Interfaith Book Club- Sept 17, 2014 on Repentance

When you bring up the term "interfaith" in Louisville, KY there is an understanding of the term to incorporate representatives of many of the world's religions traditions.  Being in Louisville allowed me to be in a community that was vibrantly diverse in religious expression.  So, thinking of interfaith as a group of many different traditions and systems of belief and practice, representing Christian (Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, Non-Denominational), Jewish (Orthodox, Conservative, Reform), Islamic, Hindi, Buddhist, Baha'i, Taoist, and so many more became common place for me.  However, "interfaith" in Fall River, MA holds a very different meaning.  Here--the diversity in the religious world is small.  Most people in this area are Roman Catholic.  Outside of that there is a fairly decently sized Episcopal tradition (aka why I'm here), some Baptists, some Congregational communities, some UCC's, some non-denominationals, a Lebanon immigrant based Presbyterian congregation, and a super tiny Jewish community.  However, the Baptist, Congregational, UCC's, Presbys, and non-denom's are hard to come by.  Also, just as a fun fact--according to Diana Eck's Pluralism Project based out of Harvard University in Boston, there is NOTHING in Fall River.  No interfaith centers, and for that matter, no religious centers period.  (Reaffirming the Boston-centric mentality of me being in "no one cares Mass".).


Today I attended my first Fall River Interfaith event.  A group of 6 individuals representing the Episcopal (2), Jewish (3) and Presbyterian (1) faith traditions gathered to bring texts from their traditions or background that spoke to the theme of repentance.  In the Jewish tradition, the High Holy days are approaching…one of which, Yom Kippur is a day to ask for forgiveness, to purify oneself, and return to G-d.

Each person present brought a text to share with the group.  My supervisor Matt, in true Episcopalian form, brought two liturgical texts for corporate prayer, one from the Book of Common Prayer (1928) and one from the recent Enriching Our Worship Vol. 2.  Both texts spoke to a need to repent for the sins that are ultimately present in humanity.  One of the members representing the Jewish tradition, Soshanna, read from the Color Purple.  I found this to be quite interesting because the passage she chose spoke to the ability to forgive people and not hold them in a certain place of distain due to things that happened in the past.  The Rabbi of the local synagogue here in Fall River Temple Beth-El, Mark read from a series of Hassidic rabbinical commentaries on the need and reason to repent.  What I found most illuminating was the ability of repentance being inside the sinner.

Myself, in good Presbyterian tradition brought up the topic of predestination and how it might, or does, or can, or doesn't apply to repentance.  I feel like this is similar to bringing up the concept of the Trinity to non-Christians.  WHAT?????!!!!!!

So what did I do…..I glanced at this: "Though some have interpreted predestination to mean that God eternally accepts some and rejects others (double-predestination), Campbell said the text shows that “God’s plan is to bring human beings into God’s glory and planned to love us from before the beginning and calls us now into eternal relationship with God.

“That plan, that hope, applies to each and every one of us,” she said." from the PC (USA) website.  Then came across this litany of Repentance from a church in New Zealand.

"Leader: Jesus calls us to love one another as he loves us.

Person 1: We know from our experience that loving like that is a risk, a risk we are often not willing to take. Why should we risk anything for the unlovely?

Leader: "To love one another ... as he loves us" - even to the extent of the cross, risking everything, and receiving ridicule, pain and death.

People: God, forgive us. We will try to love as you love us.

Leader: Jesus calls us to forgive one another.

Person 2: We have forgiven in the past, and people walked all over us. For some of us it hurts too much to try again. Besides, if people do wrong shouldn't they pay the consequences for this.

Leader: Jesus forgave us, our ignoring him, reviling him, killing him.

People: God, forgive us. We will try to forgive as you forgive us.

Leader: Jesus calls us to work for justice for all.

Person 3: But we don't have the time. The issues are often too hard to understand properly. Others are far more able speakers than us.

Leader: Through the prophets God makes it quite clear: "stop your noisy songs, instead let justice flow like a stream, and righteousness like a river that never goes dry."

People: God forgive us. We will try to work for justice as you did.

Leader: Jesus calls us to share all we have with each other.

Person 4: This is too hard. It's hard enough to keep our own heads above water. We have worked hard to get where we are today, and the possessions we enjoy.

Leader: Jesus says: "Whenever you refused to help one of these least important ones, you refused to help me."

People: God, forgive us. We will try in your strength to share what we have. Amen."

I shared the above prayer.  The discussion afterwards really made me again think, WHAAAAATTTTTT????  This is so hard to explain!!!!  I basically said that in Presbyterian land there is nothing anyone can do to "escape the grace of G-d."  You cannot get away from the love….which in itself is awesome.  However, it's also confusing and complicated.  The question of "how does free will fit in" came up and I noticed myself going…well….ummm…."I think that Presbyterians would say that we have free will as well and that we cling to the understanding that G-d is mysterious and that as humans we are not meant to fully comprehend the Divine."  Did I just take the easy out?  Was this an escape from really answering that question?

After returning to my office I came across this: http://www.presbyterianmission.org/ministries/today/predestination/

Perplexing.  Good 'ol Calvin.  So, G-d chooses some people that will "get" or accept or have the "faith" and some that just won't.  Well….that's not cool.  Also, all people are saved through the grace and salvific reality of Jesus Christ through the justification of grace.  Huh?  Come again?  I still find myself pondering this idea.  I'll leave it at that for now.