Saturday, February 14, 2009 at 3:03pm
Paradigm Shifters
Column: Woman at the Well
Today is Evolution Sunday. Over 1000 congregations across our nation and our world are celebrating Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday today. We’ve honored this day in this way for several years now and for most of us there is no question that science and our faith can coexist comfortably together.
How many of you take evolution for granted? I am mostly preaching to the choir when I lift up the significant contributions of Darwin to our human understanding. Although only 40% of Americans agree with us and 36% have no opinion on the subject at all.
Darwin’s work on “The Origin of the Species” changed our understanding of humanity’s place in the scheme of things dramatically. Our creator works through change, and those who adapt well to changing times are more likely to have descendants in succeeding generations. This scientific understanding of the way the universe works has shattered many comfortable assumptions about our place in the cosmos. It initiated a paradigm shift that continues to reverberate through the centuries.
If we are descended from bacteria, as evolution now claims, are not all created beings our brothers and sisters? And the biblical stories must be understood not as the absolute, literal words of God, but rather as the inspired words of human beings about God. They enlighten and guide because they help us see our relationship with the Holy as humanity has understood it through the ages. We do not make an idol of our sacred texts. God is so much bigger and more mysterious than we will ever understand.
Paradigms are difficult to discuss or define because they represent the air we breathe, the soup we swim in, the unconscious assumptions upon which our lives are built.
For many centuries the world was experienced as flat. When Copernicus helped us to realize our Earth was round and revolved around the sun, a sea change in understanding began to unfold. This was a paradigm shift brought on by one field of science.
Darwin affected a similar paradigm shift in understanding for the biological sciences. His theory of evolution continues to be affirmed by every ongoing study of DNA, and every biological study currently known. To dismiss it as “only” a theory would be absurd. It would mean asking us rather to believe in a confounding trickster of a God who creates evidence of evolution at every turn but expects us to deny it all in favor of an ancient text’s six literal days of creation, 6000 years ago, despite all indications to the contrary. This would also ask us to believe God is a liar when it comes to physical evidence and only tells the truth in one old book, our Bible.
So a paradigm shift of one sort began with the publication 150 years ago of Darwin’s “Origin of the Species.”
But we are also celebrating Abraham Lincoln’s birthday today. That these two great men were born on the same day 200 years ago has been made much of in the media lately. Both men contributed greatly to our human understanding — Darwin in science, Lincoln in politics. Both men were very human. Darwin suffered from anxiety, Lincoln from depression. Neither was purely wise or without feet of clay. Lincoln’s decision to free the slaves may have been more based in expediency than on a belief in human equality. But debates aside, he stood for the dignity of all men (women would have to come later). He lived out the truth that human value is not based on one’s status at birth but on how one chooses to live. In honoring his legacy today we are honoring the potential for greatness in every one of us.
Lincoln caused a sea change in our understanding of the equality of all men. And as with all paradigm shifts, it has taken us a long time to reach this point in our history now where the implications of the Emancipation Proclamation could be evidenced so clearly as to elect an African American to the highest office in our land.
But the greatest paradigm shifter in Western Civilization’s history was not Charles Darwin or Abraham Lincoln. It was Jesus of Nazareth.
Jesus turned the world upside down with his teachings. First, the blessings of the poor, the hungry, the unhappy, the despised, while the rich, the satisfied, the happy and the praised are warned of woe, all flies in the face of every easy assumption we will ever make about life. It is good news for those who are in pain and troubling news for those who are comfortable. It challenges us to rethink our priorities, take the high and mighty off their pedestals and value more deeply those who most need our help and care.
Then he goes a step further and challenges us to love our enemies. His suggestion of generosity and going the extra mile are actually descriptions of nonviolent protest that bring dignity to the down trodden.
When someone asks for your cloak and you give them your shirt as well, in the time of Jesus, you are giving them all that you are wearing. You now stand naked before your abuser. And seeing the nakedness in another, let alone causing it, brings shame on the viewer.
And Roman legions were allowed to demand that any peasant on the road carry their load for one mile. To go the extra mile brought the guard under scrutiny and would have gotten him in trouble. So just keep walking!
Finally, when you turn the other cheek you don’t lie down to be walked on, you actually force the man to see your dignity and if he slaps you again, he’ll be using his “unclean” hand. You will bring shame on him again.
These acts, done in dignity and love, allowed the poorest and weakest to reclaim their dignity and helped the rich and powerful to see the shame in their actions. These same tactics were used by two other Paradigm Shifters in the 20th century: Mahatma Ghandi and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Paradigm shifts were everywhere in Jesus’ teachings. Loving those who are not easy to love tends to awaken all our senses. It challenges our foundations. It asks us finally to let go of our easy judgments and opens our hearts to the forgiveness that truly sets us free to live abundant lives. “A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over” with joy.
Jesus’ paradigm shift began some 2000 years ago. And within the first century after his death the theologians took over, putting his teachings and his life and death on an impossible pedestal, telling us to worship him without necessarily living up to the implications of his teachings.
And what are those implications? Today we begin to see, as Darwin showed us, that we are all one family of not just humanity but of all life itself. And as Lincoln showed us, emancipation and freedom for all is the birthright of all.
Jesus taught equality. He taught justice. He taught love. He turned the world upside down. We are only beginning to live out the implications of his new understanding.
It is a paradigm shift we are ready for. And we practice it every day as we welcome all people into our family of faith. We honor all life forms as best we can. We see our connection to others in the great need to address our global challenges.
And we do all this as scientists do, in incremental steps, linked together through our dedication and love for life. God is good. God is in the midst of us, indwelling all creation. All is holy. We are learning to honor life as Jesus did, with attention to those most in need. When others suffer, we too are suffering. There is no escaping our common bond with all of life.
So we awaken to our oneness. We renew our bonds with the Prince of Peace. We celebrate the lives of those whose discoveries have opened our minds and freed our hearts to live more justly.
Happy Birthday Charles Darwin! Happy Birthday Abraham Lincoln! And thank you Jesus for teaching us how to live! We appreciate the Paradigm Shifts and the Paradigm Shifters!
And now we are called to all be paradigm shifters. This is perhaps the most insidious and powerful teaching of the Christ. That each of us is filled with the Spirit of a loving God that indwells us with the power to be world changers. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ and all of us are encouraged to live out the teachings that will literally change the world.
How many of you take evolution for granted? I am mostly preaching to the choir when I lift up the significant contributions of Darwin to our human understanding. Although only 40% of Americans agree with us and 36% have no opinion on the subject at all.
Darwin’s work on “The Origin of the Species” changed our understanding of humanity’s place in the scheme of things dramatically. Our creator works through change, and those who adapt well to changing times are more likely to have descendants in succeeding generations. This scientific understanding of the way the universe works has shattered many comfortable assumptions about our place in the cosmos. It initiated a paradigm shift that continues to reverberate through the centuries.
If we are descended from bacteria, as evolution now claims, are not all created beings our brothers and sisters? And the biblical stories must be understood not as the absolute, literal words of God, but rather as the inspired words of human beings about God. They enlighten and guide because they help us see our relationship with the Holy as humanity has understood it through the ages. We do not make an idol of our sacred texts. God is so much bigger and more mysterious than we will ever understand.
Paradigms are difficult to discuss or define because they represent the air we breathe, the soup we swim in, the unconscious assumptions upon which our lives are built.
For many centuries the world was experienced as flat. When Copernicus helped us to realize our Earth was round and revolved around the sun, a sea change in understanding began to unfold. This was a paradigm shift brought on by one field of science.
Darwin affected a similar paradigm shift in understanding for the biological sciences. His theory of evolution continues to be affirmed by every ongoing study of DNA, and every biological study currently known. To dismiss it as “only” a theory would be absurd. It would mean asking us rather to believe in a confounding trickster of a God who creates evidence of evolution at every turn but expects us to deny it all in favor of an ancient text’s six literal days of creation, 6000 years ago, despite all indications to the contrary. This would also ask us to believe God is a liar when it comes to physical evidence and only tells the truth in one old book, our Bible.
So a paradigm shift of one sort began with the publication 150 years ago of Darwin’s “Origin of the Species.”
But we are also celebrating Abraham Lincoln’s birthday today. That these two great men were born on the same day 200 years ago has been made much of in the media lately. Both men contributed greatly to our human understanding — Darwin in science, Lincoln in politics. Both men were very human. Darwin suffered from anxiety, Lincoln from depression. Neither was purely wise or without feet of clay. Lincoln’s decision to free the slaves may have been more based in expediency than on a belief in human equality. But debates aside, he stood for the dignity of all men (women would have to come later). He lived out the truth that human value is not based on one’s status at birth but on how one chooses to live. In honoring his legacy today we are honoring the potential for greatness in every one of us.
Lincoln caused a sea change in our understanding of the equality of all men. And as with all paradigm shifts, it has taken us a long time to reach this point in our history now where the implications of the Emancipation Proclamation could be evidenced so clearly as to elect an African American to the highest office in our land.
But the greatest paradigm shifter in Western Civilization’s history was not Charles Darwin or Abraham Lincoln. It was Jesus of Nazareth.
Jesus turned the world upside down with his teachings. First, the blessings of the poor, the hungry, the unhappy, the despised, while the rich, the satisfied, the happy and the praised are warned of woe, all flies in the face of every easy assumption we will ever make about life. It is good news for those who are in pain and troubling news for those who are comfortable. It challenges us to rethink our priorities, take the high and mighty off their pedestals and value more deeply those who most need our help and care.
Then he goes a step further and challenges us to love our enemies. His suggestion of generosity and going the extra mile are actually descriptions of nonviolent protest that bring dignity to the down trodden.
When someone asks for your cloak and you give them your shirt as well, in the time of Jesus, you are giving them all that you are wearing. You now stand naked before your abuser. And seeing the nakedness in another, let alone causing it, brings shame on the viewer.
And Roman legions were allowed to demand that any peasant on the road carry their load for one mile. To go the extra mile brought the guard under scrutiny and would have gotten him in trouble. So just keep walking!
Finally, when you turn the other cheek you don’t lie down to be walked on, you actually force the man to see your dignity and if he slaps you again, he’ll be using his “unclean” hand. You will bring shame on him again.
These acts, done in dignity and love, allowed the poorest and weakest to reclaim their dignity and helped the rich and powerful to see the shame in their actions. These same tactics were used by two other Paradigm Shifters in the 20th century: Mahatma Ghandi and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Paradigm shifts were everywhere in Jesus’ teachings. Loving those who are not easy to love tends to awaken all our senses. It challenges our foundations. It asks us finally to let go of our easy judgments and opens our hearts to the forgiveness that truly sets us free to live abundant lives. “A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over” with joy.
Jesus’ paradigm shift began some 2000 years ago. And within the first century after his death the theologians took over, putting his teachings and his life and death on an impossible pedestal, telling us to worship him without necessarily living up to the implications of his teachings.
And what are those implications? Today we begin to see, as Darwin showed us, that we are all one family of not just humanity but of all life itself. And as Lincoln showed us, emancipation and freedom for all is the birthright of all.
Jesus taught equality. He taught justice. He taught love. He turned the world upside down. We are only beginning to live out the implications of his new understanding.
It is a paradigm shift we are ready for. And we practice it every day as we welcome all people into our family of faith. We honor all life forms as best we can. We see our connection to others in the great need to address our global challenges.
And we do all this as scientists do, in incremental steps, linked together through our dedication and love for life. God is good. God is in the midst of us, indwelling all creation. All is holy. We are learning to honor life as Jesus did, with attention to those most in need. When others suffer, we too are suffering. There is no escaping our common bond with all of life.
So we awaken to our oneness. We renew our bonds with the Prince of Peace. We celebrate the lives of those whose discoveries have opened our minds and freed our hearts to live more justly.
Happy Birthday Charles Darwin! Happy Birthday Abraham Lincoln! And thank you Jesus for teaching us how to live! We appreciate the Paradigm Shifts and the Paradigm Shifters!
And now we are called to all be paradigm shifters. This is perhaps the most insidious and powerful teaching of the Christ. That each of us is filled with the Spirit of a loving God that indwells us with the power to be world changers. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ and all of us are encouraged to live out the teachings that will literally change the world.