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Frank McCourt’s ANGELA’S ASHES is a modern-day classic with more than 70 re-prints. He is from Irish-descent who was born in the USA and that was where he spent more than 30 years teaching children. Angela’s Ashes is a sad, sombre piece of literature. He describes the death of his baby sister, Margaret’s death in short, staccato sentences and the finishing grace was when he wrote: “She’s gone.”
He grew up hungry.
His siblings grew up hungry.
His mother was at the end of her tether; at times all she had to feed
the children was water with sugar in it. He had to care for his brother and he
also gave him sugar water. The was what they had. And the pain of being hungry.
Some-one, the other day, blurted out that she was once a good Roman
Catholic. What does she mean by that? Well, being a lawyer who is interested in
what people say and what they don’t say I latched onto this one. She said it loud
and clear, that there was a time when she was a “good Catholic girl.”
And I wanted to know what does she mean? And what happened. She did not
volunteer much more detail except that Bruce Springsteen’s UNDER WESTERN STARS
were the catalyst that catapulted her out of her faith. This was, for the
moment, more than enough for me to explore a bit.
Why do people deconvert from their faith system/base? Scriptures tell me
that God is caring for us. It tells me that He cares even for the sparrows;
really? Yes, that is what you can read yourself in the Bible. And yet, there
are probably millions in the world suffering from food shortages. It is not the
only controversy surrounding the Christian faith; and it is nothing new. It is
an age-old phenomenon. Might I venture and say that any faith is subject to
lots of controversies.
I don’t have a clear-cut answer to this question. I am confronted by the
realties just as you are and yet, I keep on believing in Christ. The only
answer I have you may find in St Paul’s write up in 1 Corinthians Chapter 15 –
that great philosophical exposition of the Christian faith. If you can break
the fact that Christ was murdered, spent three days in the tomb, and then He
was resurrected on the third day, then that is the death knell for the
Christian faith. I still believe that. And my declaration is still: You are
Christ, the Son of the Living God though I don’t have answer to most questions.
And I state categorically that no one, and I repeat, no one on earth knows that
answers.
People who are not Christian, face the exact same issues as I do; issues
that are unresolved. Undecided. Unsettled. Undetermined. Pending. Unsolved.
Unanswered. Debatable. Open to debate. Open to question. Doubtful. Moot. Up in
the air.
Please write me you story: neelscoertse@wirelessza.co.za
