Lenten thoughts

This weekend I did two things: I finished the book Quo Vadis, and I saw the movie "Therese". The novelist won the Nobel Prize a century ago for his work; the screenwriter of the movie will win NO awards, I'm sure. But what tied these two events together for me was the almost unimaginable portrayal of saintly people they both painted. In Quo Vadis, the early Christian martyrs were fleshed out in a way that looked like authentic Christianity --like what we all wish we would see around us, and what, if we did see it, might serve as strong evidence of Christianity's veracity. I don't see that kind of faith fleshed out around me. Then in Therese, the story of St. Therese of Liseux was told. I didn't think the movie was good at all, but I just went to familiarize myself with the saint, not for the movie-going experience. The piety and devotion seemed almost like a parody of piety and devotion. And yet.... if it were genuine.... it would give me hope that such a faith is humanly possible.

As I ruminated on these examples of Christianity, I thought how much our culture makes such holiness virtually impossible to achieve, working within the culture. The media dishes out to us irony, sarcasm, violence, cheapness, shallow expressions of deep emotions and issues, entertainment..... and we take it and want more. We're inundated. It seems like the only way to avoid it would be to become a hermit in a convent. Yet, holiness and integrity must be possible in any setting. In ancient Rome, the setting for Quo Vadis, surely the entertainments and the prevailing cultural attitudes were worse than our own. So how is it that in a predominantly "Christian" society we have similar cultural mores as pagan Rome?

My life is not countercultural. I don't really want beauty, truth, charity, grace, forgiveness, redemption, perfection of my humanity, because I'd have to live counter to the prevailing culture. How would my corner of the earth be different if I really took the teachings of Jesus at face value and lived them out? What would fill my days? What would love look like? What would I be entertained by? What would I abhor? Is it necessary to be a hermit to live a good life? Surely not. But then, how is it accomplished? It must rely on internal transformation to enable the externals to be congruent. But the internal being fleshed out....where the rubber meets the road....what does that look like in 2005 America?

In talking to my friend Julie, she mentioned how Christianity can be seen truly in its cultural emphasis on freedom for the oppressed. That the people in 'power' cannot really relate to the Christian message as long as they are preserving their power. That the message of Bethlehem was identification with the lowly. This certainly would have been true of the early Roman Christians. They themselves were the minority, the underdogs. But as for me, I live in the most powerful nation on earth, I'm white, I'm well off enough. What is Christianity for me? I think personal piety is a part, but if Julie's suppositions bear out, that cannot be the crux of the gospel. Who are the oppressed now? I think of the unborn, the victims of violence, old forgotten people, ....what have I ever done for them? Is action on their behalf what I'm to be doing? How can I incorporate such action into my life?

Interestingly, it was Mother Teresa of Calcutta who was inspired in her life by St. Therese of Liseux. St. Therese advocated a simple way of life. I'd like to figure out what that simple way looks like for me. Anyway....all sorts of thoughts roiling my brain tonight.