Religion in the City

(Note: This is the first of what I hope are many columns from Lakeland writer Chris Craig. Each Saturday, Craig will address religion, spirituality, and life in our city. — Chuck)

Noted theological author and radio host C.S. Lewis used to begin all his lectures and interviews with the opening statement “I speak with no authority!” Then he would spend the rest of his time telling you exactly what he believed and why he was right. This column is written in the Lewis vein. Religion in the City is about the thoughts, ideas and observations of one man’s spiritual journey through life.

Though I hold a Master’s in Social Work from Tulane University in New Orleans and a Master’s in Pastoral Care and Counseling from Garrett Seminary in Chicago, I am not ordained in any church and I do not speak for any denomination, sect, faction, organization, religion or religious world view. However, I am Christian.

This column is not merely a spiritual journey through mountain tops, trenches and the communities I have had the privilege to be touched by. This column is not simply about devotions and random moments of hope and grace. This column is not simply a place to speak about brokenness or lonely roads.

Religion in the City is about observations and questions. It is a commentary about the community where we live and the faith it takes to live in it. At times I hope this column will be a place to just be, a place to step back and mindfully consider where and who you are in the community.

Over the years, I have had the opportunity to walk and breathe of the Holy Spirit in many different settings. I have been a hospital chaplain, done decedent care with children who had witnessed murders in New Orleans, worked with dementia patients in Chicago, and provided long term disaster case supervision in the Gulf Coast after Katrina.

After quite a journey working with PTSD as a social worker and pastoral care provider, I now find myself in little old Polk County as a single, young adult, male doing social services in Lakeland.

I do not have a wife or children, and my close friends and family are spread all over the U.S. So in many ways, I know that my world view is skewed from the average person in this community.

Some might say I do not have enough life experience to relate to the wide reading audience in Lakeland. For that reason, this column may not speak to the 70 year-old widowed woman feeling abandoned by her family, alone in a home that is now too big. Nor may it speak to the 16 year-old pregnant teen attending schools forbidden to teach her about protection or safety. A 16 year-old living in a community blown away by the level of venereal disease and teen pregnancies.

I may not be able to write about a world through the eyes of the transient homeless man bused from town to town — so that the community he inhabits need not know he exists. And I am not in the young family that recently lost their home, job and what could feel like their purpose — due to the recession.

One might ask what these types of social conditions have to do with a column titled Religion in the City? Well the truth is I am also writing Religion in the City because of the unique gifts I believe Lakeland has to bestow.

In New Orleans I could sit with struggling clients to hear their stories; to bear truth and grace for their losses, addictions, or pain. Yet when those clients were finally ready to accept the help they needed, there were no resources, social structure or community finances.

The rare gift I have found in Lakeland is the network of care and support in the churches and faith communities that dot our city.

A religious walk of faith is not only a personal walk with a loving savior; it is a lifelong quest for truth, grace and love. When you go to church on Sunday, is your faith community addressing injustices and community struggles? When you sit down to meditate, pray or read scripture, do you allow your life to be committed and empowered to seek truth and love for your neighbor?

I may not have lived the trials and tribulations depicted above, however I want Religion in the City to be a place to lie down our burdens and truths. A place to discuss the justices and injustices. To be a voice seeking and speaking of what is true and right.

And when it does not seem that we could possibly have the words or know the actions it would take to speak to the brokenness of our world, we must not forget about the Holy Spirit. Sometimes it is only the Holy Spirit which can intercede with groans that cannot be expressed with words (Rom 8:26).

Even though I may not know firsthand every struggle, I do know the type of isolation that feels like a ton of bricks on your chest. I have experienced overwhelming despair at moments in my life as I tried to put a hard day behind me and attempt to sleep through a whole night. And I do know the love of a God who speaks to the hard truths of my life and the world around me, through the hope and grace of a savior.

Through every observation, experience or question Religion in the City poses, I certainly invite your opinions and observations. My spirit longs to hear about the world you see and your experiences.

I do not claim to be right. I am just one voice crying in the wilderness (or Lakeland) to make way for God’s love and calling– to act in your life of faith.

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Chris Craig received his Master’s in Social Work from Tulane University and his Master’s in Pastoral Care & Counseling from Garrett Seminary. Chris guest preaches, leads spirituality classes, and works in social services in Lakeland. Chris is not ordained in any church, and his columns do not speak for any churches or organizations where he might be affiliated.