Mangers, Crosses, and Tombs

               Published in Marietta (GA) Daily Journal, 4/16/22

            It has been said that if there were no God, man would invent one. In other words, we either strongly sense or deep down in our being we believe or suspect that there really is a God and we aren’t it. Natural design drives us to make a decision. Did the natural world – air, the seasons, plants and animals, the beauty of the earth – or humanity happen all by itself? Can there really be such grandiose design as the universe displays without a designer? Can an unintelligible Grand Poof produce what we see when we look outside our windows during springtime?

            Different faiths and philosophies answer these questions differently. I have a terrific friend whom I deeply respect. He tells me that neither the design all around us nor anything else points to a supreme designer. He believes that “the highest non-human reality is matter and energy.” This friend is not critical of those who believe differently. I have to wonder, though, if this great friend is not troubled by the fact that if there is a supreme designer, he – like it or not – bears a relationship to that designer. I wonder if it bothers him to think that he would be the lesser one in that relationship and that he, necessarily, would be answerable to that designer.

            The Easter season compels us to give thought to these questions. Easter lays claim to an event. That event was the resurrection of a dead man. The claim was first made by men and women who saw this man before, during, and after his death. It is recorded in ancient literature of the 1^st century, in both narratives and epistolary writings.

            For some this will be a jaw-dropper, but a major television network, Fox Nation, is now showing a special in which celebrity Kathy Lee Gifford testifies to how her relationship with this reportedly resurrected man changed her life as well as the lives of many of her friends. Surprisingly, Gifford has been sought by several news outlets to tell her story. Surprisingly because the modern media has not been inclined to grant the opportunity for people of faith to do what Gifford is doing.

            Viewing Gifford’s program reminded me of the life and work of another celebrity who came to believe in this reportedly resurrected man. Lee Strobel was an investigative reporter and legal editor for the Chicago Tribune when he was sent to Kentucky to cover the hillbillies (Strobel’s term) who were arguing for creation to be equally presented with evolution in their county’s schools.  An avowed atheist, Strobel was initially driven toward faith by two things: the humble and kind people he had intended to ridicule and his formerly agnostic wife after she turned to belief in the resurrection. Determined to extricate her from her new “religious cult,” Strobel was stymied by the positive changes in his wife, changes in her personality, character, and values.

            Putting on his investigative, journalistic cap, Strobel still set out to show his wife the error of her ways. However, his much reading and interviewing of both people of faith and of other atheists like himself led him to embrace that which had changed his wife and many other friends and acquaintances as well. Strobel has written that “actually it was Easter that killed my faith in atheism.” In over 20 books Strobel has argued for the veracity of the claims of Easter.

            A similar path to faith was taken by President Richard Nixon’s lawyer and “hatchet man,” Chuck Colson. Imprisoned after pleading guilty to obstructing justice during the famous Watergate hearings era, Colson professed his faith and soon founded Prison Fellowship, a ministry to families of the incarcerated. Having taught in prison for ten years I can attest to the genuineness, longevity, and effectiveness of Colson’s still functioning organization.

            Symbols shape us far more than we know. Manger scenes remind us of cows and sheep. A manger is a trough for feeding livestock. Long ago a couple who had just had a baby placed him in a manger. How humble and lowly is that? Crosses were a major means of execution in the ancient world, certainly no symbol we would wear around our necks, yet today we do. Tombs we logically view as deathly things unless we believe in the miracle of Easter.

            Kathy Lee Gifford’s special is titled “The Jesus I Know.”  Lee Strobel’s pertinent book for the season is “The Case for Easter.” Fittingly, one of Chuck Colson’s most famous books is “How Now Shall we Live?” And that is the question Easter poses. A corollary question is “With hope or without it?”

 

Roger Hines

April 13, 2022