A Writer's Thoughts

                                                              A Writer’s Thoughts

Theology in the Trenches

by Kathleen Kjolhaug

 

I suppose writers sort of write down their thoughts in order to pass them on and bring clarity as to what’s spinning within. Like the spin cycle on a washer, we sort of get rid of the excess so we can air dry the washed-up product to be used all over again—by others.

That’s what happened this week. I was listening to a broadcast and heard something different coming through the airwaves than what I’d heard before. Let me explain.

A man was giving an account of how he came to believe in the Christian faith and it caught my attention because it seemed so logical. He said something like this. “When I thought about people who shared their faith with me, I realized one thing. There was nobody else sharing anything without wanting something that was in it for them. These people sharing their faith longed to invite me into it. They wanted me to have the same thing they did.”

The man on the radio went on to give various examples. I remember the gist of what he was trying to convey. Thus, these words are my own spin on it if you will.

“I never had a plumber come up to me and talk about how incredible it was to clean out sewer lines within homes and thought it was so amazing that I should do it, too! I never had an astronaut come up to me and tell me detail upon detail of all their experiences and then go on to tell me how to become an astronaut to the point where he’d teach me how to be one. I never had a businessman come up to me and tell me all the ins and outs of his business—so much so that he would want to train me to be able to become a businessman just like him.”

The man on the radio went on. “Oh, I heard plenty of stories about various jobs people did in life but never to the point where they explained it to me, walked alongside me, and shared with me the ‘how-to’ manual in getting from point A to point B. All in all, they would tell me stories about their jobs, about their work, and about their experiences, but never did they sit down with me and tell me it would be life-changing.”

The man on the radio continued. “When people sat down with me and shared their faith, it wasn’t about them—it was about me. They wanted to share what He had done to carry all of the burdens I was trying so desperately to carry myself.”

The man on the radio said something to the effect, “It was at this point of rationalization that it dawned on me that there was absolutely no other area in life where others desired more for me than I desired for myself. I knew at that point that they shared out of pure love. It was then I began to listen and figured there must be something to this.”

Why would anyone want to hear the Truth of what is? I can think of a few expressed by Mother Olga. (If you are not familiar with this gentle soul who came from war-torn Iraq you might enjoy looking her up on you-tube to hear her back story.) She says,

 

1.      He calls us by name.

2.      He gives us belonging through Baptism.

3.      He gives us a home in the church.

4.      Then He sends us as members of His body to accompany and strengthen others.

Oh, there are lots of things in between here and there but Mother Olga summed it up with a quote by Mother Teresa. It’s her five-finger Gospel:

“You did it for Me” (Matt. 25:40). He’s given these five words as pure prayer. They are a reminder that in all things it is as unto the Lord.  Amen.