In the 2000 Cohen Brothers’ art house film O Brother Where Art Thou, the quest for answers hangs heavily in the air.
A modern cinematic adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey, O Brother‘s epic journey for adventure, status, approval, and treasure is fueled by the longing of its protagonists — three escaped convicts in the 1930s South — to score big and find the missing piece to put life in its proper order.
An alternative title for the film could’ve been “Lookin’ for Answers.”
But another one might’ve been “Shortcuts.”
However wide ranging Ulysses Everett T. McGill and his underling cohorts, Pete and Delmar, travel in search of treasure, they always seek the fast and easy way to hoped-for success.
When the gang finds themselves swept up in the woods by a baptismal choir singing the folk hymn “Down in the River to Pray,” Delmar runs for the river, pushing his way past the other believers to throw himself at the preacher. Having thus been baptized, he’s never felt freer:
“Well that’s it boys,” he gushes, “I been redeemed! The preacher warshed away all my sins and transgressions. It’s the straight-and-narrow from here on out and heaven everlasting’s my reward!”
The problem is, within moments, even after Pete, too, heeds the call, the gang is back on the run from the law, scheming again for shortcuts to easy money.
Baptism, redemption, and Christ himself are merely an end, rather than a beginning, in their muddled quest for answers.
Renewing the Waters
I once had an acquaintance say to me, “It must be a great comfort to you to be a believer.” Perhaps imagining me to be a Delmar clinging to a spiritual get-out-of-jail-free card, this person made clear that she saw Christians as a deluded and simpleton lot whose quest for answers stops the day their embrace of Christ begins.
Apparently the news hasn’t gotten out there as much as we Christians might like that, while Christ does indeed provide comfort and redemption through grace and all-encompassing love, as a beginning, rather than an end, there’s little comfort in what that then asks of us.
Because what faith in — belief in — Christ asks of us is not to merely kick back, feet up, resting in the fine water, but rather to see as He saw, do as He did, love as He loves.
And that, my friends, ain’t easy.
To be in a regular state of personal review, brought again and again to the truth of our shortcomings as we ask ourselves how we can follow Jesus, be forgiving, demonstrate love, offer help, and rake our character toward the highest human aims does comfort in an ultimate yet nearly abstract sense. But it’s far from comforting in a daily, hourly, moment-by-moment sense. At least not all the time.
I almost make it sound no fun! Delmar’s short-lived new beginning has its appeal.
The mysterious and joyful reality, however, is that when we embrace living into the Christian life with fullness of purpose and openness of heart, even in those places where we face challenges and pain, or where we wrestle with temptations and stare down shortcuts, the “straight and narrow” is actually shot through with an uplifting tenor. We are washed clean with the waters of life. This grace is always available.
But how do we get there? What is our epic journey — or even just our daily quest? What are the brass tacks of bringing this to life?
Big Congregations and Little Congregations
Beyond the familiar and nourishing rituals of gathering as a congregation for Sunday services, Christian work happens in all that we do, every encounter, every moment. To that end it’s helpful — and often essential — to go deeper into what being a Christian really asks of us, to review and engage with others in smaller groups to flex our Christian muscles.
We need to talk to each other, probe stories from Scripture, and use our minds to try out ways of thinking through how Jesus and the Christian life are made fresh and relevant at the coffee shop, on the sports field, in our relationships, at work, just passing others while walking down the street.
Here at Trinity, we call Sunday School “formation.” And our Adult Formation class, which meets from 9:15-10am on Sundays during parts of the year, offers just such an opportunity to deepen, strengthen, enrich your life in Christ — and our shared life in Christ.
That’s why I’m so looking forward to our newest program, The Way of Love; Practices for a Jesus-Centered Life, which begins Sunday, March 13, at 9:15am in our Parish House fellowship room, McCracken Hall. From the video it looks great!
Drawn from the overarching Episcopal Church’s “Way of Love” approach, which it describes as, “More than a program or curriculum, it is an intentional commitment to a set of practices,” this framework offers a straightforward way to dive a little deeper into the real-world implications of following Jesus.
The structure revolves around seven key concepts — Turn, Learn, Pray, Worship, Bless, Go, Rest — where we can explore how, in practical and philosophical ways, we can refresh our life in Christ in thought, relationship, and deed.
Our seven-week Lenten Formation (which actually carries over into Eastertide) is led by our Rector, Father AJ, who, if you don’t know him, makes studying the life of Jesus feel new and relatable rather than stuffy and formal, even when it asks the tough questions.
He’s using a curriculum that he describes as tying “the seven practices to the Catechism from the Book of Common Prayer.” It’s grounded in the foundational principles of the Anglican and Episcopal Church and updated for modern people.
These formation meetings are very accessible to our lives today. Using short lectures and brief video sources we jump into group conversation to explore these seven ideas together, seekin’ answers that connect to our lives right now.
Death and Life in Lent
Father AJ mentions often these days that after Covid, approaching Lent with nothing but somber reflection is more than anyone can do. “We’ve already had two years of Lent,” he says.
Rather than feel compelled to only “give up” something for Lent, AJ suggests “taking something on” for Lent too. Or instead.
Taking on an intentional journey into Christian thought, the Christian approach, and Christian practices by coming to Formation to engage with this framework, to turn it over and mull it, to hear what others think, is a small yet meaningful way to make space in our lives for Jesus to be at the center, lighting the way with “the answers” that keep on answerin’.
Thank God — literally — that we also have a free coffee bar that opens at 9am! Sipping a relaxing cup of Joe while chatting with others before class sets the tone for a community of togetherness and inclusion.
All are welcome to our Formation classes where we live the truth of our church that “God loves you, no exceptions.”
That means Delmar, too. He’ll find that beyond a quick dip, the deeper waters are just as fine.
— Lindsay Curren, Director of Communications, Trinity Episcopal Church of Staunton
