Jul 11 2009
General Convention 2009 reflection 1
The Feast of St. Benedict of Nursia
I arrived at LAX around 9:45 on Wednesday July 8. I will admit, L.A. tempted me to go out and enjoy as I dreaded going to Anaheim and being trapped in the plastic infection of Disneyland and the snares of Church politics.
Disneyland strikes me as a startling juxtaposition of the life of the church and the entertainment culture essentially born in the United States of America. The French philosopher, Jean Baudrillard (of “The Matrix” concept fame) diagnosed Disneyland as the penultimate stage of development when an image goes from representing greater truth to becoming the ultimate deception of generating its own truth. In the third stage of this dissolution process the image proclaims to possess its own truth, thus the visitor to Disneyland enters into a contract with the amusement park whereby all parties participate in the illusion of eternal childhood and magical realities. All the time it is known by the workers that they go home at the end of the day to begin with “magic” again the next day and the visitors know that somewhere in section 7G of the parking lot they have a car waiting for them and bills piling up in the mailbox back home.
In opposition to this, the first layer of the image is the one of true art which points to a truth greater than that which is represented. Baudrillard calls this the level of the sacrament.
In our faith we are primarily concerned with the sacraments, the incidental bread and wine, the body and blood of Christ made known in the communion are the physical types connecting us to the greater reality. Every point of worshipful connection brings the reality of God’s presence in us and points us to creating that reality in the world around us.
So then, how amazing it is to have the work of the church in tension with the very culture of consumption (and yes I am drinking starbucks coffee while I write this) which threatens the planet on which we live. In short we are reminded each day by our engagement with the very real in the eucharist that the work both legislatively in this convention and more importantly the work called forth of Christians to respect the dignity of all life becomes imperatively recognized when put in focus by the illusory environment with which we are often presented.
The church struggles still with how to be a witness in the world, how to offer hope and inclusion to those pushed to the outer edge while acknowledging that we all have different understandings and relationships with God and the texts of the bible, to pretend anything else would be putting us on the road to Disneyland.
There is a sense of hope present in this convention which seems to be striking many. Our little corner of Christendom has been through a lot in the last decade and we are not out of the woods yet. Nonetheless I see people listening to one another’s experiences in new ways. I am encountering many people who are understanding that the message of hope, new life and forgiveness offered by the reality of Jesus are the essential work of our faith. And, particularly important to me, I see the young church here in large numbers. Slowly we are coming to welcome the voice of those not often blessed with material resources and yet bring the wealth of commitment to a faith that is truly counter-cultural. More to come, but as for now I can say I excited to be in such a church.
Pace e bene - Tom
