The book is
ETERNAL LIFE: A NEW VISION--BEYOND RELIGION, BEYOND THEISM, BEYOND HEAVEN AND HELL by John Shelby Spong. HarperOne, 2009.
I’ve begun what Bishop Spong thinks might be his last book (or maybe not). Because it looked interesting, and because I often read newspapers and books from the last page toward the front, I read the last chapter first. Next, the Preface (and the page of dedications), and now the first chapter. Among other things, I’m discovering pithy statements, a lot of reflection on his experience with the benefit of his mature perspective, and some statements that could just as well be mine, though to be sure, no one would pay to read my observations!
He writes in his very personal first chapter of his experience as a pastor helping families at times of grief. Spong understands now that many people viewed him as one of the professionals who are assigned the task of handling the matter of talking about death. (The three professional groups he identifies are undertakers, doctors, and pastors.) He writes:
I learned in that process that what [the grieving] perceived that I represented was far more important than anything I said, or did, and even more important than who I was or what I thought. It was humbling to learn that my ministry was deeply symbolic and not really about either my being or my doing. (p. 7)Yup. Been there. Did that. Got an honorarium.
I do not mean to demean a pastor’s attentiveness to task or what such a person might mean in her/his presence, words, or works with a dying person or a grieving family. But I do understand in my spirit that the pastoral importance is likely to be valued because the pastor is a flesh-and-blood symbol or stand-in for the presence of Christ.
“What a friend we have in Jesus” is comforting, in part, because this is a friend who is identified with God, and in those crisis times, we want all the symbols of God’s care that we can gather to us! I recall being a stand-in for a stand-in in a place where I served. I was covering for a pastor of another denomination, and one of his parishioners died. The family dutifully called the pastor who was covering for their beloved young pastor. They really didn’t know me; I surely didn’t know them. Yet they expressed gratitude for my being with them that day as they “said their good-byes,” made the necessary calls, and tried to decide what to do next. It wasn’t MY presence they valued—they didn’t really know much about me, but I think it was the presence of God/Christ that I stood for that mattered. For my part, it was moving to watch a grandchild sit on the bed next to the body of her grandpa and say what she wanted to share. We really do need to talk about death!
So I continue now from the beginning, moving toward new beginnings. I know I’ll like this book. Bishop Spong mentions Bret Favre on p. 218.
Shalom!
dave
