Finding an Unseen God: Reflections of a Former Atheist by Alicia Britt Chole
I temporarily stopped blogging, but haven’t stopped reading… let me catch you up beginning with the book I last read…
Finding an Unseen God
Let me begin with the book I finished last. Incredible! Alicia Britt Chole captures my attention, with her need and therefore quest for understanding. In the past, I’ve been told, “Kendra, you know what your problem is? You are too smart for your own good. You need to stop analyzing everything, and just trust.” While I must admit, I’m flattered by the compliment, but ummm… just trust? Trust whom? The person handing out the compliment was actually referring to himself at the time. And instead of answering my questions, was just telling me to blindly accept what he was saying and move on. Tell my brain to “Shut up”. I say all this because what I adore about Alicia Britt Chole is that she refuses to be spoken to in such a way. She is absolutely adamant about getting answers to her questions. She even writes such ‘heresies” such as “it made sense to me that the Bible should be subject to whatever process any ancient manuscript underwent to have its authenticity verified”. Upon verification, she no longer questions its authenticity.
Alicia points to her father when explaining why she was at times a challenging student. She writes, “Dad taught me (1) respect is earned not automated, (2) do not question your opinion simply because someone else holds a different one, (3) treat everyone younger or older, as a peer, and (4) do not personalize questioning or being questioned.
I found all of this advise quite wise and thought provoking to say the least.
- “Respect is earned not automated”… what? You mean you don’t just respect a person just because of the office they hold? Oh, maybe you respect the position, but respect of the person is a completely different matter altogether. I can respect the position of a doctor. He went to medical school, then further training in his respective field, I can respect that. However, if what he is saying isn’t adding up, or if for whatever reason I have a question, or if there is something inside me saying, hmmm that doesn’t exactly sound right, then you better bet that I’m going to get a second opinion! I’m not going to just jump straight into extensive heart surgery because someone told me I should. Do you know how many crack jobs there are out there? If however, after much wise advise, good counsel, credentials, board certifications, and instances in which the doctor has actually listened to what I have to say, and I feel that the doctor actually has concern for my life, then yes, by all means, you have earned my trust. I’ll lay down on your operating table and let you whack away.
- “Do not question your opinion simply because someone else holds a different one”. I love this! For years, I have felt that just because others disagreed with my opinion, that mine was wrong. I have listened to others’ viewpoints on biblical truths, and questioned, because in my mind, it didn’t add up to the heart of the Word. And I could point to a hundred contrary scriptures to their points, but those were not heard. As I previously mentioned, in their minds, I just needed to turn mine off. At times, though they knew that I disagreed, I would just cave, and instead of sparking a debate, and stand up for what I knew to be true, I just did what they said, shut up and at least silently disagree. After reading this, it somehow freed me. I can be who I am, show who I really am and trust that my opinion might not always be correct, but at least, it’s not always the wrong one. After all, I too have the Holy Spirit living inside of me.
- “Treat everyone younger or older, as a peer”. I understand that if I treat everyone, even those younger than me as peers that it creates an even playing field. It allows for teachable moments when I can learn from those who would otherwise be known as “beneath me”. Heaven forbid!!! In addition, I have older friends (my initial thought was adult friends J) that offer me great wisdom. I will often turn to them when I just don’t know what to do, or when I have a crucial life decision to make. However, friendship is not a one way street, and to think that someone younger (be it younger in age, or younger in the Lord) could not teach me something is arrogant. And think that I don’t have anything to offer my older friends is taking lightly my giftings, wisdom, and ability to hear from the Holy Ghost.
- “Do not personalize questioning or being questioned”. I guess that if someone questions me, it is not necessarily a personal affront to me, it’s just a question. And in turn, when I have a question, don’t get offended, it’s just a question.
Alicia Britt Chole goes on to say that when we seek to assess our beliefs, we need to determine whether the “savior or founder is consistent at their core”. While she does affirm that our Savior and Founder is consistent at His core, she states that “as with political officers, so it is with spiritual leaders: few care to invest faith in a flake or a fraud.” She then lays out a set of questions that aid in assessing both the founder of any given faith and its spiritual leaders. She maintains, “A brain surgeon can perform a successful surgery while having an affair or evading taxes. But unlike a physician, a spiritual leader’s morality is their most convincing credential. I am not remotely implying that character imperfections void all spiritual contributions. But if a discrepancy exists between their teaching and their living, if we cannot be proud of their choices and emulate their treatment of others, we need to—at the very least—pause and take a sober audit of our spiritual investments.”
The next point that I wish to highlight is Alicia’s thoughts on the common thought pattern of our society; the all roads lead to heaven mentality or all religions are basically saying the same thing. She says it far better than I ever could, so I won’t comment, I’ll just tell you what she says.
“World religions are not saying the same thing, but that is okay because the religious pluralist either (1) understand each world religion better than those who practice it, or (2) is enlightened to the point where they can comprehend a reality (“all roads lead to the same god”) that either eludes or offends actual adherents of the great world religions. “ Brilliant. Enough said.
As I begun, so will I end, questions. She states, “The famous phrase from John Newton’s hymn “Amazing Grace” made sense: “I once was blind, but now I see.” And the more I saw, the more questions I had. What a relief it was for me to discover that this continual questioning did not make God nervous. Interrogatives do not irritate God. Emotionally charged query does not shut God down. Over the past quarter century I have come to the conclusion that God is, after all, rather secure.” Which leads me to believe that if someone has a problem, is irritated by, or resents my questioning, maybe he/she needs to get rid of some insecurity.
I’ll conclude with a quote from Alicia Britt Chole that resounds in my heart, “From time to time, one or two or twenty people have called me stubborn. (Personally, I prefer the adjectives clear-minded and purposeful.) Stubborn I may be. But stupid I am not.”
Chole, Alicia Britt. Finding an Unseen God: Reflections of a Former Atheist. Bloomington, MN: Bethany House, 2009