824 24 26018 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b60df09c4375d4019c707bf5f317ccaa.jpg 445bf6ead52693f1312b75f18a4e5c75 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Grand Valley State University Photographs Subject The topic of the resource Aerial photographs Universities and colleges Michigan Grand Rapids (Mich.) Allendale (Mich.) Building Facilities Dormitories Students Events 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s Description An account of the resource People, places, and events of Grand Valley State University from its founding in 1960 as a 4-year college in western Michigan. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource News & Information Services. University Communications Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/41">News &amp; Information Services. University Photographs. (GV012-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-03-03 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-NC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Permitted</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV012-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1960s-2000s Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Local Subject Subject headings specific to a particular image collection Copeland House 1970s Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 Title A name given to the resource Rejected design of first dormitory Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV012-01_UAPhotos_001578 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/41">News &amp; Information Services. University Photographs. (GV012-01)</a> Description An account of the resource Architect's drawing of rejected design of the first dormitory. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University Michigan Allendale (Mich.) Universities and colleges Architectural rendering Dormitories Facilities Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-NC/1.0/?language=en">In copyright - Non-commercial use permitted.</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives black and white photo https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/1253b6aab8f4f5fdac0e0d0a46f35663.jpg 259b8cd97fbe1897dc96a7472f779b0e Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Douglas R. Gilbert Photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R., 1942-2023 Description An account of the resource Photographs scanned from negatives and transparencies from the Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183). Douglas R. Gilbert (b. 1942) is an American photographer from Michigan. He was born in Holland, Michigan and is the son of Russell W. and Carmen (Andree) Gilbert. Gilbert earned a B.A. in social sciences and art at Michigan State University in 1964, an M.S. in photography from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in 1972, and a M.S.W. from Salem State College in 1993. He is married to Barbara (McDonald) Gilbert, and has three daughters, Robyn, Rachel, and Anne. Gilbert took a serious interest in photography at the age of fourteen. In 1963 he joined the staff of Look magazine in New York as the second youngest photojournalist in the magazine's history. As a Look photographer from 1964 to 1966, he photographed folk musician Bob Dylan, the Newport Folk Festival, Simon and Garfunkel, the New York City Financial District, the children and facilities at the Manhattan School for Seriously Disturbed Children. From 1967 to 1969, Gilbert did several shoots, including that of folk singer Janis Ian for Life magazine. After moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1969 to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology, Gilbert conducted notable photo shoots of business and political figure Lenore Romney, and pursued more personal and artistic photography, focusing on urban and rural landscapes in Illinois and Michigan. He then joined the faculty of Wheaton College, where he taught from 1972 to 1982. In 1993, Gilbert graduated from Salem State College, Massachusetts, with a Masters in Social Work, and later pursued a second career as a psychotherapist. Douglas Gilbert died in June 2023. Throughout his photography career, he pursued both freelance commercial work as well as artistic work. His art photography is characterized by its classic black-and-white format, and features people, places and objects shot great attention and sensitivity. Gilbert's works are held in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, and the Grand Valley State University Art Galleries, as well as in numerous private and institutional collections. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960-2011 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="%E2%80%9Dhttps%3A//gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783%E2%80%9D">Douglas R. Gilbert Papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Photographs Photography -- United States Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Image Type The nature or genre of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183_H109-0004 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1967-06-12 Title A name given to the resource Related Designs Interiors, New York City Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of the interior office space of Related Designs Interiors in New York, New York. In the photograph, the space features a midcentury modern table and chairs for office meetings and is decorated with a piece of contemporary artwork hanging on the wall. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Interior design--New York (State)--New York Midcentury modern (Architecture) New York (N.Y.) Office furniture Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783">Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1960s Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d6f2983cdde54477541140fb8a702b6e.jpg 91e72f6363692df2ce567706e7d7877c Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Douglas R. Gilbert Photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R., 1942-2023 Description An account of the resource Photographs scanned from negatives and transparencies from the Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183). Douglas R. Gilbert (b. 1942) is an American photographer from Michigan. He was born in Holland, Michigan and is the son of Russell W. and Carmen (Andree) Gilbert. Gilbert earned a B.A. in social sciences and art at Michigan State University in 1964, an M.S. in photography from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in 1972, and a M.S.W. from Salem State College in 1993. He is married to Barbara (McDonald) Gilbert, and has three daughters, Robyn, Rachel, and Anne. Gilbert took a serious interest in photography at the age of fourteen. In 1963 he joined the staff of Look magazine in New York as the second youngest photojournalist in the magazine's history. As a Look photographer from 1964 to 1966, he photographed folk musician Bob Dylan, the Newport Folk Festival, Simon and Garfunkel, the New York City Financial District, the children and facilities at the Manhattan School for Seriously Disturbed Children. From 1967 to 1969, Gilbert did several shoots, including that of folk singer Janis Ian for Life magazine. After moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1969 to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology, Gilbert conducted notable photo shoots of business and political figure Lenore Romney, and pursued more personal and artistic photography, focusing on urban and rural landscapes in Illinois and Michigan. He then joined the faculty of Wheaton College, where he taught from 1972 to 1982. In 1993, Gilbert graduated from Salem State College, Massachusetts, with a Masters in Social Work, and later pursued a second career as a psychotherapist. Douglas Gilbert died in June 2023. Throughout his photography career, he pursued both freelance commercial work as well as artistic work. His art photography is characterized by its classic black-and-white format, and features people, places and objects shot great attention and sensitivity. Gilbert's works are held in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, and the Grand Valley State University Art Galleries, as well as in numerous private and institutional collections. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960-2011 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="%E2%80%9Dhttps%3A//gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783%E2%80%9D">Douglas R. Gilbert Papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Photographs Photography -- United States Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Image Type The nature or genre of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183_H109-0011 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1967-06-12 Title A name given to the resource Related Designs Interiors, New York City Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of the interior office space of Related Designs Interiors in New York, New York. In the photograph, the space features a midcentury modern table and chairs for office meetings and is decorated with office plants and a piece of contemporary artwork hanging on the wall. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Interior design--New York (State)--New York Midcentury modern (Architecture) New York (N.Y.) Office furniture Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783">Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1960s Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/72a1e43f7e4903d82527c55768404264.jpg 55ce628c104461231256685f95562076 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Douglas R. Gilbert Photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R., 1942-2023 Description An account of the resource Photographs scanned from negatives and transparencies from the Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183). Douglas R. Gilbert (b. 1942) is an American photographer from Michigan. He was born in Holland, Michigan and is the son of Russell W. and Carmen (Andree) Gilbert. Gilbert earned a B.A. in social sciences and art at Michigan State University in 1964, an M.S. in photography from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in 1972, and a M.S.W. from Salem State College in 1993. He is married to Barbara (McDonald) Gilbert, and has three daughters, Robyn, Rachel, and Anne. Gilbert took a serious interest in photography at the age of fourteen. In 1963 he joined the staff of Look magazine in New York as the second youngest photojournalist in the magazine's history. As a Look photographer from 1964 to 1966, he photographed folk musician Bob Dylan, the Newport Folk Festival, Simon and Garfunkel, the New York City Financial District, the children and facilities at the Manhattan School for Seriously Disturbed Children. From 1967 to 1969, Gilbert did several shoots, including that of folk singer Janis Ian for Life magazine. After moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1969 to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology, Gilbert conducted notable photo shoots of business and political figure Lenore Romney, and pursued more personal and artistic photography, focusing on urban and rural landscapes in Illinois and Michigan. He then joined the faculty of Wheaton College, where he taught from 1972 to 1982. In 1993, Gilbert graduated from Salem State College, Massachusetts, with a Masters in Social Work, and later pursued a second career as a psychotherapist. Douglas Gilbert died in June 2023. Throughout his photography career, he pursued both freelance commercial work as well as artistic work. His art photography is characterized by its classic black-and-white format, and features people, places and objects shot great attention and sensitivity. Gilbert's works are held in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, and the Grand Valley State University Art Galleries, as well as in numerous private and institutional collections. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960-2011 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="%E2%80%9Dhttps%3A//gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783%E2%80%9D">Douglas R. Gilbert Papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Photographs Photography -- United States Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Image Type The nature or genre of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183_H109-0015 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1967-06-12 Title A name given to the resource Related Designs Interiors, New York City Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of the interior office space of Related Designs Interiors in New York, New York. In the photograph, the space features a midcentury modern table and chairs for office meetings, track lighting, and an office nook featuring wall shelving with books and periodicals, a small desk, and chair. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Interior design--New York (State)--New York Midcentury modern (Architecture) New York (N.Y.) Office furniture Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783">Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1960s Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/27dfa8e18e9902a0661ef77ebbbc9de0.jpg 452b1423d5f0e287d0812fd9d77f2753 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Douglas R. Gilbert Photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R., 1942-2023 Description An account of the resource Photographs scanned from negatives and transparencies from the Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183). Douglas R. Gilbert (b. 1942) is an American photographer from Michigan. He was born in Holland, Michigan and is the son of Russell W. and Carmen (Andree) Gilbert. Gilbert earned a B.A. in social sciences and art at Michigan State University in 1964, an M.S. in photography from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in 1972, and a M.S.W. from Salem State College in 1993. He is married to Barbara (McDonald) Gilbert, and has three daughters, Robyn, Rachel, and Anne. Gilbert took a serious interest in photography at the age of fourteen. In 1963 he joined the staff of Look magazine in New York as the second youngest photojournalist in the magazine's history. As a Look photographer from 1964 to 1966, he photographed folk musician Bob Dylan, the Newport Folk Festival, Simon and Garfunkel, the New York City Financial District, the children and facilities at the Manhattan School for Seriously Disturbed Children. From 1967 to 1969, Gilbert did several shoots, including that of folk singer Janis Ian for Life magazine. After moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1969 to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology, Gilbert conducted notable photo shoots of business and political figure Lenore Romney, and pursued more personal and artistic photography, focusing on urban and rural landscapes in Illinois and Michigan. He then joined the faculty of Wheaton College, where he taught from 1972 to 1982. In 1993, Gilbert graduated from Salem State College, Massachusetts, with a Masters in Social Work, and later pursued a second career as a psychotherapist. Douglas Gilbert died in June 2023. Throughout his photography career, he pursued both freelance commercial work as well as artistic work. His art photography is characterized by its classic black-and-white format, and features people, places and objects shot great attention and sensitivity. Gilbert's works are held in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, and the Grand Valley State University Art Galleries, as well as in numerous private and institutional collections. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960-2011 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="%E2%80%9Dhttps%3A//gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783%E2%80%9D">Douglas R. Gilbert Papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Photographs Photography -- United States Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Image Type The nature or genre of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183_H109-0024 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1967-06-12 Title A name given to the resource Related Designs Interiors, New York City Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of the interior office space of Related Designs Interiors in New York, New York. In the photograph, the space features an island tabletop and a woven wall hanging in the foreground and an office nook in the background. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Interior design--New York (State)--New York Midcentury modern (Architecture) New York (N.Y.) Wall hangings Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783">Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1960s Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/493c26adb2ad5545fbd68cc2cb5c532c.jpg f588d9e045d93940a87055a7ffdfa1d8 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Douglas R. Gilbert Photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R., 1942-2023 Description An account of the resource Photographs scanned from negatives and transparencies from the Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183). Douglas R. Gilbert (b. 1942) is an American photographer from Michigan. He was born in Holland, Michigan and is the son of Russell W. and Carmen (Andree) Gilbert. Gilbert earned a B.A. in social sciences and art at Michigan State University in 1964, an M.S. in photography from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in 1972, and a M.S.W. from Salem State College in 1993. He is married to Barbara (McDonald) Gilbert, and has three daughters, Robyn, Rachel, and Anne. Gilbert took a serious interest in photography at the age of fourteen. In 1963 he joined the staff of Look magazine in New York as the second youngest photojournalist in the magazine's history. As a Look photographer from 1964 to 1966, he photographed folk musician Bob Dylan, the Newport Folk Festival, Simon and Garfunkel, the New York City Financial District, the children and facilities at the Manhattan School for Seriously Disturbed Children. From 1967 to 1969, Gilbert did several shoots, including that of folk singer Janis Ian for Life magazine. After moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1969 to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology, Gilbert conducted notable photo shoots of business and political figure Lenore Romney, and pursued more personal and artistic photography, focusing on urban and rural landscapes in Illinois and Michigan. He then joined the faculty of Wheaton College, where he taught from 1972 to 1982. In 1993, Gilbert graduated from Salem State College, Massachusetts, with a Masters in Social Work, and later pursued a second career as a psychotherapist. Douglas Gilbert died in June 2023. Throughout his photography career, he pursued both freelance commercial work as well as artistic work. His art photography is characterized by its classic black-and-white format, and features people, places and objects shot great attention and sensitivity. Gilbert's works are held in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, and the Grand Valley State University Art Galleries, as well as in numerous private and institutional collections. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960-2011 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="%E2%80%9Dhttps%3A//gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783%E2%80%9D">Douglas R. Gilbert Papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Photographs Photography -- United States Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Image Type The nature or genre of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183_H110-0010 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1967-06-12 Title A name given to the resource Related Designs Interiors, New York City Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of the interior office space of Related Designs Interiors in New York, New York. In the photograph, the space features a seating area with four midcentury modern chairs centered around a coffee table. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Interior design--New York (State)--New York Midcentury modern (Architecture) New York (N.Y.) Office furniture Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783">Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1960s Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/dbdf92058694b5d2bac712805e4ee667.jpg f875968b6f19d30fbdd43d489ccb69fd Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Douglas R. Gilbert Photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R., 1942-2023 Description An account of the resource Photographs scanned from negatives and transparencies from the Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183). Douglas R. Gilbert (b. 1942) is an American photographer from Michigan. He was born in Holland, Michigan and is the son of Russell W. and Carmen (Andree) Gilbert. Gilbert earned a B.A. in social sciences and art at Michigan State University in 1964, an M.S. in photography from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in 1972, and a M.S.W. from Salem State College in 1993. He is married to Barbara (McDonald) Gilbert, and has three daughters, Robyn, Rachel, and Anne. Gilbert took a serious interest in photography at the age of fourteen. In 1963 he joined the staff of Look magazine in New York as the second youngest photojournalist in the magazine's history. As a Look photographer from 1964 to 1966, he photographed folk musician Bob Dylan, the Newport Folk Festival, Simon and Garfunkel, the New York City Financial District, the children and facilities at the Manhattan School for Seriously Disturbed Children. From 1967 to 1969, Gilbert did several shoots, including that of folk singer Janis Ian for Life magazine. After moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1969 to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology, Gilbert conducted notable photo shoots of business and political figure Lenore Romney, and pursued more personal and artistic photography, focusing on urban and rural landscapes in Illinois and Michigan. He then joined the faculty of Wheaton College, where he taught from 1972 to 1982. In 1993, Gilbert graduated from Salem State College, Massachusetts, with a Masters in Social Work, and later pursued a second career as a psychotherapist. Douglas Gilbert died in June 2023. Throughout his photography career, he pursued both freelance commercial work as well as artistic work. His art photography is characterized by its classic black-and-white format, and features people, places and objects shot great attention and sensitivity. Gilbert's works are held in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, and the Grand Valley State University Art Galleries, as well as in numerous private and institutional collections. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960-2011 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="%E2%80%9Dhttps%3A//gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783%E2%80%9D">Douglas R. Gilbert Papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Photographs Photography -- United States Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Image Type The nature or genre of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183_H110-0029 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1967-06-12 Title A name given to the resource Related Designs Interiors, New York City Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of the entrance door to Related Designs Interiors in New York, New York. In the photograph, the business logo is featured on the glass door entrance and a group of office plants are seen through the doorway in the background. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Interior design--New York (State)--New York Midcentury modern (Architecture) New York (N.Y.) Office furniture Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783">Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1960s Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/db540754aeb16dcf3a226486359e8297.jpg 0f0acba56243258085b56a56ffae4566 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Douglas R. Gilbert Photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R., 1942-2023 Description An account of the resource Photographs scanned from negatives and transparencies from the Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183). Douglas R. Gilbert (b. 1942) is an American photographer from Michigan. He was born in Holland, Michigan and is the son of Russell W. and Carmen (Andree) Gilbert. Gilbert earned a B.A. in social sciences and art at Michigan State University in 1964, an M.S. in photography from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in 1972, and a M.S.W. from Salem State College in 1993. He is married to Barbara (McDonald) Gilbert, and has three daughters, Robyn, Rachel, and Anne. Gilbert took a serious interest in photography at the age of fourteen. In 1963 he joined the staff of Look magazine in New York as the second youngest photojournalist in the magazine's history. As a Look photographer from 1964 to 1966, he photographed folk musician Bob Dylan, the Newport Folk Festival, Simon and Garfunkel, the New York City Financial District, the children and facilities at the Manhattan School for Seriously Disturbed Children. From 1967 to 1969, Gilbert did several shoots, including that of folk singer Janis Ian for Life magazine. After moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1969 to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology, Gilbert conducted notable photo shoots of business and political figure Lenore Romney, and pursued more personal and artistic photography, focusing on urban and rural landscapes in Illinois and Michigan. He then joined the faculty of Wheaton College, where he taught from 1972 to 1982. In 1993, Gilbert graduated from Salem State College, Massachusetts, with a Masters in Social Work, and later pursued a second career as a psychotherapist. Douglas Gilbert died in June 2023. Throughout his photography career, he pursued both freelance commercial work as well as artistic work. His art photography is characterized by its classic black-and-white format, and features people, places and objects shot great attention and sensitivity. Gilbert's works are held in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, and the Grand Valley State University Art Galleries, as well as in numerous private and institutional collections. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960-2011 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="%E2%80%9Dhttps%3A//gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783%E2%80%9D">Douglas R. Gilbert Papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Photographs Photography -- United States Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Image Type The nature or genre of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183_H111-0011a Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1967-06-12 Title A name given to the resource Related Designs Interiors, New York City Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of the interior office space of Related Designs Interiors in New York, New York. The photograph features a lobby view of the seating area and front desk, the filing cabinets located behind them, and the track lighting and artwork hanging nearby. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Interior design--New York (State)--New York Midcentury modern (Architecture) New York (N.Y.) Office furniture Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783">Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1960s Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/829d3fca2c3d788609c004d6e8fb6ee8.jpg 413cc890cc5201913350a5d0273d2632 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Robert H. Merrill photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1909/1950 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-222 Description An account of the resource Photographs, negatives, and lantern slides digitized from the papers of engineer and archaeologist Robert H. Merrill. A Grand Rapids native, Merrill held an accomplished career as a civil engineer. He founded the company Spooner & Merrill, which held offices in Grand Rapids and Chicago. From 1919-1921, Merrill lived in China, working as Assistant Principal Engineer on a reconstruction of the Grand Canal - the oldest and longest canal system in the world. Merrill became fascinated by archaeology, and among other projects, he traveled to the Uxmal Pyramids in Yucatan, Mexico, with a research expedition from Tulane University. Merrill's photo collection includes images of his travels and projects, friends and family. Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Merrill_LS00196 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource circa 1930 Title A name given to the resource Relief of horse and bison Description An account of the resource Black and white lantern slide of a Paleolithic relief carving of a horse and bison from Roc de Sers Caves, France. Subject The topic of the resource Lantern slides Drawings Cave paintings Archaeology Roc de Sers Caves (France) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c145835776f6e2a5a3c02897be01c144.pdf cdf214705b3729b5ec753f74a4b04d25 PDF Text Text � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource GVSU Sexuality and Gender Flyers Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Rainbow Resource Center Women and Gender Studies Department Women's Commission Gayle R. Davis Center for Women and Gender Equity Description An account of the resource Digitized posters, flyers, event notices, and other materials relating to gender expression and sexuality at Grand Valley State University, with materials spanning from 1974 to 2019. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1974/2019 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Digitized from collections at the Rainbow Resource Center (formerly the Milton E. Ford LGBT Resource Center), Women and Gender Studies Department, Women's Commission, and Gayle R. Davis Center for Women and Gender Equity. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Gender identity Gender expression Sexual orientation Women's studies Queer theory Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-09 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Language A language of the resource eng Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-09_SGF_LGBTQ_2009_Religion-&-Homophobia-Poster.pdf Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009-06-11 Title A name given to the resource Religion and Homophobia: Spiritual Violence in Our Community Description An account of the resource Poster with a synopsis on the topic, and information of the event, including the place, time and date. Subject The topic of the resource Sexual minorities Community centers Sexual reorientation programs Ex-gay movement Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Rainbow Resource Center Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Rainbow Resource Center https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4725abaf212ba5c3815eca98ae282e2f.pdf 51a6a7459d9b02b982a0d307c3824872 PDF Text Text Religion and Power: A Deadly Combination From the series: Good News Then and Now Text: Amos 7:13; Romans 13:1; Matthew 15:18 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan August 15, 1999 Transcription of the spoken sermon I initiated last week a series of messages that will bring us down to October 31, if we survive. That’s Reformation Sunday, and it is the week prior to the first two weeks in November, which will be special events here. The West Shore Committee for Jewish Christian Dialogue will bring Amy-Jill Levine, who will speak here on Sunday morning. Her theme for the weekend is "When and Why Did Christianity and Judaism Separate?" Amy-Jill teaches at Vanderbilt Divinity School, New Testament, although she is a Jewish scholar. Then, John Shelby Spong, Episcopal Bishop of Newark, will be here the following week to talk about re-imagining Christian faith and "Why Christianity Must Change or Die." Those two weeks will be the bookends of this series of messages. Amy-Jill will tell us how it all got started, and Bishop Spong will suggest where it must be going and, in the meantime, prior to their coming, I hope that I can help you to understand that change and transformation has been the rule for 2000 years. Often the Church would like to give the impression that it has a deposit of faith given once for all, that it is guarded down through the centuries untouched, but such is not the case. We started last week going back to the Apostolic community itself, recognizing the expression of that faith in the New Testament documents that give from beginning to end the impression that the whole of that Jesus movement was posited on the premise that Jesus would return as the Lord of glory very soon. The Gospels, the letters of Paul, the Revelation at the end of the book all give witness to the fact that there was an apocalyptic expectation, that is, that the heavens would open and that the Son of Man, the Son of God would appear to judge the living and the dead and bring to consummation all things, the imminent return of Jesus. And, of course, it didn’t happen, and it hasn’t happened for 2000 years, and reflecting back on that, there is a growing awareness and recognition over the last century or so that it was that disappointed expectation that provided the womb out of which the whole Church as an institution developed in its organizational structure, in its liturgical forms, in its creedal formulations. How we are, how we live, how we believe is the consequence of that disillusion because of the delay of © Grand Valley State University   �Religion and Power Richard A. Rhem Page 2   the parousia. The fact that Jesus did not return, that imminent expectation was shattered and, consequently, they found themselves in a world whose history was going on. They found themselves in a life that they had to learn how to live as followers of Jesus. It’s all very understandable, all very normal, all very natural. But, it was a very great crisis, and out of that crisis we have the early emerging catholic tradition, catholic meaning simply universal, and that tradition in its early stages was full of conflict and tension, it was all over the board, it was very chaotic, as you can understand, everyone trying to make sense of that great event followed by the trauma of disappointment. What in the world is God doing? The early catholic tradition was the consequence of sorting all that through. What I want to do this morning, and I can only do it briefly, I have a two-hour sermon here, but fortunately you only have ten minutes, so I have to give you huge chunks of stuff and you’ll just have to take my word for it, although I could read to you all morning here. But I want this morning to suggest to you that, what appeared to be a very great providence - that this persecuted minority, this band of followers of Jesus became the established religion of the Roman Empire, and that establishment brought it great power, position, and prestige, and that which appeared to be such a blessing, as a matter of fact, was a great seduction which ended in the wedding of power and religion, so that for nearly 1000 years during the whole medieval development up to the eve of the Reformation, a Church in power became a very corrupt institution. Religious leaders don’t handle power any better than secular leaders. I think it was the British statesman, Lord Acton, who said, "All power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely," and what the Church became in the wake of that tremendous transformation, was an absolute institution. It was absolute in the control of salvation. It had the imperial sword to back up its claims and it is a chapter with dark shadows because the religion of Jesus, the servant, became the religion of a very dominant, prestigious institutional Church. I can’t possibly document that for you this morning. Let me simply point to, for example, St. Augustine, who early on was still looking to the sky for Jesus to return, but then he lived into the 5th century; he lived long enough to experience the sack of Rome by the barbarians, the fall of Rome. He wrote the first Christian interpretation of history called The City of God, and Augustine moved from an expectation of Jesus to return anytime to an understanding of Church history as being the millennium for that 1000 years which is referred to in Revelation 20. Now, I don’t recommend you go home this afternoon and try to understand the Book of Revelation, nor the 20th chapter, but there’s been a lot of "stuff" that’s come out of the 20th chapter which would appear to be a thousand years of peace on earth ruled over by the Messiah who returns. There are some who think he’ll return and take the Church out of history first. Those are pre-Millennialists. And there are some who think that he’ll come only at the end of that thousand years, which was kind of Augustine’s position, so post-Millennialist. The Reformers didn’t know what in the world to do, so they became a-Millennialists, and of © Grand Valley State University �Religion and Power Richard A. Rhem Page 3   course, I’ve tended to become a pan-Millennialist, that is, living with the confidence that everything will "pan out" in the end. I recommend that. But, Augustine made a move from expecting Jesus to return to dealing with the reality of the fact that history was moving, and of course, his idea of that millennium as the thousand years of Church history created all kinds of millennial fever as the year 1000 approached. Fully as much, maybe a bit more than we have today with all the Y2K hysteria. Augustine I point to simply as one for whom the reality of history, the reality of his human experience, forced him to adjust his understanding of that biblical story of the return and the reign of Jesus Christ on earth. But, what really happened to the Church, and my point this morning, is that it was brought into a position of domination. I know you’re familiar with the fact that the Emperor Constantine saw a sign in the sky and he believed it was the cross, and he heard a voice saying, "By this sign you will conquer," and he won the battle the next day at the Milvian Bridge in 312, and from that point on he converted to Christianity, although he wasn’t baptized until near his death; he was hedging his bets. But, his successors established Christianity as the state religion and, in so doing, created a powerful institution whose history is not a nice story. John Dominic Crossan, who was here in February, in his Jesus, a Revolutionary Biography, writes, Finally, about three hundred years after the crucifixion of Jesus, ... the Roman Emperor Constantine, believing that victory over his imperial rival ... near the Milvian Bridge had been obtained by Christ’s power, converted to Christianity. ...Constantine, wanting a unified Christianity as the empire’s new religion, ordered the Christian bishops to meet, under imperial subsidy, in lakeside Nicea... Obviously, resorts were popular then for conferences, as well. And Constantine had just one purpose and that was to rule out any theological differences. I imagine he said to the bishops, "Now, look boys, the accommodations are great, the food is wonderful, Happy Hour overflowing, I have only one concern - come out of there with a statement on which you can all agree. Eusebius, a historian of the times, is quoted by Crossan: Detachments of the bodyguard and troops surrounded the entrance of the palace with drawn swords, and through the midst of them the men of God proceeded without fear into the innermost of the Imperial apartments, in which some were the Emperor’s companions at table, while others reclined on couches arranged on either side. One might have thought that a picture of Christ’s kingdom was thus shadowed forth, and a dream rather than reality. © Grand Valley State University �Religion and Power Richard A. Rhem Page 4   But, Dom Crossan says, A Christian leader now writes a life of Constantine rather than Jesus. The meal and the kingdom still come together, but now the participants are the male bishops alone, and they recline, with the emperor himself, to be served by others. Dream or reality? Dream or nightmare? It is, of course, an example of the dialectic just proposed between the historical Jesus and the confessional Christ, of peasant Jesus grasped now by imperial faith. Still, as one ponders that progress from open commensality with Jesus to episcopal banquet with Constantine, is it unfair to regret a progress that happened so fast and moved so swiftly, that was accepted so readily and criticized so lightly? Is it time now, or is it already too late, to conduct, religiously and theologically, ethically and morally, some basic cost accounting with Constantine? It was the Constantinian establishment that brought the Church into a prominence and a dominance which eventuated in a decay and a corruption which brought about, eventually, a rending again of the body of Christ in the 16th century. The Church became the absolute institute of salvation. There was total control over the lives of people. Clergy such as Peter and myself through the authority of the bishops, through the mediation of the pope, who was the vicar of Jesus Christ on earth, would hold you totally in our control. We held the spigot of grace. We could determine to whom to offer the sacrament, and it was only with the sacrament received that salvation was possible. Cyprian, the great bishop and his famous phrase in Latin translated outside the church? No salvation. It was an absolute institution, infallible and inerrant in all of its teaching and all its action. It could not be questioned. Throughout that period there was even a struggle between the throne and the altar, the princes and the Church. And there was a period in which the Church dominated the secular powers, as well, until those secular powers eventually broke free and became dominant. The Church was an absolute institution and it dominated and it was its death. The great historian, William Manchester, in his book, A World Lit Only By Fire, describes the eventuation of that Constantinian establishment and that absolutizing of the institutional form of religion in the Church at the eve of the Reformation. He writes, ... The center of the Ptolemaic universe [still the universe where the earth is the center of everything] was the known world - Europe, with the Holy Land and North Africa on the fringes. The sun moved round it every day. Heaven was above the immovable earth, somewhere in the overarching sky; hell seethed far beneath their feet. Kings rules at the pleasure of the © Grand Valley State University �Religion and Power Richard A. Rhem Page 5   Almighty; all others did what they were told to do. Jesus, the son of God, had been crucified and resurrected, and his reappearance was imminent, or at any rate inevitable. Every human being adored him (the Jews and the Muslims being invisible). During the 1,436 years since the death of Saint Peter the apostle, 211 popes had succeeded him, all chosen by God and all infallible. The Church was indivisible, the afterlife a certainty; all knowledge was already known. And nothing would ever change. The mighty storm was swiftly approaching, but Europeans were not only unaware of it; they were convinced that such a phenomenon could not exist. Shackled in ignorance, disciplined by fear, and sheathed in superstition... That, my friends, was the state of the Church and the abuses that I cannot begin to recount here, are legion because the religious institution with human leadership had power. That, of course, was a total betrayal of the biblical faith. It was already in Paul’s day a question of how to live in accommodation with the secular power, the governing power. Romans 13 talks about that. And in the Gospel of Matthew we have already Matthew writing some 50 years after Jesus this little scene at Caesarea Philippi where Peter has the keys of the kingdom given to him, the preeminence of Peter. This was already the dealing of the authority question within that early Jesus movement. So, we’re dealing with things here that are part and parcel of anything human. But, Jesus, after he gives the keys of the kingdom to Peter and would seem to put such authority in his hands, follows that by saying "If anyone would follow me, he must take up his cross. If anyone would hold onto his life, he must lose it. If anybody would lose his life for my sake, he will find it." And when it finally came down, when the rubber hit the road, Jesus had a banquet quite in contrast to the one at Nicea in which he took bread and broke it and said, "This is my body," and he took wine and poured it out and said, "This is my blood," because Jesus was in the tradition of the Hebrew prophets who spoke truth to power and refused to be co-opted by power. Amos was just a farmer, he came to the royal palaces one day and began to preach and he said God is letting down a plumb line to measure the integrity of this kingdom, and that began to scare the counselors to the king, and so they called Amaziah, who was a hired lackey (a good king always hired a priest), and the priest came out and he said, "Hey, you farmer Amos, what are you doing here?" And Amos said, "The word of the Lord came to me," and the priest said, "We don’t need the word of the Lord in the royal palace. Go back and preach to your sycamore trees and never come here again." When you preach truth to power, you end up in the possibility of being crucified, but then you are only following the way of the one who even this morning says to us, in an open table, "This is my body; this is my blood," for the way of the Gospel is not the way of domination, control, and abuse, but is the way of grace, of © Grand Valley State University �Religion and Power Richard A. Rhem Page 6   compassion, offering the accessibility of God to all who are hungry and all who are thirsty. This is not the table of this congregation. This is not Peter’s table nor mine, nor these elders. This is the table of our Lord who invited those who would stand in solidarity with him to take bread and cup and go forth strengthened, not to dominate, but to die that the world might live. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/97f2cc0d348566bec0d848b170d9ed4c.mp3 001e11e8ce2bcd6a5618c2e8fa656bca Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost XIII Series Good News Then and Now Scripture Text Amos 7:13, Romans 13:1, Matthew 15:18 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19990815 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1999-08-15 Title A name given to the resource Religion and Power: A Deadly Combination Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on August 15, 1999 entitled "Religion and Power: A Deadly Combination", as part of the series "Good News Then and Now", on the occasion of Pentecost XIII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Amos 7:13, Romans 13:1, Matthew 15:18. Authority History of Church truth to power https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/dce48973f88522a56aa87981dafde6cd.pdf b8bc55b2597b349839d7b138124efd14 PDF Text Text Religion and Science: Can We Talk? From the series: Can I Honestly Believe? Text: Genesis 1:1; Psalm 19:1, 7; John 1:1 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan August 9, 1998 Transcription of the spoken sermon Shortly after I set my summer sermon series late this spring, The New York Times, U.S. News & World Report, and Newsweek all called to see what was hot, and they all selected this particular sermon as the subject on which they’d do a feature article. U.S. News and Newsweek on July 20, 1998, had articles: Newsweek, "Science Finds God," U.S. News, "Are We the Only Universe There Is?", and July 12, The New York Times featured an article on science and religion, "Cross Over the Line Drawn in the Sand," a major feature article. Well, I’m always glad to help them out. As a matter of fact, of course, I am kidding, but it is interesting that, having set the series and set for this week the question of the possibility of conversation between religion and science, there should have appeared within the last month those major features in the news media. It does indicate, I suppose, that the subject about which we are speaking is a subject of more than passing significance, and so I think that it is good that we within the religious community think from our perspective about the relationship between science and religion, because of the unfortunate history that we have had in the last couple of hundred years of the conflict between science and religion. The subject this morning follows in the series, "Can I Honestly Believe?" There is an inner logic to the series, I would hope, and I would hope that it is somewhat apparent. We began with the question, "Do We Need Religion?", to which we said, no, not if religion is a means by which we, somehow or other, stave off the wrath of an angry God. We’re all right. God loves us. We don’t need religion for that purpose. But I made the point that religion, all of the human religions, are really creative, imaginative constructs by which we respond to that experience of God. Religions don’t fall out of heaven, but human beings are encountered by that ultimate Mystery, and the whole human family has been aware of some presence, some greater reality that embraces us and from time to time seems to break through to our experience. The religions are the way in which human beings respond and give expression to that experience that has taken hold of them, and there are at least three dimensions to religion. There is the teaching, the doctrine, what we believe in light of the encounter. There is the ritual, the © Grand Valley State University   �Religion and Science: Can WeTalk? Richard A. Rhem Page 2   mode of worship, that by which we devote ourselves. And then there is ethics or a way of life. How, then, shall we live in light of this experience of God? So, religions are not necessary, but I think the human being is diminished and human community is diminished without the cultivation of religious devotion and the illumination of religious faith. If religions are human creations, then we can tamper with them without worrying about disrupting God or coming into some kind of lightening bolt. If religions are our human response to the experience of God, then they aren’t sacred; they can be improved upon; they can develop; they can change in the light of new insight. And perhaps the greatest challenge in light of the world in which we live and the information we have about the human situation and the cosmic reality, perhaps the greatest challenge to the religious community is the conception of God that we have. In Judaism and Christianity and Islam, the conception of God has been labeled Theism from the Greek word theos, and so, a theistic conception of God has been considered almost synonymous with belief in God. If one is not a theist, one is an atheist. But, I tried to point out that that is not really true, because the theistic conception of God which is in our scriptures, in our liturgy, in our hymns, that is a human conception concocted, constructed out of the response to the experience of God, and if our knowledge of reality develops, changes, as obviously it does, then it is possible, at least for some whose knowledge of the world collides with that conception of God, to seek to re-imagine God, to try to bring God to expression in a way that is more consistent with our experience of reality in our day. But, if we do that, then one might say, "How can I pray?" or "How do I pray?", because the heart of religion is the experience of communion with God, communication with that Ultimate Mystery that we can never reign in, never fully comprehend, but which breaks through to us and which we would respond to and with whom or with what or whatever we would be in communion with. How then do we pray? If our knowledge of the world has given us some dissonance with our old conception, our old image of God, then probably the problem’s in this book, because this book is the record, a faithful record of the authentic encounters of God with humankind. This book is the testimony of a people who were encountered by that Mystery, who believed heart, mind and soul, in that God, and who reflected that experience here. But how could they reflect it? Well, they could only reflect it in terms of their understanding of the world. And so, if this old book is the reflection of religious experiences that are two to three thousand years old, then the conception of the world that is the framework by which they brought to expression their experience of God is also two to three thousand years old, and so, what we had to say is, "How does the Bible function?, How ought the Bible to function? Does the Bible tell me so, as it says it in the Bible? Is it so?" We say, "No, it’s not necessarily so," because what the Bible is about is the expression of the reality of the experience of God, but it’s dressed in garments that come out of an ancient time and therefore, if the Bible talks about the physical world, it’s going to talk about the physical world as it was © Grand Valley State University �Religion and Science: Can WeTalk? Richard A. Rhem Page 3   understood two thousand years ago. And, if our conception of the physical world has dramatically changed, then what we’re going to have to say is, "I can’t take the conception of the world from the Bible anymore. I have another conception of the world. But what the Bible is talking about, the experience of God in the world - that’s what I have to listen to." And that’s the same experience I’m seeking, so I have to learn how to use this Bible in a way differently than traditionally has been the case. But, I’m a praying man. I’m a believing human being. I crave the experience of God, and I can find that experience witnessed to in these pages. But being a human being, I am material, concrete, a creature out of the dust, as the Genesis account says. We call the first man Adam, but it wasn’t Adam, it was A-dam in Hebrew, which is dust, dirt, mud. The man, the human being is out of the dust, out of the earth, and that man out of the earth called A-dam because the earth in Hebrew is Adama. So, we have A-dam from Adama. In the Hebrew understanding of things, there is a consistency between the molecules and the amoebas and the dust of the earth and the human creature who becomes conscious of himself and of another, aware, able to transcend himself, jump out of his skin and observe it all as from the outside. Now, if I as a praying man am also part and parcel of the cosmic reality, how am I going to find my place in the cosmic reality? I can live in the mystical experience of God, but I also dig in a garden, observe the stars, and have to deal with the health or unhealth of my body. So, there’s got to be another way to uncover the cosmic reality of which I am a part and, of course, that is the way of the natural sciences. I have now a dual way of knowing. I have the religious experience and, if I want to nurture that religious experience, I go to this ancient text that tells me of others before me who had the experience of God, the experience of the Holy, who were invaded by the Divine Reality, and I find that this becomes a helpful pointer, also a conditioner that opens my life to that same encounter. But, when I want to know about the world of which I am a part, I can go to the sciences, whose empirical method of observation and experimentation will tell me about the concrete universe into which my life is laced. So, can there be conversation between science and religion? Of course, there can. Of course there can, because religion is asking the question, Why? Most profoundly, why is there something rather than nothing? Why are we here? What is the meaning of it all, and to what end? Those are religious questions. Science takes apart the "something." It describes what is there. It is a limited discipline. It has no business talking about the Why, or the Wherefore, or the meaning in the meantime. If science remains a science and religion remains religion, there are legitimate arenas in which they can operate and the conversation between them is absolutely essential. Unfortunately, there’s been a great conflict between science and religion and there’s enough blame on both © Grand Valley State University �Religion and Science: Can WeTalk? Richard A. Rhem Page 4   sides. There have been scientists who have thought that empirical data gave them the right to say that there’s no Creator and there’s no purpose to it all, and there have been religious people who have mistakenly taken this book and have gotten data out of this book about a construct of the world and they have said to the empirical observations of the scientist, "That can’t be, because the Bible says," which is really dumb. So, there’s blame on both sides. But, I don’t need to police the science corps. I need us, as religious people, from our point of view as a religious community, - it is so critically important for the church no longer to live in that sense of conflict and hostility, but rather to foster the conversation, because it knows that it deals in questions of the source of all being and the resting place of all being and, in the meantime, has no other basis than the scientific, empirical method to understand the being of which it is a part. Alfred Lord Whitehead, one of the premier minds of the century, has made a wonderful statement and in the first service I read it and I realized that it’s one thing to read it and marvel at it, and it’s another thing for you to try to hear it and understand it, and that didn’t seem to be possible. His point is this, that religions will not again regain their old power until they learn to change as science changes. By that he means, in the scientific method there’s always the questioning of every conclusion and, when a conclusion is dislodged by further data, science doesn’t experience a defeat, but it experiences a triumph. On the other hand, religion has set its conclusions in concrete and that mystical experience that it has with God which it communicates in the garments of this world, when those garments of this world, of the time in which the experience happened, are absolutized, and the religious truth of it all is identified with the way in which it is communicated, well then, when reality continues to unfold and when science is to explain more and more the mysteries of the universe and the whole religious experience is locked into a conception of things 2000 years old, according to Alfred Lord Whitehead, religion loses its credibility. Whitehead, a mathematician, a philosopher, is not being antireligious here; he’s concerned about religion. He says what has happened is that religion has lost its credibility because, every time there has been advance in knowledge and new understanding, a new breakthrough about the universe, about the cosmos, the church has said, "No, no, no, no, it can’t be, can’t be! The Bible says! The Bible says!" and then pretty soon it becomes so obvious that everybody knows it and then the church says, "Oh, yeah, it’s true." And so, 400 years after Galileo, the Pope apologizes. "Sorry, old boy, we put you on house arrest. You were right. We were wrong because we were reading the Bible for scientific, cosmological information which it doesn’t give." And that whole controversy, that whole adversarial climate has been detrimental to the whole religious enterprise, and it’s not over, folks. There is a fundamentalist mentality that is trying to establish the most impossible conception of creation © Grand Valley State University �Religion and Science: Can WeTalk? Richard A. Rhem Page 5   that one has ever heard. The old Creationism - Evolutionary debate still rages in the public school, for goodness sakes! And, as Whitehead points out, this doesn’t hurt science. This hurts religion, because we come off as blind obscurantists who block knowledge and refuse to accept what is empirically verifiable through the scientific method, and what we have to do is dissociate the religious experience, the mystical experience of God for which the heart longs, of which Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and David and Jeremiah and Isaiah and Paul and Peter spoke. The experience of God: we have to dissociate that, dislodge that from the framework, the garment in which it was communicated, and then (here’s the trick) - how can we who have experienced the living God bear witness to it in light of the marvelous, cosmic reality that is unfolding before us? I facetiously mentioned the articles in the news magazines, but there were a couple of good paragraphs, and at the conclusion of the U.S. News & World Report article there was the suggestion that maybe with the cosmology that we have now available to us, we may be learning that the cosmos is not running down waiting to, as a cinder, fly apart or collapse upon itself, but maybe, just maybe after 12 or 15 billion years, with the very recent arrival of the human creature who brings consciousness, awareness and voice to the cosmos, maybe, maybe we’re just at the beginning of exciting new breakthroughs, the future dimensions of which, who can dream? Homo sapiens may represent a youth movement, arriving at a time when almost everything is still to come. Dreary subjections about ultimate faiths may be supplanted by the belief that, like the cosmos itself, the human prospect is, as the physicist Freeman Dyson once wrote, infinite in all direction. In the first service was our resident cosmologist, Howard VanTil, who gave me a couple of pieces soon to be published in which he argues about the fully gifted creation. Now, Jacque Monod, a Nobel-winning biologist, has written a book, Chance and Necessity and, after his biological observations based on empirical information, Monod goes on to be a religionist, a philosopher who concludes that we have to accept the fact that we are alone in the universe that is deaf to our music and as indifferent to our hope as to our crimes and our sufferings. Monod is a first-rate scientist, but when he becomes a religionist, he says, "No purpose, not going anywhere, no meaning." He has leaped out of the limits of his own discipline, and that’s his faith conclusion. But, Howard VanTil suggests, grounded in his belief in a source of all being, that the "Let there be" of the first word was a creative word that endowed whatever was brought into being with the full capacity to develop into all the multiplicity of this marvelous universe of ours, the end of which, who can say? And I say to Howard VanTil, "You have just leaped out of the limits of your discipline, you’re now a person of faith," and he would say, "Yes, I am." And then I have to choose myself between a Jacque Monod who does his research and then as a person of faith says no meaning, no purpose, or Howard VanTil, who does his research and then says, "A source endowing the stuff of creation with the potential for this marvelous flowering and blossoming." So, you see, the conversation between religion and science can be © Grand Valley State University �Religion and Science: Can WeTalk? Richard A. Rhem Page 6   fruitful and exciting. But we need to remember the limits of science and then give them free hand and let them go and let every new surprise be a new cause for praise to the Creator. And we need, at the same time, while that whole development is there for our enjoyment and our investiture, to cultivate that relationship with God that comes only through prayer and meditation and openness to the spirit that is beyond empirical verification. The Psalmist picked up the theme of creation from Genesis and in Psalm 19, the first six verses, sang the glory of Creation that without words or speech sings the praise of God. But, the Psalmist knew more than the wonders of creation that pointed him to a Creator. This same Creator, he says, is Yahweh, the God of the Covenant, whose Torah, the way of life, comes to give me instruction and illuminates my way. And with humility and authenticity, that sense of that Ultimate Mystery Who has addressed him causes him to say in a moment of selfawareness, "Test me. Know my words, the meditations of my heart. See if there be any wicked way in me. Lead me in the way eternal, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer." And you and I can go even a step further and say that in the beginning when God said, "Let there be," there was a word that was the creative force that brought all things into being and, in the fullness of time, that word became flesh and there was a face, and in that face we said, "My God! What grace and glory." Not only in that face, but I see it in your face and in face-to-face community, strangely enough, there’s the presence of that One Who in faith we say, said, "Let there be," and in trust we claim will in the end make all things well. Well, it’s really quite simple and quite wonderful, if you get it. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a0e115bdeb91ad3544cb4566ead19abb.mp3 b62296b5771729140cda0d8e45b4d73a Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost X Series Can I Honestly Believe? Scripture Text Genesis 1:1, Psalm 19:1,7, John 1:1 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19980809 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1998-08-09 Title A name given to the resource Religion and Science: Can We Talk? Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on August 9, 1998 entitled "Religion and Science: Can We Talk?", as part of the series "Can I Honestly Believe?", on the occasion of Pentecost X, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Genesis 1:1, Psalm 19:1,7, John 1:1. Cosmic evolution; Emergence Religion as a Human Construct https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/176abaa85fa310d8c484686d366c4c53.mp3 c23d473f7a2b91607b158e8371efb64a https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e27fa7ae75d77643853299fecec7e4b4.pdf 3461431494c671dc8221549d3072c9dc PDF Text Text Religion as Illusion From the series: Religion: Significant Critique and Fresh Expression Text: Isaiah 43:3; Ephesians 4:13; Matthew 6:3 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan August 6, 2000 Transcription of the spoken sermon I have within reach of my desk chair a volume of The New York Times Magazine of some three years ago which has a bright red cover and big letters in black about God. It is about the God question, and there is article after article about the quest for God in all of the respective forms of that quest and the various religious traditions, as well as within our own country and within our own Christian faith. There is an interesting piece by Jack Miles. Jack Miles wrote the book, God: A Biography, which some of you perhaps read within the last two or three years. Jack Miles writes about the resurgence of religion and he says that what is happening is the dealing with questions that have been postponed too long, questions that finally cannot be put off, questions about the ultimate meaning of life. He makes a couple of points that are fascinating to me because I suppose one always likes to have one's own biases confirmed, but we have been talking a lot here about religion as a human construct, as a response to the mystery that is God, and Jack Miles says very clearly that the resurgence of religion involves not fascination with the mystery of religion, but with the mystery in response to which the religions arise. In other words, the resurgence of religion is a serious quest for God, or for the holy, the sacred, the ultimate. The religions are response. They involve all of the dimensions of that quest that seriously hungers and thirsts after the knowledge and the experience of God. He says one other thing that pleases me very much and that is, in order for religion to have broad social viability, it needs to have established its intellectual viability, at least by a few. The social viability for the many depends upon the establishment of the intellectual viability of religion by the few. He recognizes that there are only a few that have the interest, the fascination, the patience and the preparation to investigate the intellectual foundations of religious expression, religious faith. But, he makes the point that those few are very critical for the larger practice of religion because ideas count, ideas make a difference, ideas trickle down and shape the large majority of the population eventually, and therefore, it is critical that someone somewhere, that some people somewhere engage in a serious investigation about the intellectual viability of religious faith, © Grand Valley State University   �Religion as Illusion Richard A. Rhem Page 2   and we do that here. We do it here seriously and it cannot be engaged in, it cannot be executed for us today without our going through the nineteenth century. In the nineteenth century lie the roots of modern atheism and we have been looking at some of those brilliant thinkers who were atheistic in their posture and who were often anti-religious, believing that religion had to be jettisoned in order for humanity to grow up. It seems as though Ludwig Feuerbach had this idea whose time had come, the idea that God is a human projection, that our own selftranscendent capacity, our ability to step out of our skin and observe ourselves was simply absolutized and projected into heaven. What we really worship is a human projection. God is the ideal of our humanity to the extent that we are able to conceive it. Karl Marx took that idea and said religion is wishful thinking, it is consolation, it is a narcotic for the oppressed multitudes. "Religion," he said famously, "is the opium of the people." He was not severely critical of that, except that he said to the extent that religion dulls human awareness of suffering, of injustice, of what is wrong with this world. To that extent it keeps us from dealing with that wrong here and now. He saw the religious structuring as creating another world in which everything would be all right, all the wrongs would be righted and we'd finally have peace and satisfaction. So, Marx believed that to the extent that religion was a narcotic to dull us to the present, it allowed us to focus on another world, keeping us from dealing with that which had to be dealt with in order to transform the world and to bring about a just society. Sigmund Freud followed in the steps of Feuerbach, as did Marx, simply accepting the idea that God was a projection. There is no God "out there," so to speak, that there is no objective reality. Freud saw religion as illusion, as the consequence of our oldest, strongest, most urgent wishes, our human wish for security, for justice, for the prolongation of earthly life, for the future life. The oldest, strongest, most urgent wishes of humankind he saw as the seedbed of religion. He had it all mixed up with the Oedipal complex and the fact that the experience of the human race could be seen in the experience of a child, the helplessness of a child, the need for protection, looking to the father, the authority figure who is both loved and feared. The father, then, and the experience of the child, becomes the God figure that is projected outward, but, essentially, it is wish fulfillment, living by illusion. Illusion is not the same as error because the religious hopes and dreams cannot be demonstrated to be true, but they cannot be refuted, either. They are illusions; they are unfounded beliefs by which humankind lives in order to find comfort and to have hope and courage. Religion as illusion. Well, what will we say to that? In the first place, I suppose we have to recognize that much of what Freud said was true. Freud is the father of psychoanalysis, but probably also the one that made psychology in general a household word. Freud was a brilliant thinker, a careful analyzer of the human psyche. He is the one we © Grand Valley State University �Religion as Illusion Richard A. Rhem Page 3   look to as the one who uncovered that underground river of the unconscious which so powerfully influences what we think and what we do. There are so many insights that came through Freud that I'm not competent nor would I begin to try to give a synopsis of his thought, but he gave us brilliant insight into the human psyche and it was his conviction that our religious faith and practice is a childhood fantasy carried into our adulthood and that our religion is simply illusion. As I immersed myself again in these 19th century thinkers, I am impressed with the fact that they are brilliant. They are a century after the breakthrough in the natural sciences. The world was opening up; reality was opening up, and they brought to light scintillating insight. As I reflect on them in the light of my own education and training, my own nurture and upbringing, I realize what a tragedy it is that there was such an adversarial relationship between these 19th century thinkers and the Church. I suppose it was inevitable. It is probably a case of the chicken and the egg. I don't know if they were so nasty that the Church got its back up, or if they were so threatening that the Church became nasty. It may well have been the latter. But, as I see that history, I realize how much we have lost by being at enmity with some of the most brilliant thinkers of the past century. They were atheist and I think they believed that they had to be that and against religion to one degree or another, because only thus could they get the cobwebs out of our human minds and hearts so that we might grow up to come to maturity, that we might face the real world that was coming more and more to light. But, in that adversarial relationship between the Church and science, the Church and the human sciences, we lost a great deal. I saw a TV ad yesterday for Gore against Bush in which he had George Bush with a background of Houston, the smog capital of the world, and George Bush looks for all the world like he is hung over, and I said to myself, "How too bad." Of course, that's the real situation. They slug at one another and put each other down and do their best to make each other look ridiculous, but how unfortunate that that is the only way that we, the electorate, can be appealed to. There is no civil dialogue, no civil discourse, no setting forth of issues that are discussed intelligently, but rather, the other is made to look like some kind of a fool, and I thought about the way Dr. Freud was portrayed to me in my own education. He was really a bad man, a rotten man. He was really a reason why religion was in deep trouble because of his terrible threat, because of his thinking, because of his ideas. I so wish that someone at some point would have sat me down and said, "Look at the brilliant insights that are coming to light. If you could only hear them," because there is much religious expression that is illusion and there are an awful lot of people who cling to religion as a crutch in their weakness, their insecurity. There is an awful lot of lack of reality in religious expression in the Christian Church as well as other religions. Only when one comes to acknowledge that and understand that is one going to be able to put religion on a more sure foundation © Grand Valley State University �Religion as Illusion Richard A. Rhem Page 4   in light of the modern world. We have still in the traditional, classical paradigm of Christian faith, not come to terms with the knowledge that has come to light in the last two and a half centuries, and the critique of religion that has come forth in the nineteenth century is a significant critique that uncovered great weaknesses and vulnerabilities in the intellectual understanding of the faith, which in turn has its repercussions in practice and in life. What a shame that in the Church we have not had enough confidence to hear the critique that could open up to us new questions that could give us a new understanding and greater confidence in the expression of our faith and practice. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who took in, absorbed all of this trained development of thought of the 19th century and into the early 20th century and who, in his brilliant mind, able to assimilate all of that, got himself into a situation where, of course, he was arrested because of his conspiracy to assassinate Hitler, finds himself in jail, in prison thinking the faith. His Letters and Papers From Prison are a spiritual gem, a document that can keep one engaged for a long, long time. I have given you some citations in the back of your liturgy for your meditation this afternoon. But, what I love about Bonhoeffer is that, having taken in all of the critique of religion, he was able to admit to much of it. He spoke of man come of age; that was his classic phrase. He spoke of God being edged more and more out of this world in terms of the explanation for how things work. He acknowledged the present situation without arguing with it or trying to refute it. He said, "This is it. Now what will we do?" And he began to think about how Christ could be meaningful even to those who were without faith in God. He asked questions about religionless Christianity, what would it look like? And this I love, he said, "I want to confront people in their strength. I don't want to take rather healthy, well-adjusted, somewhat affluent people who are getting along just fine and try to convince them how miserable they are so that I can give them a Gospel pill to make them better." He said that is unworthy of the Gospel. Let us confront the human person at his or her very strength, with God. How does one encounter those who are doing just fine, thank you, those who are reasonably well-adjusted, reasonably happy, reasonably prosperous, doing a good job - how does one convince them that underneath there is a hunger and a restlessness which only the God quest can finally satisfy? How does one present God to people's strength, not to their weakness? How does one look them in the eye and not whine? This was Bonhoeffer's quest. This was the thing that occupied him and he was wrestling with the faith with a great intensity in those days of incarceration. I thought about Isaiah 43 because Bonhoeffer was certainly going through a dark valley. He must have known the very real possibility that any day his name would be called. But they say that in prison he was a shining light, a source of encouragement, the embodiment of hope, thinking as he was thinking about God and religion in the light of everything that he had understood and studied and become aware of, he was able, nonetheless, when his name was called to say to © Grand Valley State University �Religion as Illusion Richard A. Rhem Page 5   his friend, "This is the end, the beginning of life." He could kneel at the hangman's noose and commit his life to God. In other words, his quest, his engagement with the God question was not that which undercut his trust, but it was his trust that enabled him thus to query and to quest. He was able to ask those questions while experiencing what the prophet spoke of as that presence in the midst of the flame, through the rushing river. He was able to live as Jesus pointed us to in that Sermon on the Mount. He was in sync with reality as he understood it; the lilies of the field, the birds of the air, Jesus said, pointing to creation, to be able to be at one with that and to live with trust. I am not trying to say that Isaiah was not a theist or that Jesus was not a theist, for that matter. I am saying that in their understanding of God they were able to point us to a presence that would be with us, and one of the things that we struggle with in our own day as we try to interpret the faith and translate the faith is how to say God, how to image God, because it is that image of a theistic God, the governor of the universe pulling the gears and turning the wheels, that God "out there" who controls us and pulls the strings, that God that doesn't work for me anymore and for many of us. It is the re-imagining of that God that is the difficult task. But, it doesn't mean that one has to live without God, for one can believe that if God is God, after all, God will be sufficient for whatever comes. And to think thus and to wrestle thus is not in order finally to have an intellectual answer, but it is finally in order to have peace with God, to have that kind of confident non-anxious living to come, as Paul said, to maturity. Or, as Freud said, to grow up, to move beyond childhood illusions and superstitions and magic, to be able to think deeply and to entertain every idea and concept and every suggestion anywhere with a confident trust that somehow or other there will be a fresh expression. Paul said, "No longer being children tossed about by every wind of doctrine through the cunning and scheming of people like me." Think of Paul. Think of the transformation of Paul. Think of this passionate, deeply traditioned Jew who was able to turn around and to come to a new expression that enabled him to say in the face of Jesus, "My God!" You see, if we are not afraid, then we can ask the questions, clarify the questions and wait in the darkness if need be for the clearing and for the answer, but all of it is finally that we might rest in the Lord, having the presence through the flood and through the fire, and be able to take the name of the Lord upon our lips with our last breath, to be able to live and to die and to be all right. That is our quest. © Grand Valley State University � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost IX Series Religion: Significant Critique and Fresh Expression Scripture Text Isaiah 43:3, Ephesians 4:13, Matthew 6:3 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20000806 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2000-08-06 Title A name given to the resource Religion As Illusion Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on August 6, 2000 entitled "Religion As Illusion", as part of the series "Religion: Significant Critique and Fresh Expression", on the occasion of Pentecost IX, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 43:3, Ephesians 4:13, Matthew 6:3. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Divine Presence Nature of Religion Spiritual Quest https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6d3fd1aa30df4163f9d9ed08e23d0ec1.mp3 29b5c8141d5936fd0db39c089cac373d https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4540e21db0926f15d96182c32e2b6973.pdf 44cdc67dd6a0e239b12e4b4a44e8e69f PDF Text Text Religion as Prozac From the series: Religion: Significant Critique and Fresh Expression Scripture: Matthew 11:28 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan Pentecost VIII, July 30, 2000 Transcription of the spoken sermon I began last week a series of message in which I want to acknowledge the significant critique of religion that arose in the last century, and doing it in order that we might find fresh expression, in order that we might respond to those meaningful criticisms that were made of religion. The critique of religion in the 19th century was really a natural follow-up to the whole transformation of the landscape through the development in the 18th century of the scientific method, empirical investigation, actually looking at the world and observing, experimenting, testing. The scientific method which has shaped our whole modern understanding of reality, getting its full speed in the 18th century eventuated in the 19th century with the development we call historical thinking when people began to think about where they were in light of the past, how things developed, the history of institutions, forms and structures, religion being one of them. We began to understand that one can only understand the present in light of that which gave it birth and through its development over years or centuries or millennia. So, people began to think about their religious experience, for example, their religious tradition in terms of the history of its development, and began to see, began to understand that, as we said last week, religion is a human construct, that really all of the respective religions are human constructs. They can't be anything else. A Moses has an experience of a burning bush and I would say a genuine and authentic experience of the mystery that we call God. But, how does it come to expression? The only possibility is through human language, and if that is an authentic experience of the living God, a community will gather around it, and if a community gathers around it, there will be a teaching. Somehow or other a Moses will have to explicate that experience. Before long, there is a creed, and as a community gathers, it will have forms of expression, liturgies, rituals, prayers, hymns; that whole cultic experience will be produced. And then, of course, someone will say in light of that experience, then how should we live? And so you have the whole ethical domain. © Grand Valley State University   �Religion as Prozac Richard A. Rhem Page 2   We began to see that that is the nature of religion - a founding experience, a teaching, a mode of devotion, a way of life. And the reason that religion has been a universal human experience is that it is that exercise, that observance in which we are consciously and intentionally engaged with that ultimate mystery of things, those ultimate questions that drive our existence. Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going? What does it mean? What is the purpose of it all? Is there any meaning or purpose in this human existence of mine? Those are questions that are age-old; they dawn with the dawning consciousness of the human person, and they are with us still. They haven't run out of their legitimacy or their validity. They are the inevitable questions. An interesting thing happened in the 19th century. Along came those social revolutionaries and among those social revolutionaries, reflecting on the history of religion and seeing religion as dealing with those ultimate questions, was a thinker named Ludwig Feuerbach who recognized that the mark of the human being is that a human being can jump out of his or her skin and reflect on him or herself. We don't have a dog anymore, but I used to love to use our dog as an example. Hershey could look at me with those beautiful big brown eyes, but he never scratched his ear and said, "Here I am, looking at you looking at me." Now, I will do that. I might pause for a moment and say, "Here I am on this stool, speaking to you who are listening to me," and I might reflect on this moment. I might jump out of my skin and observe myself in this moment. That's a mark of being human. That's self-consciousness. That's the capacity for self-transcendence. Feuerbach recognizing that capacity for self-transcendence, said that is exactly what God is. God is the project, the product, the projection of our wishes and desires and fears and sense of dependence projected outward unto the screen of reality. God is simply the projection of man's own infinite nature. It must have been an idea whose day had come because it caught fire, it struck gold, it became the unquestioned assumption of much 19th century thinking. And then along came Karl Marx, who said religion is not just the projection of the individual's wishes and desires outward; rather, religion is the projection of society's hopes and dreams outward. Marx said Feuerbach dealt with the essence of the human, but that is an abstraction. Religion is really the result of people who are suffering, who are finding consolation in the promise of another world, a better world, a world where there are streets of gold and angels in attendance and the glory of God. Marx said religion is the opium of the people. Now, that from many pulpits has been pounded on and misconstrued, really. Marx was not criticizing religion at that point. Marx was saying the function of religion is to console people who are living in human anguish, and in that sense, it was a positive thing. It enabled people in dire human circumstances, which marked 19th century European mass population, to get comfort, consolation. In their human distress and oppression, they are consoled by the comforts of © Grand Valley State University �Religion as Prozac Richard A. Rhem Page 3   religion which is the construction of another world and another age, that gives them hope and it keeps them going. Now, Marx went further to say that because they are consoled and comforted, and because they are kept somewhat at peace, they don't see their world as a world that needs to be changed. They accept their oppressed situation, waiting for their vindication and eventual redemption in another world, in another time, and to that extent, Marx was critical of religion. To that extent, Marx believed that one had to tear the flowers off the chains that bound the human being, not simply so the human being would live with the bleak chains, but so that the human being finding that, in fact, we are bound and shackled, would throw off the shackles, and of course, Karl Marx was looking for that great social revolution. Marx was looking for the class warfare, for the workers of the world to arise and to overthrow the rulers of this world and to bring in the classless society, the Utopia, in which case he said, in Utopia religion will disappear because there won't be any need for religion. It will be superfluous, because in a classless society where all are living equitably and justly, there would be no need for the consolations of religion. And so, it will simply disappear. Lenin, following Marx, said not simply that religion is the opium of the people, but that it is opium for the people, and he charged the priesthood and the rich and powerful of the world, those who held the power, with intentionally keeping people in the shackles through the consolation of religion. He saw it as a scheme, as a conspiracy. Keep the people singing hymns so that they don't realize how bad their situation really is. That was the critique in the 19th century, a powerful critique of institutional religion and primarily Christian religion, Judeo-Christian religion, at least, and it is a criticism that had a great deal of legitimacy, for the Church did miss the boat with the working class, the masses of the European continent of the 19* century. There was a great alienation. I suspect that Europe in its post-Christian state today may be in part, at least, explained by the failure of the 19th century Church to deal with the actual social problems of the 19th century. There was a collusion of throne and altar and those who were in control and set the terms for society failed to recognize the alienation of the masses, and that was a legitimate criticism, the fruit of which we are reaping even today. There was another factor that Marx saw clearly and that was that religion was still claiming that it could explain the world rather than recognizing that religion doesn't explain the world, science explains the world. We were in that transition period when religion was still trying to say that in the Bible, for example, there is a knowledge of history and there is the explanation of scientific reality, the reality of our world, and it enabled Marx to show the backward looking, closemindedness of the Church. The Church has been dragged kicking and screaming into the kingdom at every point with the explosion of human knowledge. As I said last week, good religion will open the mind but traditional religion has © Grand Valley State University �Religion as Prozac Richard A. Rhem Page 4   characteristically sought to close the mind, and so there was that battle between exploding knowledge and the retro view of the Church and that enabled Marx' s criticism to be more poignant because it was obvious to those who sat up and looked. As a matter of fact, the world was exploding with knowledge while the Church lived in its benighted, dogmatic slumber. There was a significant criticism of religion and as always happens we don't believe strongly enough, we don't trust deeply enough in the Church and so we react very poorly to those criticisms. But, we can also look from the perspective of 100 or 150 years to see that, thank God, Marx was wrong. Marx was wrong in his analysis of social development and the way that history would go. Marx didn't foresee it all, that a dominant capitalism had the capacity to change and to become more socially sensitive. The great class warfare, thank God, never eventuated, and Marx's Utopia which was a figment of his imagination anyway, of course, never arrived. So, we can say that in his historical development and his view of the future, he was wrong. But I think the most fundamental way in which Marx was wrong is his failure to understand the nature of religion and this is really where I changed my mind about what I wanted to say this morning. Marx was saying, as a matter of fact somewhat positively, that religion is a sedative, it's a narcotic, that it dulls people to the pain of existence. Lenin, as I said, more negatively said that it is fed to people in order to bewitch them, in order to drug them and give them no sense of the reality of the life that they are living. And religion can have that manifestation. Religion can be an orgy. Once in a while I watch that late night television stuff and I see people totally entranced and at other times whooping it up in the pews and dancing in the aisles and blowing whistles and waving their hands and being slain in the Spirit, being absolutely like a cold mackerel at the altar, and I think to myself that is nothing but a narcotic. It reminds me of the person about the fourth row one week here years ago who started saying "Amen" and pretty soon waving the arms, and getting generally enthusiastic about the sermon, when an usher went up and tapped him on the shoulder and the man said, "I got religion," to which the usher replied, "Well, you didn't get it here." So, I look at some of that and I realize that religion can drug, it can be an emotional orgy. And then, this is where I changed my mind, I said to myself, "What's wrong with that?" Because Marx was right - it's tough to be human. Now, there aren't any that I know of here that would fit into that 19th century oppressed class for which Marx spoke prophetically, but what Marx thought was that religion was just a consolation for those who were oppressed. He failed to realize that religion is something far deeper in the human being, dealing with those ultimate questions which we, be we poverty-stricken, hungry and naked, or among the rich and the famous, have those questions that cannot be denied. Human existence is tough and we are all faced with those limit situations. We celebrate births, but children die and, as a matter of fact, we'll all die and what does it mean to be a part of this human scene? Those are questions that fill us © Grand Valley State University �Religion as Prozac Richard A. Rhem Page 5   with wonder and sometimes with deep confusion, and before it, we seek some meaning, some clue to what it is all about. Why are you here this morning? Why have you stuck with the Church when multitudes and multitudes and many of them clear-eyed and thinking people, have simply abandoned the Church? Why are we still doing this? I suspect because we still feel the need, the importance of community, of a supportive community in which we can engage in the human quest together, in which we can raise our questions, in which before the mystery of life and in its joys and in its sadness, we can be supportive of one another, a community in which we can experience care and express compassion. I suppose those of us who haven't left are simply giving evidence of an ongoing spiritual hunger and thirst. I said to someone not so long ago, most of the people to whom I could appeal have left the Church and most of the people still in the Church wish I had left. There are all kinds of spiritual hunger, all kinds of questions and all kinds of questings out in the world beyond the walls of the Church because religion is not just a matter of consoling people in their oppression as a kind of narcotic, a sedative against reality, but it is the quest, the human quest. Our religion is a human construct, but it becomes the agent and the vehicle by which we come into the presence of that ultimate mystery and are faced with those ultimate questions and find a community in which we can think together and reflect together and, in the meantime, find that supportive love and encouragement that enables us to go on in the midst of deep waters, through the fiery furnace, knowing that we are not alone. I found a piece in Cahill's Desire of the Everlasting Hills, which is a quote from Potok's Asher Lev, a story of Asher Lev, an observant Jew going into The Duomo in Florence, this great, grand structure, and, finding Michelangelo's final old Pieta, as an observant Jew, is transfixed by it and he stares at it. He said, I stared at the geometry of the stone and felt the stone luminous with strange suffering and power. I was an observant Jew, yet that block of stone moved through me like a cry... like the call of seagulls over morning surf, like the echoing blasts of the shofar sounded by the Rebbe. I do not mean to blaspheme. My frames of reference have been finally formed by the life I have lived. I do not know how a devout Christian reacts to that Pieta; I was only able to relate it to elements in my own lived past. I stared at it. I walked slowly around it. I do not remember how long I was there that first time. When I came back out into the brightness of the crowded square, I was astonished to discover my eyes were wet. (Thomas Cahill, Desire of the Everlasting Hills, p. 302F) Somehow or other, all of the human suffering, for Asher Lev, was gathered up in that sculpture and in a moment transfixed, the stone like a cry, pierced him. © Grand Valley State University �Religion as Prozac Richard A. Rhem Page 6   One never knows when or where that will happen. Authentic religion is the opening of the soul and the heart to that which will not be domesticated in our religious structures nor our creedal formulas nor our liturgies, but that which will address us as human, speaking to us of a mysterious dimension of reality that we can never grasp, but in the meantime, in the moment, it is speaking to us words such as, "All will be well. All will be well. All manner of things will be well." Religion is the poetry of the soul that lives in a world that can be explained by the natural sciences in terms of its structure of reality. Religion gives us the images that somehow or other inspire hope, that speak to that longing, that thirsting, that yearning for that we know not what, but we call God. Five or six years ago there were ten million people on Prozac and 80% responded favorably. That's wonderful. It's wonderful how our unbalanced chemistry can be brought into balance to enhance life and to make us alive, fully alive, fruitful and effective. So, all hail to Prozac. So, why not religion as Prozac? Why not in the midst of my sweaty existence, hearing a word like "Come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." I suspect you come here week after week for a phrase of a hymn, a paragraph of the scripture, a song, or the meanderings of a preacher and just maybe sometimes, now and again, there is the rifting of the sky and heaven shines through, and that's as good, maybe better, than Prozac, although it can be addicting. References: Thomas Cahill. Desire of the Everlasting Hills: The World Before and After Jesus. Anchor, 2001. © Grand Valley State University � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost VIII Series Religion: Significant Critique and Fresh Expression Scripture Text Matthew 11:28 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI References Thomas Cahill. Desire of the Everlasting Hills: The World Before and After Jesus,, 2001. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20000730 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2000-07-30 Title A name given to the resource Religion As Prozac Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on July 30, 2000 entitled "Religion As Prozac", as part of the series "Religion: Significant Critique and Fresh Expression", on the occasion of Pentecost VIII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Matthew 11:28. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Community Nature of Religion Spiritual Quest https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/345c6580f5f4d6192048901e67fe3f0a.pdf d11253dfd9b7a9e2f5eb563ec40e8910 PDF Text Text Religion Can Be a Monkey on Your Back Text: Romans 14:23; Isaiah 46:4 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan August 11, 1996 Transcription of the spoken sermon It's been suggested to me that there are those of you who keep wondering what's happening in the saga of Christ Community and the Classis of Muskegon - let me just say that on Tuesday evening there is to be a meeting of the Classis of Muskegon, and it would appear that the separation document which has been prepared will be passed. That seems to be the opinion. We're not lighting off the firecrackers yet, but nonetheless it would seem that we should soon be beyond this nightmare of the soul. It looks very favorable for us, and as if all things that we had hoped for would be in place, plus we would be in touch with the national offices of the Reformed Church in the next five years in a continuing conversation, which I think is also a positive thing. You'll probably get the press reports before I could tell you again, but if that is the case, we will have a brief meeting next week following the ten o'clock service. Well, all of that is about religion, and religion can really be rotten. Religion can be a monkey on your back. Religion can be one of the most depressing, dispiriting, draining, oppressive, manipulative, coercive, negative forces in the world. That's quite a confession for a preacher. When I was young and growing up, thinking about becoming a minister, I was worried whether or not God would last, whether or not God could be adequately defended, whether or not people would continue to practice religion. I guess I was worried that I might get to this point in my life and be out of work. But, as a matter of fact, I have come to conclude at this advanced age that the religious human animal is alive and well on Planet Earth and that religion is endemic to the human person, that there is something within the human being that will always make that person reach out in some fashion for something or someone who is beyond, some transcendent realm, some Beyond, some person, force whatever it may be - there is something within us that can only be filled with a connection with something that is beyond us. Here in the Church, we speak of God, and when we speak of God, we speak of the God Whom we've seen in the face of Jesus Christ, the God of Israel, the God of Jesus Christ. © Grand Valley State University   �Religion a Monkey on Your Back Richard A. Rhem Page 2   But, I'm talking about religion more broadly this morning. It's not just the Christian religion; it is religion as a phenomenon that I want to think about with you this morning. I have been thinking about it a lot in these past weeks and months - Religion. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, when he was in the darkness of the Second World War, incarcerated for his conspiracy against the life of Hitler, wrote his Letters and Papers From Prison, in which he plays with that idea a lot and he talks about what form would a religionless Christianity be. He recognized that religious practice can become religiosity, and he recognized that in the modern period, after a couple of hundred years of the development of the human sciences, that God was being edged out of the world, and so he talked about "Man come of age." Now, that statement became almost a model for the post-war decades, but it just shows how contextual our thinking is, mine included. But, any good preaching or any good expression of the word of God needs to be the word for that moment and that context, and so I'm not faulting Bonhoeffer for, in the depths of the darkness of the 20th century, speaking about man coming of age and God being edged out of the world. As a matter of fact, fifty years later, religion is alive and well, and while some of the traditional religious trappings have gone by the way, we find that we live in a day when there is a conservative religious reaction on the one hand and then, on the other hand, there is the New Age manifestation of a spiritual hunger within. A couple of weeks ago I used a few statements which we typed up in the bulletin insert last week - Carl Jüng's statement that in his practice of psychoanalysis there was not a case of people in the last half of their life that he could not trace back to their lack of meaning, and that lack of meaning was the consequence of the failure of any religious mechanism, religious ritual, religious practice, which ritual and practice was the means by which the person is put in touch with that which is beyond. And some of the statements about the youth, the younger generation that have been led into self-destructive behaviors and addictions and even violence because they have no frame of reference, no rooting in a religious tradition that is able to mediate to them that which is beyond them. I'm reminded of Hendrikus Berkhof, my old mentor, who once said, over against the youth of his day a couple of decades ago, that in The Netherlands, in Europe generally, he couldn't talk to that generation about Christian faith because they had absolutely no basis on which to make connection, and he said they're not the prodigals, they are the children of the prodigals, you see? The prodigal son left home and knew that there was a home and there was a father and, as we'll see in the next couple of weeks, he eventually went home. But, if the prodigal has children in the far country, the children don't even know there's a home. So, how do you begin even to engage in that discussion which can lead to a religious practice that is positive and that becomes a means for relating the individual to God, to that which is beyond? Because, if it is true that to be © Grand Valley State University �Religion a Monkey on Your Back Richard A. Rhem Page 3   human is to have a hole in us that can be filled only by God, then we, being human, will be in trouble if we have no place in which to rest our souls, if we have no mechanism, no means, no space, no place, no community in which to experience that connection – not that that connection cannot be and is not sustained and ought not to be sustained in our own personal and private lives, in our moments of solitude and so on. But those moments alone and those moments of solitude, I believe, are cultivated, are experienced only if we have been given some kind of frame of reference and if we are connected with community that corporately comes into the presence and acknowledges that presence - indeed, that worships, that occasionally is lost in wonder, love and praise. So, to begin with, I would simply say that I think religion is a potentially very positive and necessary part of human experience. Have you ever thought of giving it up? Have you ever thought of just chucking it? Have you ever wondered if you will keep at it? Or, have you taken a long sabbatical and maybe you've come back? I think if we think, if we're honest about our human experience and our religious experience, then probably there are those times when you say, "Hmm, Sunday morning again. The Chicago Tribune and a cup of coffee doesn't sound too bad. I mean, to have to shave and shower and show up…." Religion can be burdensome, it can be heavy. The prophet recognized that: Second Isaiah, the one who was prophesying in the sixth century before the Common Era. The reading that I did was a kind of mocking piece - "Bel bows down. Nebo stoops." These were the top gods of the Babylonian pantheon. And Babylon ruled the world - magnificent city of Babylon, the Babylonian Empire, the forces of which came in and decimated Jerusalem and brought the Jews into exile. And in that day it was just the conventional wisdom, the common understanding, that the winners must be in touch with the most powerful gods. And so, these Jews, rather dispirited, away from their own land living as exiles, said, "Well, the gods of Babylon must be it." But, the prophet of Yahweh, the God of Israel, had another vision of things. He could see that Babylon had its day. But, Babylon would soon cease to be, for on the horizon was Persia, and the Jews had all experienced on the New Year's Day celebrations how the Babylonians would take their chief gods and load them on floats and have their own little Coast Guard Festival, you know? The gods would parade through the city and people would bow down and throw flowers - "These are your gods, O Babylon." But now, the enemy's at the gate. Now there's panic in Babylon. Now they run to the temple, grab those statues and haul them out and put them on beasts of burden and sort of balance them precariously as they try to get out of town with their gods. So, the prophet of Israel said, "Look, the gods are going into captivity!" © Grand Valley State University �Religion a Monkey on Your Back Richard A. Rhem Page 4   A little humor there. They're dragging their nose in the dust as they're being dragged along by the oxen and the people are trying to save their gods. Now, that's an irony, isn't it? People have to save their gods. And the prophet says to the Jews that they're going to go home; he's announcing the salvation that God's about to bring. But he can't do it without this little aside, this little mocking picture of the gods of Babylon who cannot save, but need to be saved, who cannot bear, but need to be borne, who are not the God who lifts the burden, but who are gods that become a burden. I'm using that image this morning just to say to you that religion has a shadow side, and that religious practice, which at its best can lift and inspire and heal, can in the expression of its shadow side, become coercive and manipulative and become an end in itself, and it can become a burden, rather than a burdenbearer. We may not do as the prophet went on to say, we may not take some wood and some gold and some precious stones and fashion ourselves an idol and then fall down before it. But, let us not be deceived. Our religious practice also, in the Christian Church and really in all of the religions, can become an end in itself rather than being a mediating agency by which the grace and the peace of God are brought to people. Bad religion is one of the most destructive and potentially dangerous powers in our world, and I would have to say after all of my years of ministry, even though most of my contacts have been with Christian people in the church, I have to say in all honesty to you, I have seen people as damaged by religion as helped by religion. And I run into people all the time who have given up, have given up on the Church and given up on religious practice because of some hurtful, painful experience or some disillusionment with the exercise of religion in its institutional form. And I want us to think about that clearly this morning, because I want us to recognize that if we will be an authentic institution of religion, we must practice it so that its positive power is uplifting and inspiring, helping and healing people and not manipulative and controlling and destructive of the human spirit. You know what I'm talking about this morning? I'm talking about a God, the God of heaven and earth, the God Who is beyond us, the God Who is beyond our wildest dreams or our ability even to contemplate, the God Who has been revealed to us, the God Whose heart we see in the face of Jesus, but the God that we cannot pull down and domesticate in order that we might manage. But, do you see that that's the danger of religion, that we get a human form and a human ritual and the human institution and then we make it absolute? We identify it with the Absolute as though what we have in our religious view and the practices of our religious exercise, are identical with God, God's self, and then we become coercive and manipulative with that religious experience. What I'm trying to say this morning is that we may be incurably, inevitably religious. But, if we fail to see that religion is a human product, and if we absolutize it as though © Grand Valley State University �Religion a Monkey on Your Back Richard A. Rhem Page 5   it's divine, then we become dangerous people, and then our religion becomes something that's oppressive. Where did we ever miss the boat, anyway? Why can't we hear the word of God as it was read this morning, after mocking the gods Bel and Nebo who are being dragged through the dust out of the city in order to be rescued, in order to be saved? Why have we not heard Who God really is? "Listen, O House of Jacob, all the remnant of the House of Israel, who have been borne by me from your birth. I have borne you, carried from the womb, even to your old age, I am God. Even when you turn gray, I will carry you. I will carry. I will save." Five times over, I is repeated - I, I am the One, I will carry, I have made, I will bear, I will carry and will save. You see, religion that is good, that is positive, that is true, is religion that will say to people, "You are loved by God. You are being borne by God. You don't have to rescue God; you don't have to worry about God. You don't have to get panicky and in a frenzy about all of your religious exercise and all of your religious duties, so that sometimes you'd just like to kick it all over, you'd like to leave it all, you get weary of it." Don't we get weary of it? We have to support everything. We have to support the PTA and Easter Seals and the Church! We have to support the youth group and the Worship Center and we've got to keep worship alive. What if I don't come today? What if everybody decided not to come today? There wouldn't be anyone there. Poor Dick would stand on his stool all by himself. All of that heavy duty and obligation, all of that "ought" and "should", all of that "must", all of that musty religion that becomes oppressive and burdensome. I'd give it up, too, if I believed that that's what it was about. But, how do we miss the word of God? "I am He, even when you turn gray, I'll carry you. I made, I bear, I carry, I save." We get so hung up with our religion. Paul had to struggle when he wrote to the Church of Rome. He said, "Some of you keep one day, some of you keep another, some of you eat vegetables, some of you eat tenderloin. For goodness sakes, what does it matter? Why don't you just do what you do out of faith? Why don't you do what you do out of conviction? Why don't you be a person that lives out of your own center rather than by some template that's placed on you? Why don't you live out of faith, out of trust, why don't you be who you are and all the time know that, whether you live, you live unto the Lord, and whether you die, you die unto the Lord. So, whether you live or whether you die, you are the Lord's." Why hasn't the Church let people know that God is the One in Whom they live and move and have their being? Why have we threatened and condemned, judged and cast out? Why haven't we said to people, "Rest in the Lord"? Practice the sacrament of baptism, because in that beautiful moment, we are helped to know © Grand Valley State University �Religion a Monkey on Your Back Richard A. Rhem Page 6   that that child, a gift of God's love, is connected. We're connected. The water isn't magic. Elliot Brown was loved before church this morning as much as he'll be loved after church this morning. Can't we see the value and the beauty and the wonder of this sacrament without us getting into a great panic because some child failed to get baptized? We break bread and we take the cup and we experience in that moment a ritual action because it's filled with tradition and it's history and it becomes for us a moment of connection. But, would I be disconnected if I never took bread and never took cup? I wish we worshiped seven days a week. I'd make about six of them. I love it! I love it! The organ begins. Something happens to me. I need this place; I love this place. But, if I could never worship again, would I be less loved of God? For God's sake, no. Religion, when it becomes duty, when it becomes obligation, when it becomes coercive and manipulative, when it instills guilt and claims it alone can open the door of heaven - then religion has gone awry, then religion is rotten. Then it's a monkey on your back; you ought to take a sabbatical for a while, until you get good and hungry, until you can't stand it any longer. Then you come and eat bread and drink wine and let water flow down, and then, then you relax and you listen to the word of God who says, "From the womb, I have borne you. I will carry you. I will bear you up. I will save." Go out and tell your neighbors how good it is when religion is good, because a lot of them aren't here because they got a taste of it when it was bad. And when it's a monkey on your back, it's a disgrace to the Eternal God Who created us, Who keeps us, and Who will never let us go. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/78cb196dece63d44d34574758e0778d8.mp3 9aef241877ebf5fe31913d060b3fee86 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost XI Scripture Text Isaiah 46:4, Romans 14:23 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19960811 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1996-08-11 Title A name given to the resource Religion Can Be a Monkey On Your Back Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on August 11, 1996 entitled "Religion Can Be a Monkey On Your Back", on the occasion of Pentecost XI, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 46:4, Romans 14:23. Faithful God Inclsive Love Nature of Religion Spiritual Quest https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9073add7a8137211f80237522884aa26.mp3 57aed479e1ff50d7aad2361b2159fd34 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/55610773190b4889fd30ac3be3a70103.pdf 7e3ba49d87605e6082114930d46cdc15 PDF Text Text Religion Made On Earth From the series: Religion: Significant Critique and Fresh Expression Text: Isaiah 44:18; Acts 17:27-28 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan July 23, 2000 Transcription of the spoken sermon Today and for a few weeks to follow I want to speak to you about religion in order that we might understand more clearly that in which we are engaged as a worshiping community. I want us to consider the nature of this phenomenon of religion which for us is still important and informs us not only in our worship, but also in our way of life. For many people, perhaps, religion is less important, and they have fallen away. And yet, back over the eons of time religion has been endemic to the human situation. As long as there have been those whom we would denominate human, we find traces of religion. The practice of religion is really the attempt of the creature to come into relationship with the Ultimate Reality. Call that Ultimate Reality what you will— God, the mystery, the sacred, the holy. Think of it in terms that are personal or think of it in terms of some life force, whatever that may be, and that Ultimate Mystery has been thought of in all those ways. As a matter of fact, human beings try to figure out what in the world is going on, who we are, where we have come from, and what will be the issue of our being here. Is there any meaning to the practice of religion? Is there any purpose? Is that meaning or purpose intrinsic in the process of itself, or is meaning something we bring to the process and create in the midst of it? All of those options are open. But I believe to be human is to be religious, because to be human is to live in the presence of a Mystery. We didn’t create ourselves. We are here by a grace or a fate, and we live and move and have our being. We live before a Mystery that is beyond us, that cannot be fully grasped but has been experienced— according to the testimony of people down through the ages who have encountered it in some concrete way. That Ultimate Reality breaks through, or bubbles up. In any case, to be human is to come at some point to recognize that life has an ultimate ground and source and to wonder about it. The religions of the world are human phenomena that are the consequences of someone’s experience, the © Grand Valley State University   �Religion Made On Earth Richard A. Rhem Page 2   results of which gathered a community or cult that developed a way of worship, liturgy, prayers, hymns, sacraments, and rituals of various kinds. The community, the cult, called those who followed that way to a way of life, an ethics, a morality. Religion is a human phenomenon, and what I want to say this morning in this first message is very simple, but if you really hear me, it’s very radical. You won’t hear it often in church, but I believe that it is simple and it is true: religion is made on earth; it is a human construct. Religion didn’t fall ready-made from heaven. There is no absolute religion with God’s stamp on it as over against all of the other religions practiced by the diversity of humankind. All religion is made on earth and is a human construct. If you could buy that, I wouldn’t have to preach anymore. We would recognize together that what we have is a story, a way of devotion and a way of life which is the consequence of long history. It is the consequence of some who had an encounter with that Mystery, told their story and created what has become for us the Christian tradition, flowing out of the Jewish tradition, and of course, the biblical tradition. One might ask, “Well, isn’t it true?” Is a sunset true? Is a poem true? Of course, it’s true. It is true in the sense that it puts us in communion with God. It satisfies the hunger of our heart. It elicits from us what is noble and best. It gives us a reason for being. It gives us a hope. It enables us to go on to tomorrow. Of course, it’s true. But religion is not true in the sense that a chemical formula is true, not in the sense that the hard stuff of the natural sciences is true. It is not empirical and verifiable. Religion is a judgment call. Religion is a choice. Religion is a response to a story. It is engagement in worship and community; it is the following of a way of life. Religion can be good or less good, but not true or false in a sense in which we deal with true and false in a world marked by the scientific method, empirical investigation. No, religion is a human construct and all of them alike are made on earth. Now if you can receive that, you will have learned a very radical and very important truth this morning. Oh, I suppose you know it and have known it for a long time, or you probably wouldn’t be hanging around here. But nonetheless, I want to underscore it as we begin a series of contemplating the nature and the function and the practice of religion. In the dawning of human consciousness there were those ultimate questions, the questions which arise because we are human, self-conscious and conscious of the other. The great religious traditions of the world are the consequence of communities gathering around a visionary experience, a founding story. © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �Religion Made On Earth Richard A. Rhem Page 3   The problem was, and still is, that there is also something intrinsic in our human nature that wants to take that which is valuable and good and helpful and absolutize it. We want to make it the exclusive way, the exclusive truth. We want to assert dogmatically that the visionary experience we have had, our insight, our intuitive grasp of things is the only way, is the only possible understanding, is the only door to eternal life. Monotheism, the idea of one God, was a step forward. To say God by definition is to say that Ultimate Mystery, that ultimate source of things. Finally there could be God and none other. There’s no problem with that. That was an insightful move. The problem is when, as a monotheist who affirms with some understanding that God can only be one, I claim that one is the God of my particular religious vision, rather than recognizing that my image is a groping after the Ultimate Mystery that lies beyond every concrete God image. In Babylon the Jews were in exile and they were losing their grip, and so the prophet, trying to get them to hang on to their God of Israel, writes this taunting, mocking piece in Isaiah 44. It is full of satire. “Look how stupid is this idol worship of the Babylonians. Craftsman takes a tree, cuts it in half, with half the tree he builds a fire, warms himself. He cooks his meal. And from the other half he shapes an image. And then he bows down and worships the image. How stupid can you be?” says the prophet. Not a very nice attitude. Did you catch that? How stupid can you be? The same tree: part of it for a campfire to cook over and to warm him, and the other part of it for an idol, a block of wood shaped and formed, bowed down before. How stupid! Oh, really? If the prophet had been honest and fair, he would have known. I suspect he did know some of the liturgy of the Babylonian cult. They weren’t stupid. They were fully aware that a block of wood shaped into an image was a mediator of the mystery. There are prayers in the Babylonian liturgy that plead for the God of heaven to come down and indwell this image so that God might have a concrete existence in the midst of the people. Hmm. Sounds like the word became flesh and dwelt among us. Maybe they knew what John knew when he said, “No one has ever seen God, but the only Son has made God clear, or revealed God.” The prophet was using satire and ridicule because he had this little rag tag band of exiles, and he was trying to hold them together for Yahweh God. It was harmless. That only becomes dangerous when a group manifests that kind of attitude and spirit and then gets power. If you have power to enforce your monotheism and your exclusive claim, you can become a very dangerous person. Someone once wrote that history is bound to be bloody when it’s made by people © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �Religion Made On Earth Richard A. Rhem Page 4   who barely understand themselves, yet declare that they understand God perfectly. Then they meet other people who think the same, only differently. And then you have the violence and the hostility and the bitterness that fuels so much of the unrest in the human family. This has always been the case and remains so in our day. Religion is a human construct. That doesn’t mean that it is not the mediator of revelation and saving grace. We believe that Moses was encountered by the living God, but the only way that could come to be a religious movement was through human language, human articulation, human formulation, human cult, liturgy, prayer, ritual, commandments, and a way of life. Every religion has those aspects. Every religion has a story, an experience, an encounter, a vision which issues in a mode of worship and in a way of life. But you see, if I would claim that my Christian faith or my Jewish-Christian, biblical tradition is true and true alone and the only truth, I would also be saying that Mohammed was just blowing smoke, that what happened to Moses couldn’t happen to anyone else, that the Buddha in his moment of enlightenment was not dealing with any ultimate truth breakthrough, that all of the founding stories of the great religious traditions were false, and mine is true. Well, we have dealt with that often enough here, but I am still struck with its ignorance and its arrogance. Every religion is made on earth. It doesn’t fall out of heaven. If it is a good religion, it puts earthlings in touch with heaven. If it’s a good religion, it mediates between humans and that Mystery whom no one has ever seen, nor can we know, apart from a gracious unveiling here and there, now and again. But religion is a human business. Religions are not all the same. Some are better than others in terms of the grace they mediate, in terms of the fruit that follows from the observance, and that can be discussed. As a matter of fact, what cannot be denied is that all of us humans who are religious are engaged in a structure of story, worship, and life which is a human construct. So then, how do you judge religion? Well, let me suggest a few things. Good religion opens the mind. It’s easy enough to say, but also indicative of the fact that there has been an awful lot of bad religion, because most religion has not been about opening the mind, but about closing it. It has been about the statement of an absolute deposit of faith beyond which one ought not to think. In other words, it has been about the creation of a box within which one can think all one wants to as long as one doesn’t get out of the box. © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �Religion Made On Earth Richard A. Rhem Page 5   But good religion will open the mind. Good religion will open us to the reality of this world. It will give us access to all of the sciences and the explosion of knowledge which is so amazing in our day—amazing breakthroughs in biology, for example, that deal with the human being; the Genome project, the DNA mapping, that kind of thing. We don’t need to be threatened by that. A good religion will say to us, “Go for it! Understand it. Be fascinated by it, and profit from it.” Good religion opens the mind. Good religion will help us to understand our own religion, and to understand the historical conditions of every religion. We’ll begin to see how other religions arose, how they developed, and why they are what they are. Without a kind of absolutism that says mine is true and all the rest are false, I’ll come to Isaiah 44 and say, “Prophet, I understand what you were doing in that context, but I don’t like your attitude. And you were not fair to Babylonian religion.” It will enable me to say to Paul, who comes to Athens and sees all the temples and all the statues and becomes frustrated and disturbed, that the Athenians were simply seeking the same ultimate Mystery he encountered. He was disturbed because he had this amazing vision. He was gripped by a vision. He believed that all of this imagery and all of these gods and goddesses represented in the city of Athens simply didn’t measure up to that which had gripped him and grasped him. He wanted to tell the whole world about the God of Israel who had become incarnate, not in a block of wood, but in a human face. And it is natural, good and right that he should have shared his vision, as long as he didn’t do as the prophet did and denigrate those who were groping after the Mystery. After all, that is what human religion is—groping after the Mystery. Good religion will help us to understand that. Good religion will give us a sense of why things are the way they are. For example, in our house right now, the aroma is marvelous. There’s a pork loin roasting. The clan is coming over. But we didn’t invite our Jewish friends. Because of the dietary laws, I wouldn’t invite my Jewish friends over for a pork loin. Now why did the Jews have a restriction against pork, or any of the dietary laws? They had a hygienic basis. I suppose they thought pigs were full of trichinosis, and they probably were, and it wasn’t healthy. It became a religious thing, but it had a very practical base. Now you tell a pig farmer today that his pork is not the “other white meat” and he will be offended, because those pigs live in palaces now. Well, then, the dietary law is not necessary anymore, is it? Not really. But is it okay still not to eat pork? Of course, it’s okay. But you’re not dealing with something that is part of the ultimate structure of reality. It is a choice. A Jewish person might say, “I belong to a Jewish community and we have dietary laws, so that when I eat, I am reminded of God. When I eat, the very way I eat, the things I © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �Religion Made On Earth Richard A. Rhem Page 6   eat, the things I don’t eat remind me that I am a child of God, the God of Israel is my God.” And that’s good. Or maybe there is something we can identify with a little more: the Sabbath, the Jewish Sabbath. What a wonderful institution! I commend it to you. I commend it to myself, for whom every weekend is shot to heaven. But I heard on the news last night that at Camp David yesterday the conversation between Barak and Arafat was casual. Why? Because it was the Sabbath. Now who knows what they really did in the bushes, but for the face of the world, the Sabbath was observed. Is that good? Sure, it is good. Does it reflect something in the ultimate structure of things? No. The problem is, if everybody was as observant as the Jew and an American Christian who is trying to get an Arab and a Jew together, you’d have the Arab Sabbath on Friday and the Christian Sabbath on Sunday. So you’d have Friday, Saturday and Sunday just written right off and you couldn’t get anything done. On the other hand, if three days were spent by our world leaders in the contemplation of Creation and God, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday might be more profitable. But is it something that is in the ultimate structure of things? No. Is it a fruitful, helpful choice? Absolutely. It is good for all of us to observe Sabbath, not because that is the way reality is, but because that reality constructed by us is a very good way to be. Good religion will help me to understand those things, so that I know that a lot of the things I do are arbitrary. They are judgment calls on my part, and the thing I have to be satisfied with is whether or not it is a means by which I am in communion with, I am in touch with, that Ultimate Mystery. Is it a way that is fruitful in my life? If it is good for me, does it have to be good for you? If something else is good for you, do I have to deny that the something else can be a means of grace for you? No, not at all, because religion is made on earth and it is a human construct. The point is that religion be faithful and fruitful in mediating to us that Ultimate Mystery that embraces us and undergirds us and overshadows us and gives us life as a gift and hope for the future. And then, good religion will lead to compassion. I am reading Karen Armstrong’s Battle for God. Incidentally, I talked to her in London last week and she is going to come here in October of 2001. She stresses again, as she stressed in her History of God, how all the great religious traditions call for compassion. Good religion will warm the heart. It will open the mind and it will warm the heart, and it will result in a compassionate people. A lot of good religion has a pretty bad track record, and we still haven’t been able to master that one. Did you see the ABC Evening News at 6:30 last night? I perked up my ears when they said there was a religious problem somewhere in the country. Well, it happened to be in a suburb of Chicago, Palos Heights. On the news screen was © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �Religion Made On Earth Richard A. Rhem Page 7   the story of a Muslim community that has outgrown their facility and they were going to buy a church building which was for sale in Palos Heights. Then the Palos Heights Reformed Church appeared on the screen. (I spoke there a few years ago, but they haven’t asked me back lately.) The Muslim congregation was going to buy that building until there was an uproar in this suburb of Chicago that is filled with many, many Christian people. And so the City Council offered the Muslim community $200,000 to just walk away, and they were going to do it until, bless his heart, the mayor said to his council, “Number 1, you say you’re going to use that for a recreational facility. A year ago you turned it down because it wasn’t large enough. Number 2, we don’t have $200,000 just to pay out. And number 3, the reason you’re doing it is wrong.” That’s right down the lake, folks. It’s not just a religious thing, it’s a human thing. It’s the fear of the other; it’s the threat of that which is different. Good religion will break through to us where we say it cannot be. The world cannot continue in all of the intricacy of the human community to live with that kind of paranoia, that kind of divisiveness, that kind of fear of diversity. Good religion will result in compassion, or it’s not worth anything it claims to be. Good religion will elevate the aesthetic tastes, because there was a day when the Church was the womb of the arts, of magnificent architecture, the beautiful paintings, the lovely music that moves the soul—all of that comes out of the spiritual center that is elevated by the encounter with God. I look around today and see such a terrible loss of the aesthetic sense and the deterioration of religion. Friends, to be ultimately committed to one’s faith and vision does not necessitate the claim that it fell out of heaven. To be totally committed and deeply nurtured in one’s faith vision does not necessitate the denial that it is a human construct flowing out of the human experience of God, winning its way through liturgy, prayers, and an effective way of being human. But to acknowledge that religion is made on earth is to be able to join hands and hearts and arms with all God’s children, for good religion will understand itself and feel compassion for the other. © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost VII Series Religion: Significant Critique and Fresh Expression Scripture Text Isaiah 44:18, Acts 17:27-28 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20000723 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2000-07-23 Title A name given to the resource Religion Made On Earth Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on July 23, 2000 entitled "Religion Made On Earth", as part of the series "Religion: Significant Critique and Fresh Expression", on the occasion of Pentecost VII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 44:18, Acts 17:27-28. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Compassion Pluralism Religion as a Human Construct https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2f5dbeea1e8e116d5a62918554c69200.pdf 11c2508024f7c570f806f2af36093130 PDF Text Text Religion: Binding or Setting Free From the series: Moving On To Maturity Text: Isaiah 46:3-4; Ephesians 1:17-19; Matthew 23:15 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan July 18, 1999 Transcription of the spoken sermon I hope you got up this morning and said, "Ah, Sunday. We get to go to church." If you got up and said, "It’s Sunday; we have to go to church," I hope you feel a little guilty for about five minutes, but not much longer than that. Religion ought to be an experience of joy and liberation, and Sunday worship ought to be the crown of it all, the time when we find inspiration and encouragement and new reason to live zestfully. I find that what I am dealing with this morning pops up on my chart quite often. The fact that religion ought to be a source of freedom. I would like to be known as the singer of the song of the soul set free. Some Lents ago I preached a rather strange sermon, admittedly; it was a sermon about the insurrectionist that was crucified with Jesus. Now, not the good one, you know. Everybody preaches on the good one. After all, the good one pleaded for mercy in the end and got this wonderful promise from Jesus. But I preached on the one that remained belligerent, cursing through his teeth to his last breath, finding therein something I thought rather heroic. I suppose because of my own Libertarianism and contrariness, perhaps. But I thought it was probably not biblically accurate, but interesting. However, someone got really angry with me about that and came in to see me, and said to me, "All you preach is freedom and grace and in my work, I find out that what people need are rules and guidance and discipline." And it was a moment of awakening for me. I think I didn’t react defensively, I just smiled and I said, "Well, they won’t get it from me." And it was a moment of awakening wherein I recognized that I am not a complete preacher. No one has ever accused me of balance. I think balance is boring, and balance ends up in making no point deeply, and I can’t be everything. I have been shaped in a certain way and had certain kinds of experiences, and that has enabled me to put my finger on what I discern is a very important niche to be filled - that is to seek to save people from religion, to set people free, free from religion, especially religion. And I have been doing that now for a long time and as this morning we continue in this series, "Moving On To Maturity," I simply want to say what I’ve said here many times but find that it needs to be said again and again because © Grand Valley State University   �Religion Binding or Setting Free Richard A. Rhem Page 2   there is something intrinsic in religion that tends to bind and cripple the human personality rather than setting a person free. So, this morning, let me say I am the herald of good religion that releases and sets free, and I would speak a word against that religion that binds the soul and becomes a burden to be borne, because there is a lot of religion that way. We need to recognize how religion arose in the first place. It didn’t just drop down out of heaven, and it is not something that God gave to us, but it is something that we have created in our attempt to respond to God in the early beginnings of what we call the human, the beginnings of consciousness, of selfconsciousness. There was the growing awareness of one’s existence, how fragile it is, how perilous it is, and inevitably with the emergence of the human come questions of meaning and of purpose. From whence have we come and whither are we going, and what is the meaning of it, anyway? Life with its passages and its perils is not easy to negotiate, and in the early dawning of human consciousness these deeply existential questions began to be asked, and then someone saw a bush that burned and wasn’t consumed. Someone entered the temple and it was filled with smoke and the pillars of the temple were shaking. Someone looked at a man and said, "The Lamb of God." Someone was going on the road to Damascus and a bright light encountered him and a voice spoke to him. In our own tradition, but we could duplicate that in all the great religious traditions, there was someone sometime who had some kind of experience and, to the extent that that experience spoke to the reality of his or her situation, and to the extent that as it was shared, it resonated with the experience of others, there was a gathered community and then a gathered community that became a tradition, and that experience was reduced to a teaching and a ritual through which one worshipped and a way of life. And so, we have the great religions that are based on a founding experience and have taken on a certain institutional form, and those great religions continue to serve people as life maps, to give orientation, to answer those alternate questions of life as we live in the mystery of our existence before that Ultimate Mystery that bears us. That’s the nature of religion. If you were here in May when we welcomed our eighth graders into the continuing pilgrimage of faith, you heard me say to them that all we could give to them was secondhand religion and that really is what institutional, traditional religion is - it’s secondhand religion, and I quoted a statement of William James in his Varieties of Religious Experience, where he said, "Such an ordinary religious person, his religion has been made for him by others, communicated to him by tradition, determined to fixed forms by imitation, and retained by habit." And that’s really true, when you think about it. There is the experience that someone else had. There’s the tradition that conveys it. There is the form by which it is fixed by imitation or repetition, and continued by habit. So, most of us are what we were born to be; we are within the tradition and that understanding with which we were born and nurtured, and our religion secondhand. Now, hopefully it becomes the occasion for fresh experience, for firsthand experience. But, institutional religion is, after all, a commodity which inevitably tends, in its © Grand Valley State University �Religion Binding or Setting Free Richard A. Rhem Page 3   institutional forms which are necessary, it tends to become a burden rather than that which lifts the burden. It tends to become another obligation for which we feel responsible and it becomes burdensome. Second Isaiah, with the Jews in exile in Babylon, gives us a marvelous picture of religion that has become a burden. Baal and Nibo were the chief gods of the Babylonians and the Jews in exile would see on New Year’s Day the grand processions of the images of the gods, down from their pedestals, taken on parade around the walls of the city. The problem with the Jews in exile was that it seemed to them that these gods must be the chief gods because where was their God? They were in exile; they were in captivity. So, the prophet has to remind them that their God is the creator of the heavens and the earth. He has to have them remember who their God really is, and in drawing this picture with a little satire and humor, he pictures the images of the gods being taken from their pedestals and put on beasts of burden and carried out of town, not in a New Year’s feast, now, but because the enemy is at the gate and what they’re trying to do is save their gods. Now, if you don’t get a little laugh out of that, you see, their gods are going into captivity; they’ve got to rescue their gods! For gods’ sake, they have to take care of their gods! And the prophet says to them, "Look at them, carrying off their gods in order that they not be taken into captivity and their images can’t say a word, they can’t save, they become a burden to be borne." And then, in contrast to that, he sets forth these words from the Lord, "Listen to me, O house of Jacob and all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from your birth, carried from the womb, even to your old age, I am God. Even when you turn gray, I will carry you. I have made and I will bear. I will carry and I will save." God is not a god that needs to be rescued or a burden to be borne, but a God Who carries, a God Who lifts, a God Who rescues, and a God Who saves. Now, we can laugh at the silly Babylonians for putting all that stock in those images that they put on beasts of burden. Can’t you see the idols sort of tipping off because the poor, old beast can’t handle it and the idol’s nose is dragged in the dust as it’s going out of town in order to be rescued. And we can laugh at that, and the prophet intended this satire to be biting, but our religion so easily becomes that. Take, for example, the Church. Ask me about the Church. It’s not so easy to keep the machinery going; it’s not so easy to keep the budget up to snuff, and then all of the programs of the church - how many pulpit announcements don’t jerk you just a little bit, add just a pinch of guilt? And if you didn’t get up this morning and say, "Oh, thank God it’s Sunday; I get to go to church," maybe you were saying, "Oh, what a beautiful summer day. But, I suppose we’d better go to church. There was poor old Dick slaving all Saturday and he’s going to sit on his stool and nobody there, we’d better go." There’s so many good people who support religion for all the wrong reasons. I’ve known a lot of good church leaders that way. They remind me of what Mark Twain said, "A good man in the worst sense of the word." Think about that. © Grand Valley State University �Religion Binding or Setting Free Richard A. Rhem Page 4   I do thank God for responsible people and serious people and people who bear the burden in the heat of the day and who keep it going, but I have to tell you - it can turn religion into a burden and it misses the intention. It makes religion an end in itself rather than a means to the end of setting the soul free and finding a way to sing and shout and dance. Religion is a means to an end, it’s not an end in itself, and when it becomes organized and institutionalized and established well, it becomes something that has to be kept up. Just look around us today - all the stuff about religion in the newspaper, about plastering the Ten Commandments on every wall in the schools and in the courts. We want to have children pray in school. Why? Not because we’re so concerned about the spiritual life of people, but rather because we are afraid the morality of the nation is unraveling and we have to keep the Ten Commandments up there, and we’ve got to get children praying and we have to expose them to all this. We have to utilize religion in order to keep society from disintegrating and that makes religion oppressive; it uses religion; it makes religion a tool, and it sours us. Religion used for any other purpose than the worship of God, dancing before God Who sets the soul free, is bad religion, good for family values, good for community values, good for maintaining the civilization in the West, and all of that misses the point, and all of it abuses and misuses religion, and all of it makes religion a burden to be borne. In the Church, my philosophy over the years of programming has been do only as much as you have to. I never try to scratch where people don’t itch. The things that will meet human need are the things that will be supported, people will be there. Otherwise, you have an elaborate program and you plead with people to participate in these good things we have prepared. The whole society today is organizing all kinds of good things for me to do that I don’t want to do. I don’t need to do them, and the Church can be as guilty, and maybe more guilty than any other social organization in providing all sorts of "stuff." It becomes a burden, and the more serious you are, the more conscientious you are, the more you are inclined to support this project. It’s like the PTA - everybody ought to support the PTA, everybody ought to support the United Fund, everyone ought to support Boy Scouts in America, everybody ought to support the Cancer Drive, whatever drive there may be, and, for God’s sake, we ought to support the Church. A community needs a church. It makes for a good community. It just makes for better people. All such reasoning misses the point completely. We imitate the Babylonians hoisting their gods off the pedestals onto the beasts of burden and trying to guide them and keep them from falling, trying to get them out of town so the gods can be saved. I don’t think anyone here is into that kind of religion, but if there is, you really need a sabbatical - get cleansed of it or you’ll never be able to enjoy God. If your religion is heavy with obligation under the tyranny of ought, the musts, and the shoulds, you are burdened. Jesus certainly knew that. When I read the 23rd chapter of Matthew, as other Gospel passages of conflict, I always want to say the controversy is probably © Grand Valley State University �Religion Binding or Setting Free Richard A. Rhem Page 5   between Matthew and those he was in conflict with rather than reflective of Jesus in his time. However, certainly Matthew was reflective of the spirit of Jesus and the intention of Jesus, and one of the reasons that Jesus got into such serious trouble was that he didn’t support that kind of institutional religion that had become a burden, and in the 23rd chapter of Matthew we read, "You bind heavy burdens on people that they cannot bear and you don’t yourself." He said the scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat so when they teach, they are teaching you Moses, the Mosaic tradition, that’s fine. But, don’t do as they do." And in the conclusion to that chapter he says, "Woe to you. You go all over the world and make a proselyte and once you have a proselyte, you’ve made him twice over the child of Hell, binding heavy burdens on people, trying to make them religious and all of it turns upside down what it’s really all about, which is setting the soul free." Jesus was so strong against the conventional wisdom of his day that put people in their places and through their paces, and he violated all of the taboos in the interest of people with that sense he had of the graciousness of God. What we do with bad religion is scandalize God. What kind of a God is it, anyway? A stern, demanding parent who created us and then keeps us in our adolescence, treating us as naughty children. The biblical paradigm of paradise and fall adds to that. We’re guilty sinners. Are we guilty sinners? Well, let’s go to Kosovo, or let’s look into our own heart. Of course, we are. But, not because we have fallen from some pristine perfection, but because we are still clawing our way out of the jungle, and we haven’t made as much progress as we should have made. But, I will tell you what - that stern, demanding father doesn’t help any. Rather, it binds us in our rebellion and it keeps us in our immaturity. God is for us! This is what Paul was trying to say. If I had more time this morning, I could have read the whole first chapter of Ephesians, those first fourteen verses fairly soar as Paul talks about the eternal, everlasting grace of God, His loving us, knowing us before the foundations of the world and working things out according to his purposes. A grand, grand passage. And then Paul comes to address his people in Ephesus personally, where he says, "I pray for you that God will enlighten the eyes of your understanding, that the inner being will be illumined that you might come to know what is the hope to which he calls you. What are the riches of the inheritance which is yours, what is the power available to you, the very power and resurrection." Paul says, "Oh, I hope you’re getting it. I pray to God that He will help you to see it." You see, Paul was the one who had that pounding vision; Paul had his soul on fire and he said to these people, "It’s so grand, the grace of God is so big, so rich, so wonderful! I hope that you have come to see it." When religion is used as a means for everything else other than dancing before God , it becomes a burden to be borne rather than a gift to be celebrated, and it binds the human soul rather than setting free. © Grand Valley State University �Religion Binding or Setting Free Richard A. Rhem Page 6   I want to say this clearly this morning - there are religious observances that are important and helpful. Talking about religious observances, which I’ve been rather hard on this morning, C. S. Lewis said, "When we carry out our religious duties, we are like people digging channels in a waterless land in order that when at last the water comes, it may find them ready. There are happy moments, even now, when a trickle creeps along the dry beds, and happy souls for whom this happens often." Obviously I know that there are certain religious observances that we go through and sometimes going through them, there’s no electric shock, no lightning strikes, but we do have a pattern of religious life, and we do that because we know that, now and again, here and there, there will be a trickle of water, fresh breath, new insight, deep resting in grace. And so, we keep coming and we keep opening ourselves, and we keep practicing. But, all the time we know it’s not to keep the community healthy or the nations sound or our accounts square with a stern, demanding God, heavenly parent. But, we do it because now and again we’ve tasted grace. We know the taste of cool, running water, and we long more and more to be lifted by that experience. There was once a pastor who had a little boy who used to come down from the parsonage to the study on the parking lot here every morning to say to his father who was the preacher, "Daddy, what day is it?" The father would say, "Tuesday." "Oh, good." He would come down again, "Daddy, what day is it?" "Thursday." "Oh, good." "Saturday." "Good." "Sunday." "Ahhhh," and he would go into a wailing temper tantrum. Sunday; ugly Sunday. Well, God has a special grace for preachers’ kids, and the preacher was a stern father and a demanding heavenly parent type and he broke the child’s will and the child eventually came to church. But that story always amused me because I think it reflects the experience of many of us growing up. Sunday. Church. You don’t have to come, but come when you need to. Come, like digging up channels in a waterless land, and just maybe, just maybe there will be a trickle of water. And, if it’s rules and guidance and structure that you need, check down the street. But, if you need a shot of grace, I’ll see you every Sunday. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b417c72aa6ccfad27784669355fff6bc.mp3 2059f0baa4782ca6c32032d7e3b106fc Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost IX Series Moving On To Maturity Scripture Text Isaiah 46:3-4, Ephesians 1:17-19, Matthew 23:15 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19990718 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1999-07-18 Title A name given to the resource Religion: Binding or Setting Free? Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on July 18, 1999 entitled "Religion: Binding or Setting Free?", as part of the series "Moving On To Maturity", on the occasion of Pentecost IX, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 46:3-4, Ephesians 1:17-19, Matthew 23:15. Presence Religion as a Human Construct Ritual https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e8fe37a112257c26aace32ba40fc3346.pdf d7b3417b7cd2257d01e14bb1764cc202 PDF Text Text Religion: Has It a Future? From the series: Meeting God Again For the First Time Scripture: Romans 7:14-25; Mark 8:11-21 Dr. Duncan Littlefair Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan September 28, 1997 Transcription of the spoken sermon (Mr. Rhem) It is for me a very great pleasure and privilege to introduce to the congregation of Christ Community and our friends visiting with us today the Rev. Dr. Duncan Littlefair. My friendship with Dr. Littlefair goes back over a couple of years through one of those wonderful providences when a friend of his became a friend of mine, and we found ourselves on Tuesdays enjoying table fellowship and absolutely wonderful conversation. We meet on Tuesdays religiously. During the past couple of years in which we have been through some difficult waters, it has been a source of great encouragement to me to come to know Dr. Littlefair. His strength and his vision have steeled my purpose. As I said to the 8:30 congregation, when I reflected at the lunch table about the things we were dealing with, Dr. Littlefair told me that they had handled that 100 years ago at Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids and, when I came with some brave new insight, I found out that he had published it in a primer on religion 50 years ago. I don’t know why some of us are so Johnny-come-lately, slow to learn, if not slow to speak. As we gathered around that lunch table, it was obvious to me that there was fire in the belly, there was a sermon brewing, ready to be delivered, and so I broached the subject, asking Dr. Littlefair if he would be our guest at Christ Community. He has been in our worship and warmly affirmed us, but he goes a step further in giving us the gift this morning of his presence in this pulpit. I want to say to you very sincerely that I am deeply moved and greatly appreciative of his presence here this morning. Welcome, Dr. Duncan Littlefair. (Dr. Littlefair) You cannot be human without being religious. You may doubt that in the course of my presentation to you this morning, but I want it to be in your mind. You cannot be human without being religious. Now, there are very many levels of humanity, and there are equally many levels of religion. You can have a profound religion. You can have a trivial religion. You © Grand Valley State University   �Religion: Has It a Future? Richard A. Rhem Page 2   can have an intellectual understanding religion. You can have an ignorant religion. You can have a religion that is equal to the best of knowledge, or you can have a religion that is full of superstition, but religious you must be if you’re going to be human. Or, I like it better the other way, to be human means to be religious. There has never, ever been a people anywhere in the history of this globe (and that history goes back a long, long way now; we’ve extended it enormously), never any people without a religion. Isn’t it, then, more than just a little absurd that any one religion should claim that it is the only way? If you stop to think about it, can you imagine anything more absurd than for one religious people to proclaim that its way of reverencing and worshiping this Creative Source that makes us is the only way? And Christians have done that all these centuries. They’re still doing it! Criticizing this church because it moves out to the possibility - that’s all you’re doing - move out to the possibility that there are other ways. I cannot contain myself when I hear such stupidity and prejudice as to assume that there is no other way but your own. And as a result, Muslim faith grew out of Christianity and Judaism, you know. Of course you know. And, Islam faith claims that it’s the only valid way and scorns the Christian, or the Christian scorns the Muslim and the Buddhist. And I’ve been prophesying for some ten years and I think that it will come to be that any crisis that occurs in this world will be a crisis between these two faiths proclaiming themselves to be absolute and the only way. And they are meeting. As Colette made mention in her prayer, they are meeting across the world and they are fighting each other. They will engage in mortal conflict. The tenth and eleventh centuries all over again, and this is the twentieth, moving into the twenty-first. I know of no institution in the world that is as riddled and ridden by superstition as religion. Now, I want to make the definition of religion. I have said that it was a universal product, that there was never a person or a people without it, never a people, and that’s historically true, archeologically, anthropologically true, but I’m going to define religion for you and follow my definition in the course of my discussion because it doesn’t run counter to what I’ve said, it’s a definition and a description of it. Religion is to care. That’s all. To care. Care about what? I think anything. Anything. We start off with our children. We encourage their caring on their level, whatever it is. Care for money? Fine. Then it will be your religion. It is the religion of many people. Stupid. Trivial, insubstantial, insufficient. But, it can be a religion. But, if we start out with religion as caring, see, then you come to a place like this, this beautiful place, and you join yourself together with other people like you, beautiful congregation in this building. I’ve been here, I’ve seen you and felt you. You come to a place like this, you see, to deepen your caring. To illumine your caring. Enlighten it. Make it more profound. Make it more impressive and make a greater impact with it on yourself, and let the chips fall where they may, because you have a society of persons who care, you’ll have a caring society. © Grand Valley State University �Religion: Has It a Future? Richard A. Rhem Page 3   Now, I want to mention that I think we are in a cultural crisis in the world. A cultural crisis is not something that occurs in a lifetime, not a few years or months, you know. It’s a long, long thing. Our cultural crisis has been brewing for 350 years, maybe 400, we don’t argue about 50 or 100 years in this sort of thing. It started with the beginning of the scientific approach to knowledge. Not until the 1500s, Galileo the middle of the 16th century, 1500s, the beginning of the scientific approach to the world, not to go on here say, not to go on folklore, not to go on imagination, not to go on superstition, not to go on campfire ideas, but to begin to probe the nature of the world to see what it’s like, what it’s truly like. Not until the middle of the 16th century. It wasn’t until the middle of it the 17th century, which Whitehead calls the century of genius, that we even discovered the circulation of the blood. And that was the same century that Newton discovered the nature of gravity. And since then we’ve been growing so wonderfully in our ideas and appreciations so that now, after 350 years, it’s beginning to take account. It hasn’t taken hold yet. People feel it, but intellectually it’s not clear. And even our leaders are not talking about it enough because it’s a frightening thing and they don’t want to offend people. They don’t want to frighten them, but they are frightened. The people of the western hemisphere are frightened, and rightly so, because we’re discovering that we live in a world that can brush us aside like any of the thousands of species that have been brushed aside, failed and lost out in the past, that can happen to us, too. We’re not that long established, you know. I like to point out that the human life has been here maybe a million years and the dinosaurs were here 100 million years. Now, if you understand the nature of scientific progression of knowledge and facts, then that has to be significant to you. And the cultural crisis is that we have to come to the conclusion that things are in our hands. Oh, I know that I violate most of the ritual that goes on around, even in this enlightened church, and some of the ritual that goes on in my church, but we have to come to the conclusion that we are on our own in this world! I don’t know how any intelligent person could avoid coming to that conclusion, I just do not understand it. There is to be no divine intervention! There is no miraculous intercession. Hasn’t been. Is not now, and never will be. I like the little story in the New Testament, which is a very important book to me, of Jesus in the midst of a circus, a parade. The man stood up in a tree so that he could participate in it, and Jesus said, "Come on down. Come on down, Zaccheaus, and get out of that tree. We’ve got things to do." We’ve got things to do. Did you hear Colette’s prayer? I have difficulty hearing behind there, but I heard it. We have to save our environment. We have to save the air. We have to save the water and make it open and accessible for quality and human living. We have to save our woods. We have to deal with our hatreds, with our tribal loyalties and devotions. We have to deal with our selfishness. We have to deal with our ignorance. We have to deal with our hatred, which leads people to fight against each other, killing neighbors year after year. No matter what we do, we cannot © Grand Valley State University �Religion: Has It a Future? Richard A. Rhem Page 4   stop it. This is a cultural crisis and religion is so far showing its awareness of it by its frantic, absolutely frantic retreat into what I call "warehouse religion," emotional binges without the slightest degree of interest in pursuing knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. Just emotional expression. Now I want to say, after having indicated that the cultural crisis is hinged on knowledge, that this kind of knowledge has really nothing to do with religion. I have a principle that I introduced to the men at lunch and I jokingly call it "The Littlefair Principle." I thought I might as well, nobody else has said it. To the degree that any religion depends upon the repudiation of knowledge and truth and facts, it is to that degree of dependence spiritually ignorant, illiterate, and unworthy. Now, the alternative: To the degree that any religion is founded upon and dependent upon knowledge of the world, it is to that degree, spiritually invalid. I have not excluded religion, now, because religion is to care. But, if your caring involves you repudiating the best and most established knowledge, it’s obviously unworthy, too trivial for any people to adhere to. But, if you make a religion out of the facts, you’re missing the whole point of a religion, which is to care. Now, we do not allow the religionists to tell us what the facts are. That would be ridiculous. They’re not trained to do it, obviously, are they? You want to know about the earth, what it’s made of? You want to know its structure, you go to the geologist, don’t you? They know. They have learned. They’ve applied the scientific method. They have irrefutable facts, not some dream that arose around a campfire about what the nature of the earth was. No way. You want to know about the human body? You go to a biologist. And let me tell you that I’ve heard from the biologists that if you don’t know the biology of the last 20 years, you’re ignorant, biologically speaking, so great has been the advance and growth and knowledge of the body. But, you don’t ask a religionist about the nature of the body. You want to know about the structure of things like this? And the rocks and some trees? You don’t go to the geologist, you go to the physicist and the chemist. He’ll tell you. You want to know about the history of life on this planet? You go to the anthropologist. They’re the ones who have been doing the studying on this thing, and they know. They’re not guessing, they’re not hoping. They have facts, and those facts are important for anybody trying to live the modern world so that you can make your caring an intelligent thing. © Grand Valley State University �Religion: Has It a Future? Richard A. Rhem Page 5   One other point: We’re on the stage of the democratization of religion. I’ve been wondering about this for some time and it suddenly occurred to me that what I’ve been after all these years in my ministry is the democratization of religion. Isn’t it amazing that we make God a monarch? Have you thought about that? We make God a monarch. We don’t believe in monarchies! Goodness sakes, we abolished them long, long ago! Even Japan. Certainly the monarchy in England, Britain, the one outstanding one is just decorative, it’s not the essence of the British Republic. We don’t talk about monarchs, but we make God to be sitting on a throne. We have people supplicating Him, fawning over Him, flattering Him. Most of our prayers are forms of flattery equivalent to a courtier and an emperor. God is not Louis XIV. Surely that ought to be clear to us. Degradation. Can you see Jesus on a throne? Can you really see that? You grew up thinking about it, having it given to you, and maybe you’re hearing it as adults, too - can you see Jesus on a throne? The man who put his arms, figuratively, around a prostitute and made her his best friend - that’s an emperor? My God and I walk through the fields together, we laugh and talk as good friends should and do. Our voices ring with laughter. My God and I walk through the fields together. You have your choice. Jesus talked about God as a father, and I assume the best of fathers is like a friend that you laugh and talk with and walk through the fields together. Now, I want very briefly to go to describe something more about religion as caring. I want to define Spirit for you, and I’ll be back next week, I trust, to talk some more about it. But, I want to define the Spirit. It just doesn’t get defined. I do a lot of philosophical reading and it just doesn’t get defined, and I’d like you to take it home and think with it, about it, and put it together with my notion that religion is to care. Spirit is to feel while you are aware. Now, listen to this - it’s not a "thing," almost anyone surely knows with their fourth-grade mind that it’s not a "thing." It’s not something that resides in the body and comes out. We’ve thought that for centuries. It’s too late for that kind of thinking. We’ve got things to do. The Spirit is a part of the body and so much it is a product of the body, and is never found apart from the body. No Spirit apart from the body. And I gave it the simple definition and I defy you to exhaust it. You or the geologist or biologist or anthropologist or any physicist or chemist - it’s a feeling awareness. Doesn’t sound like very much, but it’s the essence of being human. We’re not very aware, you know. I challenge you to go back over your drive here this morning to come to church - what do you remember of it? What were you aware of when you were driving? Oh, if something happens, you’d see it, if a red light came on or some child crossed the street, or somebody was driving - you’d see that and react to that, I know. Squirrels do that. But, what do you feel? What © Grand Valley State University �Religion: Has It a Future? Richard A. Rhem Page 6   are you aware of? Most of us live in a sleep, really almost 100% sleep. You can carry on business jobs just by being animal responsive. But, to be feelingly aware. Do you see this beautiful hanging? Maybe you notice that it’s red or black or white, but are you aware of it? Are you aware of that beautiful brick wall that you have? It’s so fascinating to me. I’ve spent my ministry in a church with the most magnificent stained glass windows in America. I find this wall just a total fascination. I come in and I sit there and I look at it and I think about it. What are you aware of? Are you aware of the grass? I’ve been aware this whole season long of leaves. I can’t believe the wonder of a leaf. And then of the trees - they stagger me! I cannot comprehend them. And I sit and look and I walk and look and I feel. The grass - yes. Leaf? - yes. Tree? - yes. Anything. How about a person? Are you aware of the person that you’re living with? Or is it like your awareness of driving to church? Women are particularly alert to this. Do you see the face? Do you see the concern? Do you see the agony? Do you see the depression? "You have eyes," said Jesus, "and you don’t see." Mr. Rhem read that this morning. It’s the most profound spiritual observation. "You have ears, but you don’t hear. You have hearts and you don’t understand. Woe is the person." To feel, to be aware of anything - anything! This is God’s world. I hear Him pass in the rustling grass, I see Him everywhere. My listening ears all nature sings. Feeling awareness. And then you treasure it. It’s no use bothering people about Sunday religion, but, of course, true, it’s wonderful to have it, that kind of Sunday following a custom, routine - it’s not enough! If you’re going to treasure your spirit, you have to treasure it every day! Or you lose it. Very few people ever arrive at the spiritual level, you know that. Jesus knew it. Every spiritual person has known it. You have to treasure it. You have to pay attention to it as if it were important, as important as the money you used to care for. Or the success, or the arrogance, or the pride, or the power. You have to treasure it, because where your treasure is, there your heart will be, and where your heart is, there your treasure will be, and if you have a treasuring of the spirit, you have something that nothing can take away - neither life nor death nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor height nor depth nor any other creature. Nothing! You treasure it, and you’re grateful for it. You’ve got to be grateful, because you didn’t make it. If you want to get down to the heart of religion, here’s another one of those fundamental things - you didn’t make it! The thing that you treasure. You didn’t make the leaf, you didn’t make the flower, you didn’t make the tree, you didn’t make yourself, you didn’t make your mind, you didn’t make your body. It’s a gift. We call it the gift of God, don’t we? So, you have to be grateful. No spiritual person swaggers with the qualities of the Spirit. No. No swaggering with the Spirit. It’s just the utmost of gratitude. © Grand Valley State University �Religion: Has It a Future? Richard A. Rhem Page 7   And then you celebrate it. You celebrate it by - you come to church and you light candles and you listen to that beautiful, beautiful music, and you have a birthday party or you give a gift or you bake a cake and you gather your friends around and you hold hands, and you say, isn’t it wonderful, the gifts that are ours? That’s a celebration, and there’s no religion without it. You have to have the Spirit there to make the celebration significant and real. Now, that’s a description of religion as best as I can do for you. What’s the language of religion? Just a word or two now and that’s all. What’s the language of religion? I said of religion, not about religion, because the investigation of religion or of anything falls into the realm of scientific categories. You explore religion like you explore the structure of a city or of an institution or of a piece of metal. Thus, we use technical language when you want to discuss the nature of religion. But, what’s the language of religion? I keep trying and I’m a preacher and I should know how to do it and I feel so helpless at it, and I want to tell somebody what it means to be in rapture by that blossom that I saw out my window. How do I do it? How do I tell somebody how much I love them? I don’t know how to do it; you stagger and you stumble. We don’t do very well at it. Well, the language of religion is story, it’s poetry. Poetry is the nature of religious language, because you’re explaining. You see something and you just let go. I keep thinking of David dancing before the ark of the Lord - just totally feeling. He expressed it in dance, like you do here so frequently. I have an enduring memory of being out there last spring sometime and you had all those children dancing down the aisles. And there was one child who caught my imagination so that I didn’t want to lose myself in the panorama of it. Interestingly enough, on the way home, the wife of the person I was driving with said, "I know who you meant. I saw that, too." What was it? I don’t know. I couldn’t describe it. But, that girl - she exemplified it to me, with all those children she exemplified the Spirit, the miracle and wonder of being human. We use myth and story, legend and song and dance and art. These are the language of religion. Mr. Bryson plays that organ and has that choir sing so beautifully they’re singing of the Spirit, if you have ears to hear. How better could you describe Paul’s dilemma, which is yours and mine - "I want to do good and I can’t because the evil’s all around me. I want to do good and the evil takes over. I know that in my heart reigns the law of God, but there is another law, the law of my members entangling me in sin." How would you describe this? Well, it’s never been better done than it was in our religious heritage. In the beginning the world was wonderful, beautiful, and everything was there. And then God made man and it was all right then, too, except that man ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge. The fruit of the tree of knowledge. And then he became like one of us - gods, says the Bible. Knowing good and evil. And if you know good and evil, you’ll never, ever be totally free! Because the evil is always there; it’s part of being human. And that’s our biblical story. © Grand Valley State University �Religion: Has It a Future? Richard A. Rhem Page 8   You want to describe the miracle of life, the wonder of being human, the wonder of a child which is where we see it most and should not confine ourselves there, do you want to describe the miracle of the birth of a child - how would you do it? Well, we’ve had a description, a poetic, beautiful description that has been a cardinal part of my heart for all these years that I’ve been thinking about dreams. There was a man and a woman, simple man and woman, carpenter and his wife they had to go to a distant city and she was with child. But, they had to go and it was a difficult, long journey, and it came on wintertime and they were up in the mountains and the time for her came, and they didn’t know what to do and there was no place to go. There was a little village up in the mountain and every place was filled because everyone else was going as they were going to this thing that had been called by the emperor, and they had no place, no place in the inn or anywhere. And the innkeeper gave them a place where the cattle were. Not much, was it? Oh, no, but it was something. It was a gracious act and it was some comfort and protection, and they were there with the animals, you see, and she gave birth to her child and it was just a miracle. And there were three kings who had been out on the road for a long time, looking for the glory of God. And they had been told that they could find it, and there was a star that they had to follow. And they followed that star for many days, many weeks, and finally the star came and stood over a stable. Stood over a stable. And they knew that that was the end of their search. They went in and found the child, and they brought their gifts as tribute to the miracle of God in human life. And there were some shepherds out in the fields, not just the kings, but some shepherds, ignorant shepherds. And all of a sudden, when they were keeping watch over their flocks, the air was filled with angels singing, "Glory to God in the highest, for unto you is born this night in the city of David a Saviour." And the shepherds went off, left their flock and went up into the stable to pay tribute to the glory of God and the child. You have ears but you don’t hear. If we were to listen, if we were to listen, anytime, we’d hear the angels singing. © Grand Valley State University � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/85c5c7ebd675c7c365e6dac356607ddf.mp3 6045c2bbb3d6bbc772595a6cf13df566 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost XIX Series Meeting God Again for the First Time Scripture Text Jeremiah 7: 1-7,, 11-15, Mark 13:1-2 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19970928 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1997-09-28 Title A name given to the resource Religion: Has It a Future? Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on September 28, 1997 entitled "Religion: Has It a Future?", as part of the series "Meeting God Again for the First Time", on the occasion of Pentecost XIX, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Jeremiah 7: 1-7,, 11-15, Mark 13:1-2. Awareness Compassion Nature of Religion Story Wonder https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7e5639d4dc0828d98ba8d256e7261c0b.mp3 1599aac6f3e77fe5cf41cf530ce136fc https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c5726a1267dde26127011397078ac73e.pdf 368617780d8ff32c1711d5452b16e063 PDF Text Text Religion: Its Use and Abuse Pentecost XVII Scripture: Isaiah 58:1-12; Matthew 25:31-46 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan September 23, 2001 Transcription of the spoken sermon An area in my own life where there has been a great transformation of understanding has been in the area of religion. I began by worrying that religion might not be around long enough for me to fulfill my career. But then I realized that was just a narrow little idea of religion that I had within severe parochial limits. More and more, I came to see that religion was something that was endemic in the human person, that it is a universal human phenomenon, that it is simply that response that we make with our consciousness to the mystery of our existence, to the fragility of our existence, our vulnerability, the response that we make to the mystery that is our source and our ground. Religion deals with meaning and ultimate questions, and I became aware of the fact that it was a universal phenomena and that it would always be here as long as humans are humans. As I came to realize that, I came to see that the respective religions were really human, imaginative constructs, a founding vision, a ritual and a cult that formed a community, and that the respective religions were really all fingers pointing beyond themselves to that ultimate mystery that is ineffable, incomprehensible, beyond our capacity to analyze or to define. It was a liberating moment for me when I could say my own religion is an authentic response to God or to the sacred or to the holy. For me, the window is Jesus and the way of Jesus is the way of life. But, a little over a year ago, that gracious and gentle scholarly presence of Huston Smith embodied in our midst that kind of breadth of understanding and experience that witnessed to the fact that all of the great religious traditions really were speaking of a presence of that which is holy and of that which is sacred, leading to a particular response of life. In your insert, there is a citation from Huston Smith's book, Beyond the PostModem Mind, in which he speaks of sitting with the Dali Lama and Thomas Merton and a Native American and two or three others of other traditions, all of which he has entered, having experienced exactly the same thing, and then his comment, "How could God possibly (as once I thought, and I suppose as once he thought), how could God possibly have waited for thousands of years to reveal © Grand Valley State University �Religion: Its Use and Abuse Richard A. Rhem Page 2 God's self, leaving generation after generation in hopelessness and darkness, and finally to a little rivulet of humanity reveal the truth? Would that not," he says, "be contrary to the very nature of God, that nature of goodness and mercy that we believe constitutes God's nature?" This is old hat for you, I know, but I am simply reminding you of the way that we have come. We come here to respect the respective religious traditions, and to realize that we also point beyond our particular structures and our particular confessional statements to that one who transcends all of our particular religions, which are simply the structures and the forms by which we give expression to that deep yearning within to be in touch with God, with the holy one, with that which is sacred. As I have come to see the nature of religion more and more in its universality, I also have come to see its power, tremendous power. Religion is one of the most powerful forces on earth, and I began to realize that it was a power for good or for ill, that religion could be used or it could be abused. That is what I want to have you think with me for a few moments about this morning - the use and the abuse of that which is common to us here in a community of faith, our religion and religion in general. Let me begin with the abuse of religion. I am doing this, of course, in light of the present circumstances and that which we have gone through so recently, where religion has played a part and has drawn forth all kinds of commentary from religious leaders. I want to say the first abuse of religion is the use of God as an agent of manipulation and control of people, an idea of God as a God in control who sits in the circle of the heavens and now and again intervenes, zapping this one or that one. I mentioned last week my dismay at the insensitivity and inappropriateness of Jerry Falwell's comments about those who were partially responsible for our tragedy - Civil Libertarians, the feminists, gay and lesbian people, those who are pro-abortion, that God has judged America and that this attack is part of the judgment of God because of our moral decay. Oh, to be sure, in this past week he has apologized, recognizing the inappropriateness of it, but he did say that the secular press and media failed to understand his "theologically nuanced" statement. Well, it is his theologically nuanced statement which I would protest. It is that conception of a God that has died, if we think critically about it at all, that kind of a God is a God that is used by religious leaders and religious institutions to manipulate people, to threaten people, and to control people, because that is a God of control and those religious leaders who have been speaking out recently amaze me at the confidence with which they purport to know the mind of God and what God is doing. If Falwell backed off, James Dobson of "Focus on the Family" did not. He said very clearly without retort, This is God's punishment on this nation for its moral decay, for taking God out of the schools, for forcing children to learn of © Grand Valley State University �Religion: Its Use and Abuse Richard A. Rhem Page 3 homosexuality, for sexual immorality in government," and so forth, on television. The punishment of this nation because of its moral decay. I want you to think for just a moment about what kind of a God that is. That is a God who sits up and contemplates the world and who looks at the United States of America and says, "You know, things have gone just about far enough. I think it's time to zap them." And so, the punishment of the nation because of moral decay. But, if you think about it a little further, couldn't God have targeted the victims a little better? I mean, if God is God, then why do the innocent suffer? If God is God, and allpowerful and manipulative and in control, then couldn't God aim the thunderbolts? Tell that story to the widows and the orphans and the parents who have lost children. Tell that story to those firemen who have lost their comrades. What kind of a God would that be? A capricious monster, if you think about it long enough and critically enough. That God in control, that God has got to go. That God has died, as a matter of fact. In the National Cathedral service last week, there was dear Billy Graham. His presence there would have been enough, just to have been there. I don't know of anyone in the religious field who has achieved such fame and who has earned it with a greater dignity and humility than Billy Graham. I think the world of him. But, in his attempt to speak to this situation, didn't you feel for him? The stumbling and the confusion about how God in control can allow things like this to happen and yet, wanting to say, God is merciful and God is kind and God is good. You see, it just doesn't make sense. You just can't fit it together. Or, those who say there is evil in the world but that is because God created human freedom, but God will bring good out of evil. Well, if God can bring good out of evil, in other words, if God can call the final shot, then wouldn't it be merciful if God could call the shot a bit earlier? Then should we have to go through these tens of hundreds of thousands of years of human suffering and tragedy and darkness in order that eventually some good could come out of evil? Now, it is time we simply call a spade a spade and recognize that that conception of God makes no reasonable sense, and you can claim mystery all you want to, but it is mystery fraught with tragedy and human horror, and really, it won't work, particularly if you are at the end of the suffering as its victim. God in control? You can't have it both ways, friends. Either God has turned human history over to us and put it in our hands so that we possibly might be able to bring good out of evil, but not God "up there" contemplating what to do next. That mean, capricious, and small deity has no place in the Christian Church or community. It is an abuse of religion. Falwell, Robertson, James Dobson - they are not alone. In an article yesterday in the Grand Rapids Press, the President of the Southern Baptist Church was reported to have said that this is Satan's handiwork and that this certainly shows once again that the only hope is to bring people to God through Jesus Christ alone. What has that got to do with it, I wonder? And if, somehow, finally we are © Grand Valley State University �Religion: Its Use and Abuse Richard A. Rhem Page 4 all encouraged to bring our neighbors to the knowledge of the son of God, what has that got to do with it, really? Don't we know that that conception of God creates such horrible problems that we ought, rather, to be ashamed of speaking about that kind of God in control. That is a petty and capricious deity that will no longer work for us who have some knowledge of our world, some understanding of the development of human history, some sense of the nature of the human being in human society. We don't have to call in a savior nor God. This is a human problem; it is our problem, and to use God that way is an abuse of religion. As a corollary to that, to use God to fuel, to use religion to fuel human passion leading to violence, is an abuse of religion. I made the mistake of walking into the bedroom last night while Nancy was watching A & E Biography, bin Laden's story. Perhaps you saw it. A fascinating tale of one who in the varied life experiences finally came to a deep religious commitment which has now spawned all kinds of violence, wanting to drive out the West from those holy lands of Islam, and being the agent to recruit and to propel so many who have nothing to lose into this kind of violent action whose reward is heaven. But, it is not a problem of Islam, for if we go to Orthodox Judaism, there are Rabbis in Jerusalem that were teaching such that a young man one day took a gun to Prime Minister Rabin and there was a Jewish settler who entered the mosque in Hebron and opened fire on Muslims at prayer. And don't we really know, don't Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and James Dobson know that, while they would separate themselves from violence and they would abhor violence, don't they know that when a religious leader uses a certain rhetoric and a certain tone with a certain passion, that those who receive it uncritically will be fueled into violence? Don't we know that, within our own Protestant Christian Right, there have been those who have been propelled into killing abortion clinic doctors and bombing Planned Parenthood units, and terrible hate crimes? Matthew Shepherd's name comes to mind. Don't we realize, dear friends, that religion is thereby abused when a manipulative and mean God who controls is used to fuel the passions of those who in turn are driven to violence that create the hell on earth that we have experienced so recently? It is an abuse of religion and it is time the word is spoken and that the issue is joined. If that is its abuse, then what is its use? Let me say maybe radically, maybe to your surprise, maybe to your objection, let me say that religion is not to make us right. It is to make us good. Religion is not to make us right. It is to make us good. Read Karen Armstrong's comments in your insert this afternoon where she speaks about mythos and logos, for in her study of fundamentalism, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim, she comes back again and again to the fact that what the © Grand Valley State University �Religion: Its Use and Abuse Richard A. Rhem Page 5 fundamentalists do is to make religion a matter of logos rather than mythos. To make it a matter of logos is to make it literally true, historically true in every detail, and in its confessional statements and its dogmas to be literally true, to use human reason and intelligence, to structure an image of God, a conception of God, a conception of religious faith, and to demand that that is true and there is no other truth, that is logos. Logos is our human reason, it is our intelligence. It is what we use if we want to know about the possibility of stem cells. It is what we use if we want to know about the treatment of disease or a heart transplant. It is what we use if we want to know how best to grow our crops on the agricultural scene. Our human logos is how we fly airplanes and study the stars. The logos is how we live. It is the empirical method of investigation. Logos is wonderful; it is a great human gift, but logos is not the source or the determinant of religion. Religions are not in that sense true or false. They are mythos. They have to do with stories that convey meaning, that speak about the values and the meaning of life. Religion is not true or false. Is Beethoven's Ninth Symphony true? Are Van Gogh's Sunflowers true? Is Michelangelo's David true? Of course not But, as human beings with consciousness and intuitive sense and esthetic appreciation, we stand there and know we are in the presence of greatness; it is not a matter of whether it is true or false. That is the wrong question. It is whether or not there is value communicated. And so, our religious experience is not that which is a consequence of rational investigation and the building of dogmas and doctrines and structures. It is the experience, the intuitive sense of that sacredness and that holiness that now and again, here and there, overwhelms us. When we love one another, when there is a creative interchange between human beings, there God is. John says God is love and the one who dwells in love dwells in God and God dwells in that one. Where there is eye-to-eye contact and understanding, where soul meets soul, or when one stands in wonder before the starry heavens or the magnificence of a sunset, where one sees a child, where one hugs a lover, there God is. Religion is not to make us right. I could really get excited and a bit upset about all of the division and all of the exclusion, all of those truth claims and those condemnations of other visions and understandings: what a silly thing it is and what a costly thing it is, and how wrong it is. It has nothing to do with good religion which is to speak to us of meaning, of beauty, of wonder and of love, and that’s why we need this community. That is why we need each other. That is why we need to keep hugging each other and supporting each other and being kind, one to another. Isaiah said, "All you religious, you're so religious, I can't stand you. But God says that's not the fast I want. Be kind. Be compassionate. Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give shelter to the homeless." And Jesus who said it's as simple as doing good to the one who crosses your path. That is the use of religion. That is the © Grand Valley State University �Religion: Its Use and Abuse Richard A. Rhem Page 6 purpose of the faith community, to motivate us, inspire us, and move us to be good, to be good for God's sake, and to find comfort that there is, at the core of things, that which is meaningful and good. Henry Nelson Wieman, a great theologian of a former generation, speaking about the idea of God, told the story of his little daughter. When she was little and she would fall down and skin her knee, he would pick her up in his arms. She'd be crying away, and he'd say, "Well, well, well." And he did it time after time, comforting her, soothing her. One day she fell down and skinned her knee and she was crying and he picked her up, but he didn't say anything. She stopped crying immediately and said, "Say, 'Well, well, well.'" Did you feel it? Isn't that what it is? Isn't it that kind of emotional undergirding, isn't it that deep, deep assurance when the bottom falls out and the roof caves in, that there still is that sacred and the holy that comes through to us as to a little child, comforting, "Well, well, well." That is why we say, “ All will be well, all will be well, all manner of things will be well.” Not in the denial of the darkness, but in the face of the sacred that is love experienced as we love one another. References: Karen Armstrong. A History of God. The Random House Publishing Group, 1993. © Grand Valley State University � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost XVI Scripture Text Isaiah 58:1-12, Matthew 25:31-46 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI References Karen Armstrong. A History of God. Random House Publishing Group, 1993. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20010923 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2001-09-23 Title A name given to the resource Religion: Its Use and Abuse Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on September 23, 2001 entitled "Religion: Its Use and Abuse", on the occasion of Pentecost XVI, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 58:1-12, Matthew 25:31-46. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Compassion Nature of Religion PostModern https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6579533a02d74d0a08257b6bcef7f668.mp3 8cacd47cb2f7a00943bbd5cae243af4c https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0be0f2dd19a458757a9d16b87d87b0ba.pdf da0b2166684843803fb7944cffbfe57c PDF Text Text Religion: Response to Mystery Emerging Naturally From the series: The Fundamentals a Century Later Text: Psalm 8; Acts 17:16-23; John 1:1-5, 14-18 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan August 31, 2003 Transcription of the spoken sermon Today I wrap up the summer sermon series, “The Fundamentals a Century Later.” The fundamentals were set forth in a very positive fashion. These were doctrines affirmed by conservative, responsible scholars in the face of the rise of liberal theology at the end of the nineteenth and early part of the twentieth centuries. The conservative and orthodox tradition was being eroded. There was an explosion of knowledge of the natural world and a rise of historical thinking where people began to understand reality in terms of process and development. The liberal tradition recognized that it had to face that knowledge which was empirically verifiable, and figure out how to think and to be religious. Essentially, they had to dismantle any external authority and simply accept what was coming to expression, what was becoming manifest, and then to say, “In the light of the world as it is, how does one live devotedly with wonder and awe, reverence and gratitude?” Liberal theology recognized that the theological task was more one of interpretation, of hermeneutics, than it was of an absolute, definitive, final creedal statement, some absolute truth that was given once and for all. Because of the eroding tradition, conservative scholars wrote these essays, The Fundamentals: A Testimony to the Truth, in order to affirm the faith. They did so very responsibly, but the mistake that they made, from my perspective, is that they affirmed the faith very responsibly in terms of the faith understanding, but in terms of a world-view that was passing away. They failed to recognize that there was a world-view in the Bible, but the world-view wasn’t what the Bible was about. Everybody has a world-view. Every generation has a world-view. It is just a commonly accepted conventional knowledge of the way things are, and so what came to expression in the Bible came to expression with a certain world-view. But that wasn’t the important thing. Once the book was absolutized, it seemed as though that world-view also was absolutized. And so it was a struggle, and it exacerbated the division between science and religion. It also has had a rather serious harvest in terms of the failure of the religious thinker to be able with © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University   �Religion: Response to Mystery Richard A. Rhem Page 2   freedom and confidence to continue to negotiate life’s passages and to be open to knowledge from whatever discipline it comes. The fundamental affirmations, again, were given in terms of an old world-view and it was the consequence of absolutizing the text and having an absolute authority in which one had to work, whether it was viable or not. The failure was a failure to understand that religion is not about a series of truths. It is not about A, B, C, D; it is not something you can put down in a series of propositions. Religion is about finding meaning. The religious questions are life’s ultimate questions: why is there something rather than nothing; from whence have we come and whither are we going; why are we here; what is the meaning of it all? Those are the kinds of questions that the human family from its inception has inevitably raised, because our life is shrouded in mystery. To be human is to live in an existence that is surrounded by ultimate mysteries that are not just mysteries that one day will be unraveled, but ultimate mysteries. In our humanity we will never be able to comprehend and to explicate that mystery that surrounds us, embraces us, undergirds us, overshadows us. That is the nature of our human experience. The Bible is a treasure of religious wondering and religious experiences. Psalm 8 is just amazing. The poet, perhaps having gazed into the blackness of outer space, seeing the twinkling stars, the moon, and in the heat of the day the sun, wondered about the vastness of this planet, a vastness that he didn’t begin to understand in terms of the expanding universe that we know about. Nonetheless, the evening sky does instill awe in one. He says, “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. When I consider the heavens, the sun, the moon, the stars that you have made, who am I? What is the mortal human being that you should be mindful of us?” And then he comes with a profound insight. He becomes aware that, even in his limited sense of the expansive universe, he is the one—this insignificant little blob of protoplasm—he is the one that is contemplating it all. So what are a billion years, what is space, what is all of that if there is no mind to think it, no heart to take it in, no human awareness brought to awe and wonder? And so, the Psalmist centuries and centuries ago had the sense that something was emerging in the human, that God had brought the human to the point of awareness. Paul in Athens is in the academy of the Western world. Someone has said, I think it was Whitehead, “All Western philosophy is a series of footnotes to Plato and Aristotle.” And now Paul comes to Athens and he goes about the city and is disturbed by the evidence of temples and statuary that represent the respective deities of the Greek people. Unappreciative, being distressed in his spirit, Paul is invited finally to the forum, to the Areopagus, where, it is said rather disparagingly, the Athenians like to sit all day long and talk about something new. That is a kind of put down. Believe me, Athens is quite wonderful! I’ve stood on Mars Hill with a little group of pilgrims and preached there. © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �Religion: Response to Mystery Richard A. Rhem Page 3   But Paul missed it, I think. How could you be in Athens in the shadow of the Parthenon and be distressed by the representation of the religious quest of a people? Well, because Paul thought he, Paul, knew the God of Israel who was God alone, the only true God. Paul thought that God had intervened in history in Jesus Christ and that history itself was about to be wrapped up. Paul was on a mission. He is the kind of a convert that should be caged for ten years before you let him loose. Preachers should be, too, when they come out of school. It would have been beneficial to this congregation if I had been isolated for a period of time. We understand what Paul was about, but my point is this: In the academy of the Western world, the heart and the source of Western civilization, there was the religious quest. There were all of those philosophical questions, and they were answering them in a variety of ways. Of course, Paul threw his own Christian gospel into the mix, but the point is, to be human is to wonder and to ask questions and to reflect, to come to consciousness and awareness of the embracing mystery of this experience of being human. Go to the passage that I have gone back to again and again so that it is becoming my core passage, the prologue to John’s gospel. This is not because I think the author had some pre-revelation of the cosmos as we know it, but just because his telling of the story of the incarnation can be so beautifully understood in terms of the cosmic drama of which we are aware. “In the beginning was the word,” or in the beginning was the Divine Intention and the Divine Intention became flesh. “No one has ever seen God.” The only son is the exegesis of the father; he is the interpretation. The mystery now has a face. That infinite source of all that is has taken tangible and concrete form in the finite. That’s an amazing, profound understanding that in the human there is the emergence of the divine. In the consciousness and the awareness of the human there is the emergence of that infinite source of all becoming conscious of itself. So why should we hunger and long for reunion with the infinite? Why should we wonder about that? If that is our source, then it is also a longing for homecoming. That first chapter of John has all of that profundity in it. It is something like the Psalmist who began to put together his own human self-consciousness with an awareness of God and said, “You have created us a little less than God.” In the old King James Version, it says, “a little less than the angels,” because the writers were afraid of what the text really said: “You have created us a little less than God.” That’s really something. These are religious questions and these are religious insights, and that is what religion is all about. I tried to put it in a statement which is the title of this sermon, “Religion: Response to Mystery Emerging Naturally.” There it is. It is response. It is not as though the human animal is natively religious. It is the human animal becoming conscious, aware of living before the face of that which must be the creative source and ground of all that is. © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �Religion: Response to Mystery Richard A. Rhem Page 4   It is response. Something lures us. Something attracts us. Something beckons us, and so we respond to that mystery, the Sacred, the Holy, God, that Ultimate. We respond to that which is calling us. Response to mystery emerging. The mystery itself is emerging. It is a process, not a divine fiat, a snap of the finger, or an instant finished cosmos, but a process. We are relatively the first human family that is aware of the fifteen billion years of process. That process took billions and billions of years for life to emerge, and then more billions of years for life to become conscious, and we are still relative newcomers in this whole cosmic drama. It is mystery emerging through development, process, emerging naturally. It is not the old idea of the clockmaker, God, putting the pieces together and getting it ticking and then occasionally reaching in and adjusting the hands, tweaking it here and there, interrupting its natural process. No. From all we can gather, this process is simply in motion. It is moving from its creative source, its generative center, randomly it would seem for all we can figure out. It could have gone one way, it could have gone another way, but it has emerged in humankind. There has been an emergence of mystery naturally, an unfolding, a development to bring us here talking about it and thinking about it. It is an amazing thing. And the amazing thing is that the randomness can now be interrupted by that which has emerged, for we have emerged and we can impact where it goes. We can destroy the planet or we can bring Shalom on earth. Biology is no longer our destiny. Evolution is no longer a locked-in process. We can affect it. We have emerged to the point where we can be like God, where we have through our human decision-making power, our mind and our soul and heart, a shaping determination of what will follow. That’s amazing. Religion is simply response to mystery emerging naturally. Let me tell you a story and I’ll let you go. This story happened to me last weekend. About a year ago a member of the church called and wanted to come in with his daughter, who wanted to be married. There was a problem. She fell in love with a young Jewish man. I said it was no problem for me; I’d be glad to do a joint service with the rabbi. A little while later the problem occurred on the eastern side of the state in one of the large Jewish congregations. The groom’s rabbi didn’t feel he could do a service with a Christian minister. I said to the couple, “Well, my friend Alan Alpert in Muskegon—Rabbi Alpert—I think he would do it.” They talked to him, they loved him. To make a long story short, we worked out a service which happened last week in the Amway Grand, and it is always great to work with Rabbi Alpert, such a dear man. We spent a couple of hours putting the service all together, all the pieces—who would do this and who would do that. (He did the Hebrew parts.) In my little meditation, I said, “One of my favorite musicals is Fiddler on the Roof, and when I first experienced it as a musical, I loved it. © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �Religion: Response to Mystery Richard A. Rhem Page 5   Someone asked about the significance of the fiddler, and I was embarrassed to say I didn’t have the slightest idea. So when it came out in the film, I was watching for a clue. The opening scene shows the fiddler on this steep roof, fiddling, and to be fiddling on a steep roof is precarious. But life is precarious, and how do you keep your balance? Tradition.” So I said to these two, “You both have wonderful traditions that have shaped and formed you. Now, don’t do as so many have done who come from different traditions—just let them both go—because they are so important. They give you a life map, tell you who you are and guide you.” I told them sharing traditions is nothing new. In the Hebrew Scriptures in the Book of Ruth there is such a story, the story of Naomi and Elimelech. There was famine in Israel, they went to Moab with their two sons to get food, and the two sons fell in love with Moabite young women and got married. What were the boys going to do? They stretched tradition a little bit. Then Elimelech died and the two sons died. Naomi was left with two Moabite daughters-in-law. She wanted to go back to Israel. She started back and the daughters-in-law followed. Naomi says, “Look, I don’t have any more sons in my womb. Please, just go back. Why should you come and share my bitterness? Go to your people.” Orpah kisses her and leaves, but Ruth says, “Implore me not to depart from you, for where you go, I will go. Where you dwell, I will dwell. Your people will be my people and your God will be my God, and where you are buried, I will be buried, and even in death we will not be parted.” Well, in this beautiful expression of a Moabite young woman to a Jewish mother-in-law, traditions were transcended in love. So I said to these young people, “What a fortunate time for you to have fallen in love, because your parents flank you here and neither one of them are embarrassed about this or wish it wasn’t so.” There were 350 people at the wedding and white yarmulkes all over the place, for there were about 200 Jewish people from the other side of the state. I said that this was a beautiful celebration because we know today that religious traditions are to shape us and form us and help us find meaning, but not to isolate us and divide us, for they can be transcended in love and therefore be mutually enriching. The wedding concluded, they broke the glass, away they went. Rabbi Alpert and I remained under the chuppa together and I looked at him and said, “Alan, when we step from under the chuppa, I’m going to give you a hug.” He smiled and said, “Okay.” So, we did. © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University �Religion: Response to Mystery Richard A. Rhem Page 6   You know what happened? The place erupted. It erupted in applause, and the applause didn’t quit until we got way down at the end of that long aisle. The wedding party had already exited the hall. They didn’t know what happened, and the applause didn’t quit because the people had seen a symbol, they had experienced a symbol of what in their hearts was a deep truth. Then there was the grand reception. Jewish people know how to have a party, how to do a wedding. There was wonderful music and a great band and vocalists. It was just marvelous. All of a sudden it was quiet and one of the uncles of the groom, a Jewish man, took the loaf of bread and said the blessing in Hebrew. I said to Nancy, “Oh, they asked me to say grace! I put the prayer in my portfolio which is in my room.” She said, “Go get it.” I said, “There’s no time. Maybe they’ll forget about it.” Just then the soloist said, “And now, Reverend Rhem.” I walked up there, and of course, in the joy and celebration of this moment, I just gave a little prayer. You know what happened? The place erupted in applause again! It did! As I went to my seat, they said, “Bravo! Bravo!” People were experiencing a moment of truth. They were experiencing concretely what they know down in their souls: that good religion does not divide, but unites; that good religion does not denigrate, but affirms; that good religion enables us to transform all that would divide us and gives us the possibility of global community. That is where I trust we’re moving. A dozen or fifteen years ago, my dear friends, because of my religion, I could not have been the facilitator of that kind of joy and truth, so I know this is not incidental stuff. This is as critical and as important as the possibility of peace on earth living in the abyss of God’s love, the God who holds the whole world and all the children in God’s hand. © 2013 Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Grand Valley State University � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost XII Series The Fundamentals a Century Later Scripture Text Psalm 8, Acts 17:16-23, John 1:1-5, 14-18 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20030831 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2003-08-31 Title A name given to the resource Religion: Response To Mystery Emerging Naturally Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on August 31, 2003 entitled "Religion: Response To Mystery Emerging Naturally", as part of the series "The Fundamentals a Century Later", on the occasion of Pentecost XII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Psalm 8, Acts 17:16-23, John 1:1-5, 14-18. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Divine Intention Divine Mystery Natural religion https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/411a5c25210eee06366b3964e755c287.jpg 99954ac860f17b146f9a4482e7e65497 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Believing and Belonging on Campus Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Interfaith Photovoice Description An account of the resource During the 2024 Winter semester at GVSU, the Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Interfaith Photovoice hosted nine students from different religious, spiritual, and secular backgrounds for a semester-long cohort centered on storytelling. By using predominantly mobile-phone photography, these students explored what it meant to believe and belong on campus and in the greater West Michigan community. This project was designed to help capture their experiences and stories, to enable them to find their voice through photography. The cohort culminated in an exhibition displayed on multiple GVSU campuses and curated by the students around three self-selected themes: Religious & Spiritual Practices, Barriers to Belonging, and Creating Welcoming Spaces. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2024 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource College students Belonging Hinduism Islam Judaism Students, Foreign LGBTQ+ people Orthodox Eastern Church Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Relation A related resource Believing and Belonging on Campus: An Interfaith Photovoice Project (project) Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 2024-Kaufman-Exhibit-1 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sri Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2024 Title A name given to the resource Religious & Spiritual Practices 1 Description An account of the resource The Bhagavad Gita is a sacred book for Hindus. I remember participating in the Bhagavad Gita sloka recitation competitions in my childhood. The Bhagavad Gita offers profound insights into personal transformation. It is part of the larger epic, the Mahabharata, and is often called the "Song of the Lord." The Gita is a dialogue between Lord Krishna and Arjuna, who grapple with life's complexities and the morality of war. The Bhagavad Gita is a historical document and a philosophical and spiritual guidebook. It offers a systematic elucidation of life's terrain, addressing the quintessential queries that plague human existence. The text assumes the persona of a personal mentor, effectively addressing challenges and change. Personally, I find the Bhagavad Gita to be a valuable source of inspiration, guidance, and solace. Its teachings, particularly on duty, selfless action, and the pursuit of inner peace, have been instrumental in shaping my worldview and providing me with a framework to approach life's challenges. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute (exhibitor) Subject The topic of the resource Hinduism College students Belonging Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Kaufman Interfaith Institute Relation A related resource Believing and Belonging on Campus: An Interfaith Photovoice Project (project) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d0381fc7f27bdff86f77673517b849d5.jpg 01df4f086cf56b5501ff1e6d3fba0c66 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Believing and Belonging on Campus Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Interfaith Photovoice Description An account of the resource During the 2024 Winter semester at GVSU, the Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Interfaith Photovoice hosted nine students from different religious, spiritual, and secular backgrounds for a semester-long cohort centered on storytelling. By using predominantly mobile-phone photography, these students explored what it meant to believe and belong on campus and in the greater West Michigan community. This project was designed to help capture their experiences and stories, to enable them to find their voice through photography. The cohort culminated in an exhibition displayed on multiple GVSU campuses and curated by the students around three self-selected themes: Religious & Spiritual Practices, Barriers to Belonging, and Creating Welcoming Spaces. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2024 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource College students Belonging Hinduism Islam Judaism Students, Foreign LGBTQ+ people Orthodox Eastern Church Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Relation A related resource Believing and Belonging on Campus: An Interfaith Photovoice Project (project) Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 2024-Kaufman-Exhibit-2 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Anam Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2024 Title A name given to the resource Religious & Spiritual Practices 2 Description An account of the resource The Holy Quran holds a special place in my life as a practicing Muslim. Revealed to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) by God, it serves as the center of my faith and a constant source of guidance. Each day, I strive to deepen my understanding of its teachings, which encompass all aspects of life—from matters of faith and practice to moral conduct and interpersonal relationships. Its verses offer invaluable lessons on how to be a better human being, addressing topics ranging from personal conduct and familial relationships to societal ethics and religious obligations like prayer, fasting, pilgrimage, and marriage. This photo captures the essence of the Quran's first lesson, which begins with praise for God and a plea for His guidance—a ritual that forms an integral part of my daily life and spiritual journey. This first lesson is recited in all the prayers, which total 17 obligatory units spread out over five times a day, a practice I faithfully observe. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute (exhibitor) Subject The topic of the resource Islam College students Belonging Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Kaufman Interfaith Institute Relation A related resource Believing and Belonging on Campus: An Interfaith Photovoice Project (project) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/48da5b3a5bd35edcf0f73bd35994362b.jpg 8bcafceb6e9a9c33e6471c451eb764ea Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Believing and Belonging on Campus Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Interfaith Photovoice Description An account of the resource During the 2024 Winter semester at GVSU, the Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Interfaith Photovoice hosted nine students from different religious, spiritual, and secular backgrounds for a semester-long cohort centered on storytelling. By using predominantly mobile-phone photography, these students explored what it meant to believe and belong on campus and in the greater West Michigan community. This project was designed to help capture their experiences and stories, to enable them to find their voice through photography. The cohort culminated in an exhibition displayed on multiple GVSU campuses and curated by the students around three self-selected themes: Religious & Spiritual Practices, Barriers to Belonging, and Creating Welcoming Spaces. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2024 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource College students Belonging Hinduism Islam Judaism Students, Foreign LGBTQ+ people Orthodox Eastern Church Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Relation A related resource Believing and Belonging on Campus: An Interfaith Photovoice Project (project) Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 2024-Kaufman-Exhibit-3 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sri Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2024 Title A name given to the resource Religious & Spiritual Practices 3 Description An account of the resource Lord Ganesha welcoming customers at the entrance of an Indian restaurant in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is a beautiful representation of the cultural significance of this deity in Hinduism. Lord Ganesha, also known as Ganapati or Vinayaka, is the elephant-headed god revered as the remover of obstacles and the god of wisdom. The restaurant has displayed a stunning image of Lord Ganesha, which instantly catches the eye of anyone who enters. The intricate details of the statue, the vibrant colors, and the serene expression on his face create an aura of positivity and auspiciousness. The elephant head represents wisdom, strength, and the ability to overcome obstacles, while the large ears symbolize the importance of listening and understanding. The broken tusk represents sacrifice and the ability to use knowledge for the greater good. It reminds me of the warmth and love of my family in India. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute (exhibitor) Subject The topic of the resource Hinduism College students Belonging Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Kaufman Interfaith Institute Relation A related resource Believing and Belonging on Campus: An Interfaith Photovoice Project (project) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/1648a9b8ae62dd562a64d6a88460d132.jpg e339aee0202f095d68404b34077ff93f Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Believing and Belonging on Campus Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Interfaith Photovoice Description An account of the resource During the 2024 Winter semester at GVSU, the Kaufman Interfaith Institute and Interfaith Photovoice hosted nine students from different religious, spiritual, and secular backgrounds for a semester-long cohort centered on storytelling. By using predominantly mobile-phone photography, these students explored what it meant to believe and belong on campus and in the greater West Michigan community. This project was designed to help capture their experiences and stories, to enable them to find their voice through photography. The cohort culminated in an exhibition displayed on multiple GVSU campuses and curated by the students around three self-selected themes: Religious & Spiritual Practices, Barriers to Belonging, and Creating Welcoming Spaces. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2024 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource College students Belonging Hinduism Islam Judaism Students, Foreign LGBTQ+ people Orthodox Eastern Church Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Relation A related resource Believing and Belonging on Campus: An Interfaith Photovoice Project (project) Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 2024-Kaufman-Exhibit-4 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sri Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2024 Title A name given to the resource Religious & Spiritual Practices 4 Description An account of the resource This picture captures a moment of profound personal significance as I pray to Lord Shiva during Mahashivaratri after fasting for the entire day. It symbolizes the essence of devotion and austerity that define this sacred occasion, resonating deeply with the spiritual journey it represents. Mahashivaratri holds immense importance in Hindu culture, signifying the pursuit of spiritual enlightenment and the triumph of light over darkness. Through fasting and prayer, devotees seek divine blessings and inner purification, evoking deep emotions of devotion, humility, and spiritual longing. In a world often consumed by material pursuits, this image offers an alternative perspective, reminding us of the importance of connecting with the divine and seeking spiritual fulfillment amidst the chaos of daily life. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute (exhibitor) Subject The topic of the resource Hinduism College students Belonging Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Kaufman Interfaith Institute Relation A related resource Believing and Belonging on Campus: An Interfaith Photovoice Project (project) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng