As a college junior, she was a latecomer to my freshman English class. The subject of our discussion was the 2001 book Peace like a River by Leif Enger. Filled with allusions to the Bible, historic events, and Zane Grey westerns, the book has plenty of fodder for discussion in a college-level class.
What caught this particular student’s eye was a line that repeats throughout the text as the narrator/main character, an 11 year old boy, advises the reader to “make of it what you will.” The it he refers to is Christian faith, faith in the miraculous works that come only from God. The narrator isn’t pushy about faith. He simply unfolds the miracles and invites the reader to draw his own conclusions.
My student found that very appealing. She explained that she had rejected faith because it had always been a source of contention in her home. Her father had come from one denomination, her mother from another. They had never been able to find the peace that Christ offers and Enger depicts.
My experience growing up as the product of a ‘mixed marriage’ was quite different.Dad was Catholic; Mom was Methodist. They taught us the difference between right and wrong. They encouraged us to believe in God. Woven through our lives was an assumption that belief was not just intellectual assent. Belief meant more than that.
We prayed together before dinner every evening, and they taught us to pray before we went to sleep at night. Mother read us Bible stories. Like any married couple, they had conflicts, but never over faith matters, at least never in front of us. Their marriage was a model of faithfulness ‘for better or for worse’–and there seemed to be a fair amount of ‘worse’.
When I was in high school, one of my brothers and I introduced a new dynamic into the mix when we became evangelical Christians.
The beginning of my faith journey has some features in common with that of John Riccardo. His father was Catholic and his mother was Methodist too. His three older sisters became evangelicals. Two of them eventually returned to their Catholic roots where John and his brother had remained. After 26 years of marriage, his mother converted to Catholicism.
In college, John met a group of guys who were enthusiastic evangelists—Catholics and evangelical Protestants working together to evangelize for Christ.
“Catholics and Protestants together,” he says. “That’s been my whole life, really, working together.”
Today, John Riccardo is Father John Riccardo, a Catholic priest.
In a recorded conversation entitled “Common Ground: What Protestants and Catholics Can Learn from Each Other,” Father John, as his parishioners call him, and Pastor Steve Andrews, of Kensington Community Church, discuss the “tremendous mistrust” and “unbelievable chasm” that existed between evangelicals and Catholics in their fathers’ generation.
That generation was also my father’s. But my parents, like Father John’s, didn’t foster that mistrust and expand that chasm. For the Riccardo children, my brother, and me, the marriages of these Catholic men and Methodist women cultivated the soil of our hearts and planted the seeds of faith in that soil.
But the mistrust and the chasm are still present in our generation; they also inhabit the generations that follow. There is no expiration date for misunderstanding. When we stand our separate grounds, the ground of our children’s hearts becomes hardened. That’s what happened to my student.
When we find common ground, faith grows and faith communities grow.
“We’re saved by grace,” Father John tells his evangelical colleague. “By faith alone, so long as we know what we’re talking about”–so long as our faith is real.
That is the ground where the younger John and his Catholic and evangelical college friends stood. It is the ground where Father John and Pastor Steve stand today.
That’s where I want to stand too.
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Finding common ground is essential.
I agree, Melissa! Thanks and God bless!
Hi Nancy. This has me thinking. It is important to live, teach, and stand for God’s truth, and it is also important to do all of that in love and understanding, for the benefit of others. It’s a mark of sincerity and genuine faith. I appreciate how you keep that perspective in focus. Thank you.
Thanks so much, Stephen. God bless!
It is very important to remember that our children and the world is watching as we live out our faith and it can make an eternal difference for them. God bless
We forget that important message so often, Yvonne. Thanks and God bless!
“There is no expiration date for misunderstanding.” This is a great reminder that we truly must look for common ground instead of only create mistrust!
Great point, Emily. It’s up to us to find the common ground and live there. Thanks and God bless!
Love this post! Faith is less about lables and more about Jesus.
Yes, Heather, and we can love anyone despite the label. Thanks and God bless!
What a blessing it was to have parents who, rather than argue about faith in front of their children, model it and teach what they have in common.
Blessed, indeed, Jennifer. Blessed, indeed. Thanks and God bless!
My husband’s dad is Catholic, his mom is Jewish, and I was raised Evangelical. Our hope is that our daughters see that our faith in God is common. We want them to see the beauty in this diversity.
Great beauty there! Thanks and God bless!
I like the point you make, “When we stand our separate grounds, the ground of our children’s hearts becomes hardened.” Children become confused and insecure when two are at constant odds. They reject these negative feelings, and it is often reflected in rejecting faith in God altogether.
At the core of our faith is that Jesus is the Son of God, He died for our sin, and three days later was raised from the dead. His life, sacrifice, and resurrection offer those who repent of sin and believe in Him eternal life. It’s this core belief in which we must not move, but the how we worship and the way we celebrate this truth can be different. Thank you for the reminder that we must pursue common ground – and therefore, peace between bothers and sisters in Christ.
You’ve beautifully captured my thesis: “He died for our sin, and three days later was raised from the dead. His life, sacrifice, and resurrection offer those who repent of sin and believe in Him eternal life. It’s this core belief in which we must not move, but the how we worship and the way we celebrate this truth can be different. ”
Thank you. God bless!
Hi Nancy!
I’m familiar with Leif Enger’s book; it was a great read.
I liked what you shared about marriage being a model of faithfulness ‘for better or for worse’.
With love!
Edna Davidsen
Thanks, Edna. I’m dusting it off for my high school and college classes. It’s great for discussion as I found when several in my family read it and disagreed over the ending. It contains so many allusions and historical references that it’s very useful in the classroom–and as you say–it’s a great read! God bless!
I love the dynamic you present of loving, involved parents from different backgrounds, raising up faith-full children. What a wonderful heritage.
Thank you, Stephanie. Different backgrounds–but the same hometown, same essential culture, yet different kinds of trauma too. Dad was orphaned at 13. Mom’s family suffered substance abuse. And of course, the Great Depression. Faith and adversity shaped both characters. A wonderful heritage, in that they both largely overcame their circumstances. Not something I expect would happen without faith.
God bless!
I agree that the world is a better place when we all focus on our similitudes rather than our differences.
Thank you, Roos, for reading and commenting! God bless!
Hi Nancy,
I think this is my first visit to your blog. Very interesting post.
I was raised Pentecostal and everything about it seemed to scare me and I ran the other way as much as I could. It seemed to me that it was an either or situation. You get once chance. If you blow it, you’re lost.
As a newly baptized Christian coming back to the church and God in the last year, I’m learning and/or understanding things I didn’t before.
I think it would be very hard for two religions in the same family to compromise but I have great admiration for those families who have worked hard to teach the common knowledge of Jesus dying on the cross for our sins (everyone) and raised from the dead 3 days later. There is no deviation in that fact.
Thank you for this post.
You’re welcome, Monna. Thanks for reading and commenting. God bless!
Well written post.
Great line: “When we find common ground, faith grows and faith communities grow.”
Thanks, Chris. God bless!
Thank you for an interesting read. As said previously, what I took away from this post is about common ground. So true!
Thanks for reading and commenting, Barb. If we are to stand together, it can only be on common ground. God bless!