august 2009 newsletter...
sizing up the medium...
My Indian History students just completed a set of presentations on the Golden Age of the Gupta Dynasty. One of them chose the development of Hindu temple architecture as her topic. For about fifteen minutes, she confidently explained how the Guptas moved temples from hollowed-out caves to elevated platforms, thus elevating the deities. However, they retained a cave-like "womb" in the center of each temple, to hold the deity. Slowly, worshippers added elaborately carved peaks above the older flat-roofed structures, to symbolize the mountain abode of the gods. Mt. Kailash temple in the Ellora Cave complex made a particular impression on this young lady, as workers had carved the entire temple out of a single rock. It remains the largest monolithic structure in the world.
Then she began to look a little uncomfortable, as she explained that pilgrims no longer had to walk all the way to Mt. Kailash (in modern Tibet), if they could attain the same spiritual benefit by visiting this Mt. Kailash temple. Where do the Guptas come into this? They charged a tax on pilgrims wanting to enter the temple. She saw a clear political advantage to rulers in recreating Himalayan geography a little closer to home.
After class, she and one of the boys stayed to discuss what this means for them. She comes from a fairly orthodox Hindu home. His father is Buddhist and his mother Hindu. He complained that his father says there is no god, while his mother claims there are 30 crore (3 million) deities. After a moment of silence, I asked them what they were thinking. This intelligent and sweet young girl paused, then hesitantly suggested, "What if there is one God, but he is just so far beyond us, that we all have to keep inventing a medium to try to reach him? Maybe that's what religion is." The boy nodded that he had considered this, too. I asked her what she thought, then, about gods and goddesses. What are they to her? Right now, she likes Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge, but she doesn't really think the goddess exists. Rather, she's a student, and she needs God to help her know and remember, so the image of Saraswati inspires her. The boy simply shrugged and said this all confuses him.
Now it was my turn for a moment of silence, as they waited expectantly. I opened and shut my mouth a few times, wondering how to respond. Slowly, the words began tumbling out. Yes, we all agree that God is great and far beyond our understanding. Yes, all religions represent attempts to understand this divinity that is so far beyond us. But...what if, just what if, God himself sent a medium to us, to speak to us?
Which would you choose, I asked, the medium man created to reach towards God, or the medium through which God communicated to man? Taking a deep breath, I affirmed that I believe Jesus is the language God uses to communicate to man. "Obviously, I would pick the medium God sent to man..." both students said, but skeptically. I smiled, and ended the conversation with, "Just something to keep thinking about, okay?"
I know I keep thinking about it. We believe Jesus is The Word of God spoken to man. We believe we did not invent this medium. Even as I type this, phrases of the Nicene Creed bubble up from somewhere deep inside: "...I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made. Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven..."
These are powerful claims we make. More importantly, these are powerful claims that Jesus made about himself. This brief conversation with students made me return again, to the essentials of what I believe. We tack on all sorts of man-made media to our faith, in vain efforts to reach toward God. In the end, the only question we really need answered is whether and how God has reached toward us. How wonderful to walk in the shared conviction that He has indeed spoken and speaks still. I want to keep listening. Pray that I will.
August passed swiftly, with classes off to a heady start. Our Sunday afternoon fellowship has been blessed with an infusion of several new students from Nepal who are deep believers and (added bonus) great musicians. I worked with three colleagues to design a weekend retreat for about 25 students, which happened last weekend. We took the end of I Corinthians 13 as our theme and examined what it means to base our lives on faith, hope, and love rather than basing decisions on fear. We all felt refreshed, I think. I particularly needed the reminder about not needing to be afraid. As I begin this second year of teaching, I feel more alone without my parents' company. In addition, my U.S. bank account has dwindled down and a new round of bills in the U.S. await. Pray that God will continue to provide all that I need, as He has all along, and that He will give me wisdom about how to proceed.
I pray you sense God reaching down to you today and always.
Your fellow pilgrim,
Amy