Being Christian

Two Fridays ago I attended a talk by Fr. Timothy Radcliffe on "Being Christian in the 21st Century" and I was happy that I could sit and imbibe the wisdom of Fr. Radcliffe after having been so inspired by his books.

He is, as I imagined, after having read his autobiography, "I Call You Friends", a book I bought as a gift and snuck in a read before gifting it - erudite yet eloquent, gifted, insightful, humble and Brit funny.

Fr. Radcliffe, henceforth TR, had the ability to make theological profundities as simple as breathing.

As Christians, we must be like the Whitebeam tree residing outside the window of his room at Blackfriars: a living entity fully alive, behaving true to its nature and what it was created to be, and yet, open and in dynamic contact with what it is not, such as the sun and the rain.

We cannot succumb to the temptation of either "retreating into Christian ghettos", shutting out the world that is unlike us, or assimilating into society and "disappearing down the secular rabbit hole".

Instead, he encouraged those present to engage the other in friendship, in loving conversation so as to be true to our missionary calling to convert hearts and minds by redefining the modern day perceptions of doctrine and morality.

As doctrine is often greeted with suspicion, we must be sensitive and allow it to "flourish in open conversation", rather than attempting to preach it from the high horse of doctrinaire.

(Incidentally St. Dominic founded the Order of Preachers in a pub after a night-long conversation with the barkeep that led to the man's conversion.)

Doctrine can be a beautiful gift when approached in the right spirit. TR used the example of the trinity and how we can share its mystery with others.

Anyone who is in love or who loves is living the mystery of the trinity, for love can only be discovered with the help of the other.

So be like Christ, who engaged the ostracized in loving conversation and moved them to conversion with his openness.

However, before we attempt to engage in conversation, we would do well to study the doctrines of the Church to avoid any faux pas. With this piece of advice he told a joke that had the audience in stitches and brought home the point.

While society craves moral vision, it is stymied by its idea of freedom that often does not leave room for the Christian ideal of living in accord with the will of God to thereby live a fulfilled life, satisfying one's deepest wants and desires.

"Morality is not what you are not allowed to do or forbidden to do," TR clarified, "neither is it obligation or external constraint." Rather morality should be experienced first as intimate friendship with God, and then with others.

In this way, the commandments are no longer rules that must be adhered to, but rather they serve as a reminder of who we are, creating a mindfulness as we go about our activities of daily living of what it truly means to be human.

TR also reminded the audience that God's friendship is always surprising so we would do well to keep an open mind with God.

The two hours just sped by as he shared his thoughts and answered questions from the audience.

What I found most powerful was the reminder that where there is love, there is God, even if the people around us do not believe in God.

And we should not fret about those we love who do not believe for we should trust that God will seek out everybody, including the 100th lost sheep.

So patience. For every love has its own pilgrimage, its own journey to make.