The eCrozier

“Our age is essentially one of understanding and reflection, without passion, momentarily bursting into enthusiasm and shrewdly lapsing into repose.”- Soren Kierkegaard

To those of us who admire Soren Kierkegaard’s profound contribution to theology and philosophy, this past week held an important observance: his 200^th birthday. The so-called “melancholy Dane” wasn’t, at least in my view, melancholy at all. He was an insightful observer and critic of what passed for Christianity in his time, but also what passed for a cultured life by those indifferent to, or critical of, the life of the Church.

His quote above could’ve been written today about our culture. By “passion,” I believe Kierkegaard meant seeing and living life holistically where both one’s inner life and outer actions have a fundamental congruency. His critique of “understanding and reflection” doesn’t mean those undertakings are, in themselves, problematic. It’s rather the skewed stance toward the world that they so often represent.

At one extreme, such a stance can represent a subjectivity that becomes nothing more than sentimentality where feelings become paramount. This isolates us leading us toward a creeping narcissism. Think people who can see only how an event affects them personally. At the other extreme, such “understanding and reflection” can increase the likelihood that we have a detached objectivity toward the world where we can observe and comment on the world without ever having to engage the world at any cost to us. Think people who see the world primarily through sarcasm and irony.

Kierkegaard called us to get past the bifurcating extremes of subjectivity and objectivity. Honesty and appropriate self-criticism can only come through engaging ourselves objectively. In other words, we need to see things clearly and not simply through our own often biased lenses. Likewise, we are subjects whose thoughts and feelings matter. Subjectivity is natural and not in itself a bad thing. Our personal convictions, beliefs, and passions give our lives meaning, purpose, and a sense of destiny. What’s needed is a balance that helps us live holistically avoiding the extremes.

This need for balance leads me to have, along with Kierkegaard, a high doctrine of the Church. For it’s in the Church where I’m called through the Scriptures and the Liturgy (always aided by my fellow disciples) to avoid the deadliness of the above extremes. In the Church, I can be myself (subjectivity) while also being called to see myself through both the eyes of God and my fellow disciples (objectivity). At our best, that’s a primary gift we ask the Holy Spirit to give us through our life together. In the Church’s narrative told through the Scriptures and the Liturgy I’m reminded again and again of God’s love for me all the while being confronted with the truth that the story of the Cosmos isn’t only about me. As Fr Alan Jones wrote: “I don’t want my friends to just accept me as I am; God Lord I hope they love me more than that. I hope they demand more of me.” Good Lord, do we ever need the Church!

+Scott