Where God Happens

There is an old film, made in 1960, that caused me to be a secret admirer of Hayley Mills, the British child actress whom I thought was about the cutest girl ever. The film was called Pollyanna.

Based on a book by Eleanor Porter, it was about an 11-year-old, unabashed optimist named Pollyanna, an orphan who lives with her stern aunt Polly. Nothing could shake Pollyanna’s view that life is wonderful, and since the book and movie, “Pollyanna” is used to describe a person who is unrealistically optimistic.

One movie scene features actor Karl Madden as the Reverend Ford, who has the listeners of his sermon – including Pollyanna – writhing in their seats in fear. He portrays what used to be called a “Fire and Brimstone” preacher.

“Misery Forever”

“Death Comes Unexpectedly,” he roars, adding that people who aren’t “born again” can expect “misery forever” in the afterlife. “Who is the man who thinks he can withstand God’s mighty wrath?” he asks.

If you think this kind of preaching has died out, think again. It was, perhaps, more popular in the radio era, but online, you can find lots of contemporary “Fire and Brimstone” preachers, and their messages find their mark.

That’s because lots of believers have a secret fear of God, even though they may not acknowledge it. It’s a legacy of preaching like that of the Rev. Ford throughout Christianity’s history and, in my view, from misreading the Bible.

Of course, many Bible passages, especially from the Hebrew Bible, depict God as demanding, violent and even cruel, or at best, aloof and indifferent. But in reading those passages, you have to keep in mind the religious culture of the time and recall that the Bible exhibits an evolution in our understanding of God and our relationship with God.

Changed Everything

Jesus’ message in the New Testament changed everything, though the culture in which he lived was violent and cruel – characteristics that still plague human beings. But the overwhelming message of Jesus is that God is a loving Father who is far from aloof or indifferent, neither about humans nor any of God’s creation.

“Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies?” Jesus asks in Luke’s gospel. “And not one of them is forgotten by God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered.” Addressing an audience the gospel describes as “thousands,” Jesus adds, “Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

Curiously, we have a hard time with this message, seeming to cling to the “old man in the sky” who arbitrarily awards and punishes us for whatever we do.

Land Any Parent in Court

Writes Tomas Halik, the Czech theologian and Templeton Prize winner in his book, Touch the Wounds: “Let us not seek the God … enthroned somewhere beyond the world, sending upon his children cruel punishments, the like of which would rightly land any parent in court. That god truly does not exist, and “atheists rightly maintain that such a god is simply a projection of our fears and desires.”

Regarding preachers like the Rev. Ford: “When they brandish a god who punishes us with wars, natural disasters, and disease…they replace the father of Jesus with a bloodthirsty pagan idol that thrives on the blood of human sacrifice.

“Like the prophet Elijah on Mount Horeb, we are more likely to find God in a quiet breeze – in the unaffected expressions of love and solidarity, and in everyday heroism generated in the dark hours of calamities. It is in those expressions of love and service, which restore our hope and courage to live and not give up, that true holiness manifests itself. That is where God happens.”

This is a message Pollyanna would embrace, and even if we’re not excessively optimistic, we should, too.