 |
| Our friend |
As a Protestant, there are points at which in find Thich Nhat Hanh's version of Christianity out of focus. I'm rather sure, for example, that his view of faith, which is basically faith in the practice of religion rather than in "notions" of God, is not what I and many other Protestants mean by faith. I find myself not agreeing with some of the parallels he draws between the Holy Spirit and mindfulness. And, as I pointed out in the last posting (xviii) in this series, I definitely disagree of his negative attitudes toward doubt.
Thich Nhat Hanh is however a friend of my (our) faith in at least two ways. First, he pushes at the boundaries of my thinking, causing me to stop, look, and then look again. I don't really accept his call to put away all concepts and notions, but I appreciate his reminder that there is nothing sacred or ultimate in our theologies; and we Christians should spend less time attacking each other because we think differently. Thich Nhat Hanh helps us to see an ugly, unloving side to Protestant Christianity—if only we have the wit to stop, look, and take heed. He also allows me to be playful in my disagreements with his "theology" (or, better, Buddhology), which helps me (us) not take my own theology quite so seriously.
Second, his persistent insistence that practice is the heart of the matter and that religious people of all stripes are prone to deny their faith by their actions is immensely helpful. We (I) need to pay attention when he writes, "In Christianity, as well as in Buddhism, many people have little joy, ease, relaxation, release, or spaciousness of spirit in their practice. Even if they continue for one hundred years that way, they will not touch the living Buddha or the living Christ. If Christian who invoke the name of Jesus are only caught up in the words, they may lose sight of the life and teaching of Jesus. They practice only the form, not the essence." (page 126) While we occasionally cite the Book of James, which instructs us that faith without works is dead, our major concern is often with being on the right side of the hot issues rather than on being loving, kind, joyful, peaceful, patient, and the other fruit and gifts of the Spirit.
At the end of the day, Thich Nhat Hanh gently encourages us to ask the question we don't ask very often if ever, namely what is Christian practice? I suspect that if asked this question most mainline Protestants will answer, "service," and be hard pressed to go much beyond that. We need a friend who will push us to think outside our comfort zone and make us think more seriously about our Christian practice. Thich Nhat Hanh is just such a friend.
