Living Theology in
the Metropolitan
Volume 9, Number 1
Spring 2004
The Vocation of the Laity
Barbara C. McKenzie
My interest in the life and thought of Albert Schweitzer as
a guiding principle came via a circuitous route. For some time I had been aware of
considerable social and economic change and turmoil in the world. It seemed to me that we, as a society, were
losing what I call “mutual regard,” i.e., a respect for the dignity of the
other in human relationships.
Over the past forty years I have lived in communities
(Cicero, Harvey, and Chicago) riddled with social problems, the increase of
which impacted my husband (a city pastor) and me in the numbers of people
seeking refuge, food, clothing, money, and counsel. Our lives were touched increasingly by drug
and alcohol addiction, divorce and runaway children, attempted suicide and
homicide, and children who seemingly had no one to care for or about them. Had two World Wars,
In
my work as the business manager of a cardiothoracic surgery practice I had an
opportunity to speak with countless patients who lacked funds, jobs, and
family. As an active layperson I
listened to parishioners express their attitudes of ambivalence toward life,
mistrust of employers, racism toward minorities, and disillusionment with the
church. It all served to confirm my
sense that something had gone haywire in our society.
It was out of these concerns that I
enrolled in a Master’s program at Loyola University (then Mundelein College)
and was stimulated by a course entitled “Fate of the Earth and Human
Responsibility,” which was team taught by a biologist and a religion
professor. I became hooked on the
concept of Homo duplex and the ideas surrounding humanity’s two-sided nature
which include flesh and spirit, God and man, good and evil.
At this same time, I had the opportunity to visit
My initial questions and travels then took me into
independent studies of evil, ethics, Schweitzer, and the biological
underpinnings of reverence for life as a viable ethic. It was because of what I saw as the lack of
reverence for life in our society and the world as witnessed by world wars
(declared or undeclared) and Hitler’s role in the devastation of Europe that I
began searching for someone who might have been working on the side of Good for
humanity during this period of history.
I do not think it was accidental that
Albert Schweitzer’s name surfaced in my mind.
I am inclined to consider it a Providential guiding of the Spirit to a
source that could help me sift through these knotty problems of the human
condition as well as provide a model of a fully authentic and godly life. It was not easy to locate his out-of-print
books, but finally through the Albert Schweitzer International Fellowship
located at the United Nations in
Dr.
Schweitzer himself had a great concern for humanity that took him on a
spiritual quest touching the areas of theology, philosophy, music, medicine,
and finally peace advocacy. However, it
was the suffering in the world, which he thought was universal to humankind, that touched him deeply. His decision to serve humanity in a remote
and underserved area of the world (Lambaréné (
Dr. Schweitzer uses the term noblesse oblige to
express his idea that “we must not accept what comes to us in our life by way
of good luck as a matter of course, but make a sacrifice of thanksgiving for it
by some act of help or service.” It
seems to imply that every human being who finds himself endowed with a natural
advantage by birth or circumstance should feel some obligation to assist
humanity in whatever way his talent or ability allows.
In
his theological writings, Schweitzer espouses a “practical eschatology” in
which the Kingdom of God can be accomplished by duty and responsible action,
service to others, and an imitation of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ
which are ultimately love centered toward God and one’s neighbor. He is less concerned with fulfilling the
letter of the Law than the life-giving spirit of the Gospel.
When I attended the First International Albert Schweitzer
Colloquium at the United Nations in August, 1990, and the Physicians For Social Responsibility Thirtieth Anniversary Meeting in
Mrs. Miller told me her father’s philosophy was that Lambaréné can exist for us wherever we are and wherever
there are people suffering and in need of our help. Reverence for Life as an ethic turns not on
just noblesse oblige, duty, integrity, or a moral imperative but on love, care,
concern, stewardship, and service for others.
It is our feeling of compassion for those suffering physically, mentally,
or emotionally. Reverence for Life
captures my imagination in a way that my unconscious is tapped and I see a rich
reservoir of potential within each person for healing and growth. This became the way I viewed each patient
coming for surgical intervention.
In
retirement I wondered how I might use my business background as well as my
degrees from Loyola’s Liberal Arts program and the
Yes, we are one
Body with many parts. As we move
through this journey called Life, we are given opportunities to serve in
whatever ways appeal to us or we have the talent/skills for. Listen for the Spirit. A blessing awaits.
I am respectful of the deep thinking and time Dr. Schweitzer
devoted to serving humanity and showing the way—the way really being the ethics
of Jesus—to love God and our neighbor above all else.
Barbara
C. McKenzie
Member,
First, Harvey