. And since life is so short and death is so certain, … every choice we make is of infinite worth.
We are not victims of chance, or of what someone else does to us. Destiny is the sum of our choices. Choice as the basis of destiny is a theme echoed throughout the Bible: Moses at Moab, Joshua between the mountains, Abraham and Lot choosing to part ways. This is one of the things I appreciate about the second Harry Potter movie. To battle the bad guy with his magic, little Harry Potter had to show loyalty to the old man who was the head master. It was a moment of decision for Harry Potter, and with fortitude and resolve, he made that decision. In the final scenes, the old master shared with Harry Potter his sagely advice. [TOP]
It was in effect, "Life is not about how much we know. What determines life is the choices we make." What a powerful lesson to be spoken to children, all over the world! All religions in the world have two sides: the exoteric and the esoteric.
The exoteric is what we see on the outside … buildings, rituals, institutions.
The esoteric is all about what we experience on the inside.
In our culture, it is popular to distinguish between these two by saying, I’m not into "religion." I’m into "spirituality." By that, people are saying they don’t get much out of the institutions. They are hungry for the experience. The exoteric, the outside, is associated with beliefs, doctrines, ideas. If we believe a certain way, or identify with a certain tradition, we associates with one "religion" as opposed to another. The esoteric, concerned with the inside or inner experience, is associated with spiritual disciplines … like prayer and meditation and devotionals.
It is significant that the esoteric dimension of world religions (and I sense that this as universal) begins with training will-power. It’s like a muscle. The more we exercise it, the stronger it becomes. This is the idea behind fasting, and why it is important in so many religions. We decide to give up something. Immediately, desires and images set up against us … and it takes will-power to continue. Meditation works in this way. We decide to focus on one thing, a mantra or a candle. Immediately, thoughts and images intrude … and by going back, gradually and methodically, mental will-power grows strong.
I have grown to understand Jewish law in this way. All the rules and regulations about eating certain foods and keeping certain traditions in very specific ways. That takes discipline, and discipline takes decision. But we don’t have to have a spiritual disciple to get the religious value of will-training. Sometimes our personal struggles do it for us. Grief, or a crisis, or a devastating illness … poses enough of a challenge where we have to decide something and stay the course, in spite of all the pressures to do otherwise. [TOP]
Sometimes life feels like it will just fall apart, but as long as the center holds, we will emerge a stronger person for it. This wisdom is captures by Paul in Romans 5:3. We thank God for suffering. For suffering produces endurance, and it is endurance that gives us character. Character, in turn, spawns the hope that will not disappoint us. A person with an addiction has a wonderful opportunity to train the willpower. When we set our minds to something, and push through with it … we become much stronger for it. Anyone who has overcome a serious addiction has a strength of will that may surprise even them. It is a willpower that can manifest new directions in their lives.
I read a book some time back on quantum physics and mysticism. The source has long escaped me. As I recall, the author attempted to trace the implication of quantum physics for getting in touch with the deeper dimensions of life. He says that we all lived in a field of infinite possibilities. And from these possibilities, we choose the next actuality. The poetic way he expressed it has stuck with me. He says that we live in a "garden of forked paths." Each step of the way:
We choose to focus our thoughts either this way or that.
And since emotions follow thoughts, in a round about way, the power of choice reigns over our feelings as well.
We choose to say this word or that.
We choose to take this step or that.
Certainly our choices are made within the perimeters of certain givens. But in a very fundamental and far-reaching way … our destiny is less a result of chance … And far more, a matter of choice.
© Ron Sebring [TOP]