2 weeks Ago
Gabriella lay dying, 50 years after leaving convent. An old friend held her hand. “Gabriella, tell me you believe.
” “No,” she said, but I hope.” And ..
. I hope I will soon have completed my 88th year of life. I, too, hope.
I wonder. I trust. I love.
I was a Roman Catholic priest of the Diocese of Allentown for 18 years, I worshipped as an Episcopal lay person for the next 18 years. In 1999, another 18 years later, the late Bishop Paul Marshall of the Diocese of Bethlehem formally recognized my Roman Catholic ordination and received me as a priest of the Episcopal Church. Wonder has long been central in my prayers, in my thinking, in my life.
Long ago, I discovered a few guides – and questions – for my journey of hope and wonder and trust and love. Here’s the short version: Be attentive, be intelligent, be reasonable, be responsible, be in love, and, if necessary, change. With that journey in mind, it has been distressing to me when “persons of faith” reduce religion to one’s adherence to intellectual propositions, when faith suggests intransigence, when being open to wonder and trust and hope and love is thought of as naive, when people distance themselves one from another by their beliefs, by so-called truths.
Where once I thought “faith,” I now think hope, trust, wonder and relationship. The late Pope Benedict called one of his major letters “Saved by Hope.” Four decades ago, the late Bishop Mark Dyer of the Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem shared an image of God drawn from Jesus washing the feet of his disciples at the last supper.
When I die, Jesus will be with me the way he was with his disciples on the night before he died. Carrying a basin, water and a towel, he will look deeply within me. “You’ve had a difficult journey, haven’t you?” Jesus will say.
“You must be tired, and dirty. Let me wash your feet. The banquet’s ready.
” Jesus will take bread and wine. He will bless them and say, “Welcome to the banquet.” I hope.
Actually, hope is a dangerous thing. Even when it seems to be Jesus who calls us to step out of our boat. Have you ever walked on water? I bet you have.
I bet you have stepped out of your boat. When you have, I bet hope was more crucial in your relationship with God than was faith thought of in terms of belief. Belief is so over-rated.
Dangerous hope — trust, wonder and love — is where we live our relationship with God and with one another. In C.S.
Lewis’ “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” four children enter the land of Narnia through their uncle’s wardrobe. Three take shelter with Mr. and Mrs.
Beaver. Mrs. Beaver tells them about the mighty Aslan, the metaphorical Christ figure, who would make all things well in Narnia where it was always winter and never Christmas.
When the children discovered that Aslan was a lion, one of them said, “Oh, but is he safe?” Mr. Beaver replied, “Safe? Who said anything about safe? Of course, he’s not safe. But he’s good.
” Bet on it. Canon Bill Lewellis, [email protected], an Episcopal priest, retired since 2010 served on the bishop’s staff of the Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem for 24 years and on the bishop’s staff of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown for 13 years before that.
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