Skeptical Faith

Google Image In his book, “The Lost City of the Monkey God,” Douglas Preston briefly describes the rise of The United Fruit Company, the firm that had possibly the most influence – for good or bad – of any U.S. organization in Latin America. In doing so, he briefly chronicles the life and times of Samuel Zemurray, whose fruit company was acquired by United Fruit in 1930. As part of the deal, Zemurray gained a seat on United’s board of directors and eventually gained control of the company. According to Preston, Zemurray had become a multi-millionaire by his unrelenting interference in, and manipulation of, the government of Honduras and its economy. He raised bananas there to sell on the world market, and much of the world - especially U.S. consumers - couldn’t get enough of them. Among Zemurray’s most outrageous acts was organizing a coup against the elected Honduran government, finding and backing a penniless ex-president for whom he organized an “invasion” of the coun...

Google Image My wife, Amparo, and I have been staying in the little town of Barichara, Colombia, for the past three weeks. It bills itself as “the most beautiful town in Colombia,” and I don’t doubt that’s at least close to the truth. Nuzzled in a valley that suddenly drops into an even deeper one, surrounded by mountains that change hues with the clouds’ varying configurations, it has unique stone streets, colonial houses with red tile roofs, quaint shops and interesting restaurants. The climate is near perfect. Warm afternoons generate gentle, cooling breezes late in the day and early evening. Exotic trees, plants and birds are everywhere. One bird the size of a hen, called the Guacharaca, makes a deafening morning sound, calling mates in other tall trees. It sounds like the rasping percussion instrument of the same name, but over a loud speaker at maximum volume. If you look it up on Wikipedia, you’ll see a picture of the animal and can listen to a recording of its bizar...

Google Image As a child, I attended a parochial school, taught by nuns. We had daily religious education classes and I recall several discussions about what should motivate you to keep God’s commandments and those of the church. There are basically two motivations, I recall a nun saying. Fear of God’s punishment, and love of God, and, of course, the latter is preferred. But I was skeptical. I knew how you could love family members or a sweetheart (I already loved Mary Ann, my best friend’s cousin.) But God? You can’t see him, hear him, touch him or really know him so how can you love him? I wanted to go with love, but had to settle for fear, although I didn’t quite understand how the fires of hell squared with a loving God. Waste of Time? I’ve struggled with those questions much of my life. Some would say, “What a waste of time!” But I believe the struggle has been worth it because love has won out. Still, for many people searching for God, the question remains: How c...

Google Image Our daughter, Maureen, who lives in Colorado and is a great admirer of the Rocky Mountains, recently reminded me of the trips from Iowa to Colorado our family took when she and her brother, Sean, were children. We went there frequently to visit my sister, Carolyn, whom our kids consider a second mother and whom they were always eager to see. Traveling west on a clear day, you can see the Rockies from almost 50 miles out. Being a flatlander, the sight always moved me, and I would say to the kids, “Look, you can see the mountains!” “Yeah,” they would say. “How long before we get to Carolyn’s?” It occurs to me that their reaction is somewhat like that of many of us, believers and non-believers, to God. Believers are so used to the idea of God, his/her awesomeness easily escapes us. Non-believers don’t see anything to be awe-struck about. Yawns all around. An Obstacle to the Search But failure by people searching for God – believers or not - to recognize G...