Pesach and Easter in a torn world In praise of Faith

by Frank Kaufmann, April 6, 2015

Page 1

Like us all, every religious and spiritual tradition has its most beautiful part. Every
religion and faith has parts that feel like young love, that part of the greater story
that has no shadow, no shame, nor apology.

Not only 'religion' but all ways of life have a best part, including the lives of people
who errantly are called 'non-believers, agnostics, humanists,secularists,
and atheists. Such people together
with Buddhists, Muslims,Christians, Pagans, Jews, and all the rest, show faith in
every act for good and in every act and deed meant to help others live with
dignity, and without want.
First Corinthians identifies three things of beauty in human life, Faith, Hope, and
Love. The smallest real taste of even one of these makes life less harsh, and
allows us dreams that carry us forward. We are told the greatest is Love. I've no
argument with that. But as great as Love is, it does not stand alone. It is wed to
Faith and Hope.
On this magical weekend, when Pesach and Easter happen at the same time, we
have a chance to rejoice across religious barriers and boundaries. Tragically
however, these celebrations of a caring and powerful God are mocked by ugliness
and horror in our time that invites despair. The news daily is filled with horrors
that point to an eerie God boiling and bubbling within an ugly and barbaric
brew. From Al-Shabab, to Boko Haram, to the constant breaking of the twig of
peace in the Holy Land. We constantly hear reference to a God that we most
assuredly can do without thank you very much.
The wonderful stories this weekend, Pesach and Easter, say that the God of all is
greater than death. In the Passover tale, God protects our babies from plague and
death. In the Easter tale, the forces of a violent and corrupt religious
establishment, even when conjoined with a cruel and repressive political regime

Pesach and Easter in a torn world In praise of Faith

by Frank Kaufmann, April 6, 2015
Page 2

can neither destroy nor kill a solitary young man who loves God and all people.
In these days when the constant news of death's plague haunts and shames us,
we deeply need to hear promise of something greater than the ugly cloak of death
bleeding through our headlines. We long for a voice to give us hope that
something is greater than this, and that we can succeed through our cries and
acts of to overcome the darkness of this hour.
The problem though is that so much that is evil in today's world affairs is itself
wrapped in sick perversions of religious imagination.
Of course not all death merchants are possessed in demonic facades of religion.
Drug cartel lords are not in that costume party. Sex traffickers aren't. Arms
profiteers are not. The blood around these groups flows in rivers of far deeper evil
than the 67 lost lives here, the 120 there, or our dear son burning in a cage. But
still the world remains more alarmed and more obsessed when lost lives and
graphic brutality are told through a sick fantasy painted in religious garb,
draped in belts of bullets, concealed faces, and black flags.
We long to be convinced that death is not how our story ends. We want Passovers
and resurrections on the one hand. But we are weary of religion today. A
diseased zealotry fills our newspapers with barbarism from Paris to Garissa.
History's greatest and surest tales of hope become abhorred because agents of
evil are possessed by religious passions. We need stories of God, Passovers and
resurrections. But these stories are weak in our time. Modern people no longer
buy the mysteries of pascal blood on door jams, of lives spared, nor of buried
saints vanishing from stone bound tombs. Modern people trust less, and suspect
and doubt more. That is fine. Even so, faith abounds. Doctors without borders
believe there is something greater than death. Red Cross and Green Crescent
volunteers believe there is something greater than death. Every diplomat in every
peace negotiation believe there is something greater than death. The mom in
Hebron, packing lunch and ironing school clothes believes there is something
greater than death.
For these 'believers' let us defend for each their faith, and let us close the door to
none. Lock arms. Stand shoulder to shoulder. Break bread. Pour wine. Ring bells.
From the atheist to the Rabbi, from the Southern Baptist to the yoga teacher,
thank each one for believing, and support all our faith together as a family under
threat. Encourage, strengthen, and protect each other. Hope as one people with
faith in good, and knowledge that there is something greater than death.
Encourage each the one with the iPhone and the one with the tzizit. Stand fast.
The thirsty from Nigeria to Aleppo, from Yemen to the Ukraine will have without
cost water from the spring of life.