By Chaplain Mike
Let me put this question to you: How did your new life begin? Was it by working your heads off to please God? Or was it by responding to God’s Message to you? Are you going to continue this craziness? For only crazy people would think they could complete by their own efforts what was begun by God. If you weren’t smart enough or strong enough to begin it, how do you suppose you could perfect it? Did you go through this whole painful learning process for nothing? It is not yet a total loss, but it certainly will be if you keep this up!
– Galatians 3:2-4, MSG
One day Dorothy and Toto found themselves in a wondrous world — not in Kansas anymore! for sure. You might say they arrived there by grace alone. In the midst of their mostly tranquil but unsatisfying life, a life that had prompted Dorothy to dream of a better world “over the rainbow,” they found that land through a power greater than themselves. A twister blew off the plains, picked them up and twirled them ’round, and set them done in a new realm. Sepia tones turned to technicolor, drab became dynamic: everything was new.
For the first time in her life, Dorothy felt alive. However, also for the first time, she knew that her ultimate dream was to find home. How could she find her way home?
Dorothy received a simple answer: “Follow the yellow brick road.” And, looking up, she beheld a clear path of golden bricks winding around and leading off into the distance. This road, she was promised, would take her to the city of Oz, where she would meet the powerful Wizard. He would give her the answer. He would show her the way to go home.
The advice she got, of course, proved inadequate. Following the yellow brick road made things worse and ultimately left her stranded and still wondering how she would ever get home.
It must be admitted that Dorothy found blessings and learned lessons along the way. She found friends as needy as she, who joined her on the quest to find answers at the end of the road. She also found danger and difficulty. Various troubles and obstacles hindered and threatened the journey. In confronting them, this humble farm girl discovered hidden resources within herself, as well as the reassurance and security that comes from having loyal companions to help you fight your battles. Dorothy also learned that the world has its charlatans, who, despite their public reputations, are little more than pathetic imposters. They influence others through the power of suggestion and manipulation. They know how to market themselves. They build great cities but hide behind little curtains.
When it was all over, and she had reached the end of the road, Dorothy stood with Toto in her arms and a tear in her eye. She had not found the way home. The yellow brick road, as simple and well-marked as it was, had led her nowhere. The great city had proved no better than the farmyard at satisfying her heart. Her friends couldn’t give her what she ultimately needed. Nor could the great and powerful Wizard.
Having begun her journey by the gracious intervention of a power greater than herself, she now realized that all the paths she had taken subsequently were dead ends. Though they came highly recommended and were firmly believed in by those who promoted them, they could not ultimately help Dorothy or lead her home.
And then once more grace intervened. As Dorothy stood weeping, Glinda the Good Witch appeared.
Dorothy: Oh, will you help me? Can you help me?
Glinda: You don’t need to be helped any longer. You’ve always had the power to go back to Kansas.
Dorothy: I have?
Scarecrow: Then why didn’t you tell her before?
Glinda: Because she wouldn’t have believed me. She had to learn it for herself.
What?
Read those words again. “You’ve always had the power to go back to Kansas.”
From the moment grace set her down in a new land, she had the power to find home. She had the ability to make the journey. She had the resources to make it all the way. She didn’t know it then. But it had all been given to her.
She didn’t need the yellow brick road. She didn’t need the city. She didn’t need the wizard. She and her friends (who, by the way learned the same lesson), didn’t need what they thought they needed or what others thought they needed. All the “paths” laid out for them proved to be worthless. All the “experts” proved incapable of granting their deepest needs and wants.
They only needed to make the journey. In walking, they found the way.
Traveler, your footsteps are
the way, and nothing more.
Traveler, there is not a way;
the way is made by walking.– Antonio Machado
The Internet Monk Archives 
Remember that the Wizard behind the curtain is really just a man – that every pastor, leader, preacher, singer, etc are people and that the problems they create for everyone is rooted in their inability to be real or honest, that they have whitewashed real Christian Faith with a creepy ‘perfection’ where no in realityone is perfect or happy but we always answer dutifully that we ‘are fine’.
My writing partner is a burned-out country preacher. He has to deal with those expectations every day. As “Pastor (TM)”, he’s expected to work miracles, saving everybody’s ship like some divine Wesley Crusher. And he gets the blame if anything goes wrong and anything “isn’t all fine”.
As he put it to me once, “I’m just a middle-aged fat man with a bad back.” And I’ve only known him as a middle-aged fat man with a bad back, another starting-out writer and general fannish type. Sometimes I think my knowing him and treating him as something other than “the preacher-man” helps keep him sane.
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Great reinterpretation of the spiritual journey using the Wizard of Oz. My yellow brick road has taken me through lots of twists and turns and two countries but I am glad that all these things happened so that I can learn from the journey. I even came across a the classic example of the charlatans (2 Peter 1:20-21) even though I was oblivious at the time. But through Bible reading and getting closer to God my eyes were opened to realize that.
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Eagle, the question of “why does a loving God allow evil” is a tough one. Many times in my prayers I have asked God, “why”? But I guess I have never gotten an answer and probably never will in this life. I guess it is something that is not meant to be understood fully until eternity. And I think there are many things like that, things that are too unfathomable for us humans.
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BTW, I love Yancy’s books. I think I’ve read most of them.
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thanks, eagle…for the hugs and for your authenticity. I too have struggled and continue to struggle with those same questions. And I’ve found no answers that satisfy, but thankfully I’ve found people willing to be in discussion about these questions without judging me or giving me pat answers, although there still are those who want to throw in that easy answer.
I think my theology of free will has helped me deal a little with this. It is my father who chose to do those things. Yeah, I begged God to stop it. And eventually it did stop, when I went away to college. Looking back on it I do find it hard to think about God being “there” and being capable of stopping it and yet not stopping it at the time.
I think it’s one of those unanswerables. But I’m determined not to let my father win, not to let what he did to me keep me from a relationship with God. God and I struggle a lot over this, which I’ve come to realize is OK (both with God and with me.)
Again, thanks for your concern and for your honesty.
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As we talk about Glenda, the Yellow Brick Road and Oz, maybe I should mention that I picked up a ticket to see “Wicked” at the Kennedy Center this summer. Can’t wait!! 😉
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Rebekah…hugs from Washington, D.C.!! I agree with you that many Pastors have become idols in the church. Especially “Super Pastor!!”
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Dave..thanks for the answer. Again I’m sorry about your pain. I really am….
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@Amy-
Hugs from Washington, D.C.!!! I was really moved by your post and wish there was a way I could have prevented such evil from happening to you. This may not be the thread…but one of the things that I experienced down my “yellow brick road” was fundies who were so certain about things and yet evasive on many questions. One of the things that I am stuck on that I really had a hard time discussing is how a loving God could allow evil. On my “yellow brick road” people would tell me that when I child was molested God was there and that’s still a comfort. I would ask in return…”How could you worship a God who is omnscient who knows a child is going to be harmed and does nothing to stop it?” I wasn’t trying to be flippant or hard. It’s one of many questions that has torn me apart. When such an evil act takes place and is allowed by God to continue (and this holds true for someone murdered, family killed in a home invasion, etc…) how can Christians sing songs of praise, talk about how good God is, etc… I have a really difficult time respecting or showing affection for a God who allows such a thing. Maybe it’s incorrect..I was taught that God was our father, that he’s in love with us, etc.. What type of father does that? Allows harm to come to his child.
If you put it in an earlthy perspective…if you lived in Missouri and knew someone was molesting a child..and didn’t report it to the authorities, and did nothing to prevent it from happening. I believe the state can file charges against you. I look at God in the same way. If God lived on earth, and allowed such an evil act to happen he would likely find himself facing criminal charges, and rightfully so!!
I’m not trying to be hard Amy. When I walked down my “yellow brick road” the bricks that were questions came apart (on top of that horrible church and ministry experiences I had…). But I really don’t know how to deal with such a question (among many…) on my “yellow brick road”. Two weekend ago…I was in a Borders and I saw Philip Yancy’s book “What Good is God”. It gets into these types of problems. I picked it up and am starting to read it hoping that I can find answers.
Hugs to you, I’d give you a hug just to say how sorry I am that you were hurt in such a way. I’m so sorry for what happened. (Long big bear hug!!!)
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I am reminded of these lines of T.S. Eliot:
“With the drawing of this Love and the voice of this
Calling
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.”
(“Little Gidding” in “The Four Quartets”)
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caminante no hay camino se hace camino al andar… Love that song, used it in a sermon once…. sorry guys sounds way better in spanish
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“Man in the moon, I’m the man in the moon
Lord, don’t leave me here”
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“I see someone in my dreams
Who was born to die and rise to redeem
So pay no attention to that man behind the curtain
Will this upstart ever stop”
– from “Man in the Moon” by Daniel Amos
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Eagle,
I would say, if you are drawn to a Divine, then determine what your core values are and then choose a religion that doesn’t conflict with them. Obviously, there are limits because you will probably want a local community of that faith with which to interact.
Of course, if you aren’t drawn to a Divine, then I would say just try to be a good neighbor, friend, sibling, parent and child. You may not find the Almighty in that way, but you might find peace. After all, Dorothy didn’t just pass the scarecrow by, she helped unpin him. She oiled the tin man. She faced down the lion and in doing so, discovered that he himself was hurting. And she risked even her way back home to ensure her pal Toto made it back with her.
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I came back to share a song too! Great BOC song, thanks for sharing that headless unicorn guy!
Eagle…..I was rockin’ out while I was running errands, I kept hitting repeat on this one.
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I agree, dumb ox, and would not be happy if this post were interpreted as encouraging reliance on an “inner light”. It is more a critique of the simplistic directions given to serious pilgrims in today’s churches.
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Dorothy didn’t need a “Wizard” to get her home. From a protestant perspective, this means that no arbitration is necessary to receive God’s grace; there is no need for the intervention of a middle-man with special powers, knowledge, or grace to obtain forgiveness on our part.
But the second part of the quote best describes the dangers which follow protestantism: a reliance on the “inner light”, or pietism. There is a place for shepherds. The trick is serving in that role transparently, to sacramentally or symbolically guide the flock to Christ without becoming the end in itself or to abuse the office of shepherd by bullying or fleecing the flock. The inner light is not an effective guide inside broken, sinful people; the inner light is no defender against external predators. The fact that evangelicals don’t need a pope but can’t shake the need for a Piper indicates that we not only need oversight but we long for it. The inner light is a lonely, scary place.
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Not so much advice as just a song.
The same song I linked to Christian Monist.
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This stuff seems to be showing up everywhere to me lately! I strived so hard for so long and ran myself into the ground. I wish I could have put it together that sanctification is also grace based. I wrote a piece where I used Phil 3:4-6 (Paul’s self-righteous resume) but rewrote it with my own Christian deeds (scripture memory, evangelism, quiet times). It’s funny because I knew and believed in grace, but never gave myself any slack (I had the ‘power’ the whole time). Anyways, check out what I wrote, see if you can relate.
http://onlyhalfalive.com/archives/326
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Eagle, I just love that you care enough to ask!!
My suggestion? Or advice? Well……what could I say to help you? What can anyone say that takes away all the b.s. you’ve encountered? Nothing.
As for myself, I just wanted someone to hear me, to hear my heart and not throw out some Bible verse as to why I was wrong for thinking, feeling, saying what I was. I needed to be heard. For 42 years, I’ve just needed to be heard. Don’t box me in, try to conform me to your ideas/beliefs and restrict every dang thing I do. Just listen to me……and love me anyways.
I needed that in my prodigal life and even more so I needed it in my return Home. I dabbled in plenty of other so-called Christian sites that reaked of critical, judgemental hypocrites who saw my rebellious spirit, my complete lack of conformity, as well as my newness to the journey and tried their hardest to pull me in to their way of thinking. I wasn’t having it then and I’m not having it now.
The difference? I found Jesus, in the black and white pages of my Bible. The Bible I thought I’d never read again and still have issues with….yeah that one. The people that made me the most mad after my return Home, they pushed me to Jesus. I wanted so desperately to know that God wasn’t what I’d seen and heard, that I left the forums and went to the Bible. Jesus…..not like any Christian I’ve ever known. Yikes! There’s a shocker!!!
A lot of the people in my life held church/pastors in such high regard, it comes darn close to idolatry. So, thus far on my journey, I steer clear of finding myself in the same rut. Following the church, or following the pastor. Not for me. Not now, maybe not ever. I’ve had to follow Jesus, hunker down and get my foundation certain on the Man who gave His live for me (and you). And I believe with all of my heart that He wanted that for me too. He didn’t want me to return Home just to find a church and a god in that church only to fall again years later.
He wanted me to find Him. And because it’s Him I’m finding and not someone else’s idea of Him….I’m hooked. Even if He and I argue about what He wants me to do. ha ha! I’m still a rebel.
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I don’t have answers for you but I can tell you that you aren’t alone. I went from Catholic to Fundie to Wesleyan. Endless working and striving and moralizing, and in the end nothing but failure and guilt. It’s a rotten way to live.
I’m not going to pretend like my faith has held strong through all that, either. There were times I gave up entirely, times I was so angry I wanted God to disappear and every church to close its doors. But in the end I can’t find any satisfying answers for the questions that come up when life turns bad, when people I love pass away, when tragedy hits.
In the end, all I can do is hope that Jesus was telling the truth when he said that everybody who believed in him would be saved, even the ones that can’t behave like Christians. It’s my only shot.
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About 20 years ago I felt as if my life fell apart. I began working through the sexual abuse perpetrated on me by my evangelical father, who was a leader for many years in our church. One thing I determined from the very beginning is that I would not let what happened to me keep me from a relationship with God. That would be letting my father win and have control over me all over again. Sure, I had, and still have, questions and doubts about God and religion, etc. I still get frustrated at narrow mindedness and hypocrisy I encounter in certain people. But I’ve not let what other people say or do affect my relationship with God. I’ve found that God welcomes my questions, my doubts, and longs for authenticity from me.
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Excellent response, Richard.
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A funny part of the story is how Dorothy is placed ,by providence (The Good Witch of the North), without any consultation, into harm’s way. The wicked witch does not have Dorothy in her sights or care much about her. She only wants her dead sister’s ruby slippers. So what does Glenda do? She magically puts them on Dorothy’s feet. Dorothy might have objected right then and there, “Oh no thank you, I really appreciate it ‘n all…” So now she is squarely in the wicked witch’s sights. Thanks alot. Perhaps a parallel to Job being unceremoniously dropped into a ‘situation’ and certainly some connection to our walk as well. The more we do on behalf of the kingdom, the more of a known entity to the enemy we become as illustrated in Acts 19 when the sons of Sceva are trying to cast out demons and the evil spirit says, “Jesus I know and Paul I know, but who are you?” I’m sort of scatterbraining this at the moment but anyway, lots of rich archetypal material in The Wiz. One other thing; it is the very slippers that got her into trouble that also serve to protect her.
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Great post!
Having personally come out of Satanism and the occult- I knew first hand about spirits and spiritual warfare. It is for this reason my path leads ever forward guided by the wonderful presence of the Holy Spirit. In America the fab, fanfare, and the pursuit of nothingness- tends to drown out our true calling that God has prepared for us. The only yellow brick road I know leads through the gospels and teaches us that those who want to be the greatest need learn how to serve and be the least. For through/in Jesus Christ all things are possible.
Blessings,
Mark
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Eagle:
the differences between the human experience+interaction with Jesus’ disciples in all their frailty vs. the personal experience only you can have with Jesus Himself have been so different i too had my phase or season of church detox…
and when i chose to reengage with the least ‘churchy’ of churches i had discovered, it was not without some trepidation. as with all faith communities, this one too was made up of broken, needy, flawed people…
however, there was a surety of a divine source that ‘graced’ the process as i eased back into building relational connections & investing my time & efforts in a communal faith expression.
there have been enough negative encounters i have weathered with self-proclaiming ‘Christians’ that behaved, well, very unChristlke & not even in a malicious or deliberate way. the worst of experiences involved those sincere misguided saints that truly believed what they were doing or how they were acting was really ‘right’. and the few that i encountered that were simply self-righteous or manipulative or putting on a show for others to see i could easily enough recognize & avoid…
i began to discover after 30+ years of my own spiritual journey a new discernment or wisdom was acquired. most earned, if not all, thru the seminary of hard knocks. i could not say i was more calloused as i was less inclined to take offense where i had in the past. a bit more patient. a bit more accepting. a bit more understanding…
i know my spiritual boundaries & i was not going let those be violated again, but it was not self-protection but a newly aware element of grace in my own life that was making it more palatable to be part of a faith community…
now my reinvesting in a local church was a decision i had to make that was based upon my understanding of being part of The Body & not the single cell organism i resorted to for almost 5 years. when faced with the unfortunate situation where professing believers are not behaving as Jesus patterned for us, i simply move on or point out the hypocrisy as best i can without being preachy. usually i am not emotionally wrapped up in the situation so i can be more objective. however, even i cannot be pure in motive so i try not to take myself too seriously either…
your past experiences with other saints/sinners is the ‘real’ world of family life. no matter how badly those that claim to represent Jesus mis-characterize Him, there is no distortion when He is sought by the individual wholeheartedly…
i think the level of blatant hypocrisy & make-believe piety you have had to wade thru enough to turn anybody off from any religious group or those self-proclaimed Jesus followers. not sure what your personal experience has been with Jesus, but that is the only thing that will make all the other BS of life tolerable.
i have had to weather some significant life challenges recently. the journey has been rough. the events have taken their toll. i am weary. not to the point of abandoning my faith or how it is lived out, but my emotions have been wrung out. i am numb. could be how i will get thru the next steps on this crazy path i am on. but i do know my weaknesses & past failings & future challenges well within the scope of Jesus’ ability to deal with regardless of outcome. it is not a guarantee all things turn out as a happy testimony time for me, but the track record so far has been quite remarkable how He has taken care of me.
anyway, i hope this Easter season there is a renewed spark of hope arising in you.
from one battle weary skeptic to a confessed agnostic…blessings on your continuing journey… 🙂
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If you don’t mind my saying, CM — WOWWWW! That blew me away as much as spotting the redemption story the umpteenth time I watched Tron. I will never look at this movie the same way again.
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Here is a fairly short Bible study/pastor’s class on that text from Galatians.
The video may be a bit hokey, but listen to the words. They are not hokey, at all.
http://youtu.be/eDSZNOv4LPg
I think it is an eye opener.
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Hey Eagle –
I seem to share what you hint at… I have been more harmed by organized religion after embracing Jesus than when I was ‘of the world’ as they say. Advice for an agnostic? Remember that the Wizard behind the curtain is really just a man – that every pastor, leader, preacher, singer, etc are people and that the problems they create for everyone is rooted in their inability to be real or honest, that they have whitewashed real Christian Faith with a creepy ‘perfection’ where no in realityone is perfect or happy but we always answer dutifully that we ‘are fine’.
The Church has produced an unreal, surreal and ultimately dishonest culture which it will have to answer for – but somehow I have clung to Jesus… I care not about anything and if Heaven was dank cold cave, but it was Heaven because that’s where Jesus lived, then I would still want Heaven because Jesus is my friend, brother, and an outrageous King in a way I will never comprehend, and he is the One who pulled me out – not the Wizard.
Be agnostic to the ‘mysteries’ of organized religion by all means – but Jesus – who said of himself to be humble of heart, calls us – the heavy laden and downtrodden – with transparency and truth. Get back to Jesus and away from Wizards and you will find Kansas yet again
Richard
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When I became an evangelical I started walking down my “yellow brick road…” and in the process brought myself a lot of pain, scars, harm and continued along the journey until it broke me. I wish there was a way to return to Kansas…and to get out of the nightmere that was fundegelicalism. Any advice for an agnostic?
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