In the beginning…
Radbam February 2nd, 2009
Like the real life tightrope walker of the indie hit Man on a Wire, we often find ourselves perilously traversing the vast expanse of our lives, delicately balancing between competing forces seeking to topple us into the abyss of inevitable uncertainty, imagined fears, or at the very least, profound embarrassment. The paradox of the current moment, the existential tug ‘o war buffeting many of us between the poles of Obamatism (Obama + optimism) and a 401K-half-empty view of the world has swayed much of our thinking in recent weeks about life’s larger concerns.
The Times’ David Brooks waxed moralistic about the tension between the demands of institutional morality in the face of individualistic need. The Editor’s of The New Republic, destined once again to become the in flight reading on Air Force One as it was in the Clinton years, surveyed the uniquely Obaman nature of this battle, pitting his campaign idealism against political pragmatism. Even the hoary rivalry of science v.s. religion is riding once more unto the breach of timeless mob pleasers.
This tension is as old as the Bible or even earlier, probably etched on the limestone of the Lascaux caves depicting Grog the Neanderthal thoughtfully considering whether to club a bison or his brother-in-law Greg the Cro-magnon, thus both taking credit as Great Provider while eliminating another mouth to feed. Rabbinic commentary on the Jewish Creation myth imagines God big-banging the world into being using the qualities of both justice and compassion. Both are necessary for an effective, successful universe. Too much justice and the draconian world of the Cylon has arrived. Too much compassion, and Sean Hannity’s bogey-man of a Nanny-state cradles us from womb to tomb.
This is the first blog post of what I hope will be an open-ended and open-minded conversation in support of my new book, Good God: Faith for the Rest of Us. Many of us struggle to find a place for ancient values in contemporary society. We revile the religious extremes of fundamentalism and atheism that suck all the air out of a more thoughtful discussion of faith and its role in our lives. There is a silent majority of us who seek meaning without dogma, transcendence without exclusivity, and purpose without the passion of absolutism. It is a balance that is both a struggle and a journey. But its resolution and realization can provide the foundation for the best of all lives. I invite you to join the discussion, check out the book, and stand up for a faith as mystical as it is reasonable, as inspiring as it is informative, as unique as it is universal.
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