I little while ago I was reading Rob Bell's book "Sex God." In the second chapter he describes the account of an American soldier who liberated a concentration camp from the Nazis after WWII. The conditions he describes are shocking: bodies piled high, remains of children floating in puddles, people defecating where they sat or stood, eating worms while holding army rations because they could no longer tell the difference, or leaning on frozen bodies because they could not stand and were ready to die where they lay.
Rob goes on to say that our initial reaction to this, the revulsion that I'm sure you're feeling as you imagine the horrible conditions in the camp, goes beyond distaste. The disgust we might expect when we watch Fear Factor, for example, is tame compared to the true horror we experience when confronted with the experience of the Jewish prisoners. The horror comes from this fact, that something beyond mere physical discomfort is taking place in this story.
No, what is happening here is an erosion of the soul. It's dehumanization.
We use these expressions a lot, that war is hell, that this or that place was a hell on earth, that being in some situation was a living hell. And when we make those statements, we're really saying that what we have experienced was dehumanizing, that it lacked some essential aspect of humanity, either charity or peace, joy or freedom, or kindness or welcome.
I think that this is important in light of the current discussion. Lately we've been asking these questions: why did God make us? And also, how do I live by faith?
Neither can be answered in this little tale, but I think it adds to the conversation to introduce the idea that God has made us like Himself. When we talk about something being a "hell on earth," we have really made a statement about human beings. What makes a human being, human? When we describe something as inhumane, what are we really saying?
Well, whenever we talk about what human beings are like, we by necessity have to talk about what God is like. Why? Well, to quote Rob Bell, "We are not God, and we will never be God. But in some distinct, intentional way, something of God has been placed in us. We reflect what God is like and who God is. A divine spark resides in every single human being."
Rob goes on to say that "something hellish" is happening when a human being is violated, when they cease to be a person, and become objects. Hell lacks beauty, meaning, purpose, peace. When people lack these things, that is a great evil.
Here's why I think that this informs the current question: why did God make people, and how do we do this faith thing? If it's true that human beings can make decisions that create a hell on earth, then the opposite is also true. We all have within us the ability to decide to bring heaven to earth. Heaven, as Rob Bell puts it, can invade our world. And so when the question comes, "how do I live by faith?" I think it's important to realize that God has given us His image, the ability to choose to promote peace, truth, meaning, and beauty in the world He made. With that purpose guiding our decisions, how can we help but to do God's will? And does the question "why did God create us?" take on a new meaning?
When I wonder myself, "what's the point?" I remember Africa. I remember how it felt to be a hope-bringer to a people whose lives are so vastly different from my own. My purpose defines my reality: I was made for this. My life has meaning when I decide to share the spark of God within me with others whose spark has been dimmed by oppression, famine, war, and poverty.
I felt that, and for the first time I was able to quiet that question, "what's the point?" And say to the sky instead, "Thank you, for life." It was the first time I was able to grasp life as a gift.
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