Life on the Edge
A recent experience will forever change me. It’s not even a question; there’s no going back. I’m ruined but all for the better. Through the process I discovered something beautiful.
Religion thrives most at its edge.
Time confounds me and details make me anxious, so treat this more like a gospel account than a deposition.
About a year ago I made a hospital visit to see a teenage kid. How I ended up in the room is irrelevant; how he ended up in the room was an ongoing battle with Ewing’s Sarcoma. Ewing’s is a devastating rare form of cancer that attacks the bones. I didn’t know all the details walking in the room and still didn’t walking out, but over the months to come this kid would change me.
Religion gets refined on the pediatric oncology floor. It has a way of removing the dross and revealing the gold.
Religion is a complicated word to define. It can be good; it can be bad. Almost everyone has an opinion. My humble take on a definition is: the agreed upon belief set and practices that guide a specific group regarding matters of faith. I’m sure this definition could be expounded but let’s go with it for now. Religion alone is neutral. It can be a fulcrum to bring others up for good or to bring others up to hang.
If we’re a Christ-follower reading this it might be tempting to say we’re not religious because of our relationship with God. God has an unconditional relationship with us as Christ-followers, but we’re still plenty religious. Consider the spectrum of thought on the sacraments, women’s roles in the church, and secular music by those who are orthodox Christ-followers.
A trap that commonly corrupts the most noble of souls is elevating religious preference or even conviction to a prerequisite for joining the club. It was this very practice that sent our Lord through the roof more than anything. Jesus didn’t say to condone the speck in our brother’s eye; He just said to take the plank out of our own first. Jesus never lowed the ideal of the Father but He always used grace to point others to that ideal rather than religious shaming to cut others down.
Traps of pride and self-righteousness are more frequent and harder to identify the closer we move to our religious core but flashes of beauty remain. Flashes seen in the darkest of places, out along the edges where I seldom travel. Religion so pure, void of power and prosperity, where faith, hope, and love bond together the most broken of people to something greater. Something unseen. No comparison; no formalities. Love and service. Religion in its proper place.
True religion isn’t a mystery but it is seldom noticed. It’s not hiding we just don’t want to look amongst the orphans and widows. Perhaps the oncology floor where words fall flat and trite answers to unimaginable pain are finally exposed. Something about the place has a way of distilling the excess out of religion and life.
Where to next I can’t say, but there’s no going back to where I’ve been. My love for Jesus consumes me more each day and yet my transformed heart leads me further out. God’s presence is just too strong out along the edges.