Some years back, when the Lehman Brothers financial institution collapsed, a friend of mine lost his retirement. To get through the financial crisis my friend relied heavily upon guidance from the Tao Te Ching, an ancient Chinese text. In many respects the Tao Te Ching is a delightful book that is filled with much wise council.
As a Christian pastor I do not find it is necessary to debunk everything in the sacred texts of other religions, although being a Christian means I take the Christian version over the other when there is a difference. For my Taoist friend the Tao is the summation of all Sacred Truth. Yet, for him the Tao is not a person. It is a force.
As I pondered the crisis my Taoist friend was going through and the way he was handling it I was struck by one thing. While members of eastern religions may say, “May the Force be with you,” Christians say, “May the Person be with you.” As my friend searched for Sacred Truth to guide him through a crisis, I prayed that he would find in his search for Sacred Truth a Sacred Friend. In handling a crisis Sacred Truth is nice. But, to be embraced by a Sacred Friend in a crisis, who is the Incarnation of Sacred Truth, is much nicer.
For my friend the summation of all Sacred Truth is an impersonal divine Force. For me, the summation of all Sacred Truth is a Friend named Jesus.
Major Scott Nicloy
Salvation Army
Reader Comments(0)