M. Fethullah Gülen (II)

Universalism, for me, is a synonym for humility. When I do universalism well, I do not insist that if I cannot see God in someone's practice, that God is therefore not present. God may well be present, and the trouble be with my own eyes. If I visit someone else's world and do not feel "the greatness of faith to God," as Gülen put it, I must consider the possibility that I'm surrounded by a great faith that I cannot yet see.

Being a universalist, then, means acknowledging that since we all have access to the same Source of Grace, a failure on my part to recognize that Grace might be the root cause of any difficulty I have in engaging in worship with others. That is, if I join an unfamiliar group in worship and do not sense Christ in their* midst, then maybe their worship is not in spirit and in truth; some things called worship are not much related to acclaiming the worth of Christ. Perhaps, though, I simply haven't bothered to learn their language of devotion. Perhaps it's been easier for me to make fun of their carnivals than to be challenged by their understanding of holiness. Perhaps I have been a voyeur of sorts, watching their transitory firework parties without engaging my soul in their deeper joy.

Perhaps, in other words, I'm simply not paying attention to Christ.

Gülen writes: "...we sip the unsurpassable benevolence and joys from the hands of all these tribulations, because we have our beliefs, our connection to the Just One and our hopes! Those who do not recognize the trials and pleasures to be the product of the same will writhe in never-ending agony, while in our own atmosphere we see clearly that everything will be transformed into deep compassion. We taste a whole life, with its bitter and sweet facets like Kawthar, the blessed water of Paradise, in everything that we eat and drink, at every place that we inhabit, with all the beautifully divine discoveries of our own inner world."

It's not clear to me that Gülen would consider me someone who is capable (without converting to Islam) of tasting a whole life, but that is certainly my goal. Now I see through a glass, darkly; now I see in part. The more I see, though, the more compassionate I become- and the more compassionate I become, the more I am able to see.

I would be exaggerating if I said that I experienced a tribulation at business meeting yesterday. A chunk of focus, however, was on what strikes me as the liberal equivalent of handing one's tithe money to a Pentecostal businessman in exchange for specially blessed paper prayer mats: using small polished rocks to open chakras. I don't have much of an opinion on chakras in general, since I find my time rather occupied with trying to take my own religion seriously. Boiling major aspects of other people's faith down into something easily manipulable (and by the look of the little rocks, purchasable at the dollar store), though, irritates me quite a bit. It strikes me as disrespectful.

It's also idolatrous witchcraft, in the same way that those silly prayer mats are, but that's a different post.

I won't say that little polished rocks on leather cords make me writhe in never-ending agony.** I am reminded, though, that I am nowhere near tasting the whole life in every place I inhabit. I may be a universalist in theory, but I am far from a universalist in practice.

Christ, I believe that you are in all and with all; help thou my unbelief.

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*Even more likely: if I'm looking for Christ in their midst, rather than Christ in our midst, then who am I to criticize them for an apparent lack of Christ? If the group is them to me, then I haven't even shown up yet.

**Although it becomes more true when the oh-so-rustic leather is being displayed by vegetarians.