Category Archives: Faith

A gem of a poem

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All Is Well
Death is nothing at all,
I have only slipped into the next room
I am I and you are you
Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.
Call me by my old familiar name,
Speak to me in the easy way which you always used
Put no difference in your tone,
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow
Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household world that it always was,
Let it be spoken without effect, without the trace of shadow on it.
Life means all that it ever meant.
It it the same as it ever was, there is unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?
I am waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near,
Just around the corner.
All is well.
Henry Scott Holland
1847-1918
Canon of St Paul ‘s Cathedral

mark-williams-father-brown-small
This was read at the end of today’s episode of the new BBC “Father Brown” (based on / inspired by the wonderful short stories by G.K. Chesterton). Needless to say, it made me cry, but in a good way. (The show itself is well worth checking out, imho, despite the liberties taken – the heart of it, namely Father Brown himself, is still there.)

Farewell, Papi…

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Last week, my father died after a long struggle with cancer. In the end, it all happened quickly, and we were all with him when he passed, which is what he had wished for.

He is now at peace, of that I am certain, and it helps me deal with the loss. Also, so many people have been with us in their thoughts and prayers, as well as at the funeral last Friday.

Family photo

One of the cards we received had this beautiful quote on it, which I tried to translate:

Wenn etwas von uns fortgenommen wird,
womit wir tief und wunderbar zusammenhängen,
so ist viel von uns selbst mit fortgenommen.

Gott aber will, dass wir uns wieder finden,
reicher um alles Verlorene und
vermehrt um jenen unendlichen Schmerz.

– Rainer Maria Rilke, Brief 1908

***

When something was taken from us which we were deeply and wonderfully connected with, we lose much of ourselves. However, God wants us to find ourselves again, richer for all that we lost and increased by this infinite pain.
– Rainer Maria Rilke, letter 1908

The thing about hell

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First of all: Whoa, way to avoid controversial topics, hm? But that’s the advantage of having a blog no one reads (well, apparently some people do, or so my stats tell me, but so far no comments, which also means no flaming, so that’s good), even conflict-phobic folk like me might feel emboldened and share potentially incendiary thoughts… 🙂

a beautiful daisy in close-up Anyway, the Thing about hell is connected to the Thing about God how I see Him/Her/Them (let’s stick with ‘Him’ for now, shall we – I grew up with the ‘holy father’ and I suspect that’s how I’ll keep addressing Him). Namely: I believe that God is love. I believe that He loves us like a parent, one of the good ones, whose love is unconditional. I mean, I might disagree with my parents (hello, abortion and homosexuality!) but I know that, when it comes down to it, they love me and will never turn me away. So, since my 100% human parents are like this, how much more does that apply to God? In my mind, there is no way that God would reject His children. After all, two thirds of the world’s population aren’t Christian (and even the third that is consists of many ‘non-believers’ as well as any number of movements/churches claiming to know the One True Way) – if God is love, He will not abandon so many, just because they happen not to follow a book that contains a lot of undeniable wisdom and beauty but also a lot of problematic content.

Talking parents, mine had a somewhat unconventional view as well: They explained the concept of ‘hell’ not as fire-and-brimstone and eternal torment, but as not being allowed into heaven. This sounds pretty plausible to me already – but really, if you truly believe in an all-loving God, wouldn’t He want all His children, good and bad, with him in the end, making hell superfluous (except maybe as a waiting room of sorts)?

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The one where I talk about my religion

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As I mentioned in my BADD 2010 post I’d like to improve this semi-dormant blog with the occasional post of actual substance. Hence the brilliant new category title. 🙂

Important: Please note that these posts are highly subjective and personal. I am not in any way, shape or form, trying to tell anyone how to live their lives – and in return I do ask that you respect my right to live mine the way I choose to.

So let’s dive right in: Yesterday, on Whitsunday, I was baptized. I don’t know how common adult baptisms are elsewhere, but in Switzerland pretty much everyone is baptized as a baby, either into the Protestant or Roman Catholic church. However, I was born a Baptist pastor’s daughter (which means a different thing here than it might in the US – the Southern Baptists actually left the World Baptist Union), and one of the things I like best about it is that getting baptised is supposed to be an adult’s free choice. My parents raised us in a Christian home, but never one that was restricting. I grew up believing in all the things that are good about Christianity – and not surprisingly my relationship with God and religion was for a long time informed by my family.

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