Crashing Waves

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the dispersion, greetings. Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 

But if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and he will be given it. But he should ask in faith, not doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed about by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, since he is a man of two minds, unstable in all his ways.

The brother in lowly circumstances should take pride in high standing, and the rich one in his lowliness, for he will pass away “like the flower of the field.” For the sun comes up with its scorching heat and dries up the grass, its flower droops, and the beauty of its appearance vanishes. So will the rich person fade away in the midst of his pursuits. (James 1:1-11)

I disagree with James.  I do ask in faith, but I still have doubts.  If that makes me like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed about by the wind, then so be it.  A placid ocean is boring.  My waves come from the energy generated by my faith – waves that do crash on my shore from time to time.  I can take the pounding and the spray in my face.  It’s actually quite refreshing and makes me think and challenge a bit of the status quo.  Jesus did that.  We all should be that.  

According to James, I am a man of two minds, unstable in all my ways.  To some extent that is true. I can see both sides of an argument.  I try to have non-dual thinking and seeing. I agree with Brian McLaren that “knowing and unknowing, faith and doubt, clarity and mystery are not opposites, but complements.” 

I’m deep into the second half of my life so I – even as a deacon – no longer am willing to accept simple explanations of my faith.  Rather, I look for, accept, and enjoy complexity even when those people depending on simple dualistic explanations and belief find me to be a challenge to their long-standing beliefs.  I might be an unsettling wave crashing on their shores, and they are disturbed.  Like Jesus, I (and you) must be those waves shifting the sands of others’ religious opinions and comfort.  To do otherwise is not to understand Jesus and obey his commandments.

For those who might be interested, an outstanding book is “Faith After Doubt: Why Your Beliefs Stopped Working and What to Do About It” (McLaren 2021).  McLaren provides this benediction authored by one of his colleagues:  

May God bless you, keep you, be gracious to you.

May God give you grace never to sell yourself – or God – short.

Grace to risk something big for something good.

Grace to remember that the world is now too dangerous for anything but truth.

And too small for anything but love.

So may God take your mind and think through it.

May God take your lips and speak through them.

May God take your hands and do good with them.

May God take your heart and set it on fire.

Deacon David Pierce