Let's Talk
Living Theology inthe Metropolitan ChicagoSynod
Volume 9, Number 1
Spring 2004
The Vocation of the Laity
The Path to Lambaréné
Barbara C. McKenzie
My interest in the life and thought of Albert Schweitzer asa guiding principle came via a circuitous route. For some time I had been aware ofconsiderable social and economic change and turmoil in the world. It seemed to me that we, as a society, werelosing what I call “mutual regard,” i.e., a respect for the dignity of theother in human relationships.
Over the past forty years I have lived in communities(Cicero, Harvey, and Chicago) riddled with social problems, the increase ofwhich impacted my husband (a city pastor) and me in the numbers of peopleseeking refuge, food, clothing, money, and counsel. Our lives were touched increasingly by drugand alcohol addiction, divorce and runaway children, attempted suicide andhomicide, and children who seemingly had no one to care for or about them. Had two World Wars, Korea, and Viet Nam given us psychologicalpermission to dismiss our responsibility and respect for others as well asexcuse ourselves from the yardsticks of civilized behavior, which includecharity, justice, dignity, compassion, and kindness toward others?
Inmy work as the business manager of a cardiothoracic surgery practice I had anopportunity to speak with countless patients who lacked funds, jobs, andfamily. As an active layperson Ilistened to parishioners express their attitudes of ambivalence toward life,mistrust of employers, racism toward minorities, and disillusionment with thechurch. It all served to confirm mysense that something had gone haywire in our society.
It was out of these concerns that Ienrolled in a Master’s program at Loyola University (then Mundelein College)and was stimulated by a course entitled “Fate of the Earth and HumanResponsibility,” which was team taught by a biologist and a religionprofessor. I became hooked on theconcept of Homo duplex and the ideas surrounding humanity’s two-sided naturewhich include flesh and spirit, God and man, good and evil.
At this same time, I had the opportunity to visit Hiroshima and witnessfilms taken first-hand on the ground during the dropping of the A-bomb. Nothing in my past prepared me for what Isaw. Then I traveled to Israel to visit Yad Vashem (the Holocaust Museum) and theChildren’s Memorial. I cannot erase theunthinkable images from my mind. Finally, I traveled to Oslo, Norway to visit the Resistance Museumand see the devastation of WWII there. Pain, anguish, and suffering were the common denominators.
My initial questions and travels then took me intoindependent studies of evil, ethics, Schweitzer, and the biologicalunderpinnings of reverence for life as a viable ethic. It was because of what I saw as the lack ofreverence 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 Ibegan searching for someone who might have been working on the side of Good forhumanity during this period of history.
I do not think it was accidental thatAlbert Schweitzer’s name surfaced in my mind. I am inclined to consider it a Providential guiding of the Spirit to asource that could help me sift through these knotty problems of the humancondition as well as provide a model of a fully authentic and godly life. It was not easy to locate his out-of-printbooks, but finally through the Albert Schweitzer International Fellowshiplocated at the United Nations in New York I was able to get The Philosophy ofCivilization. I was on my way now andmade connections with other organizations to receive his books translated toEnglish. I could feel myself gettingmore and more caught up in the person of Albert Schweitzer and intrigued by hismany facets—philosopher, theologian, musician, and physician.
Dr.Schweitzer himself had a great concern for humanity that took him on aspiritual quest touching the areas of theology, philosophy, music, medicine,and finally peace advocacy. However, itwas the suffering in the world, which he thought was universal to humankind, that touched him deeply. His decision to serve humanity in a remoteand underserved area of the world (Lambaréné (Gabon), Africa) as a physician and remain therefor 52 years still captures the imagination of the young medical students at Harvard MedicalSchool and the SchweitzerHospital in Haiti.
Dr. Schweitzer uses the term noblesse oblige toexpress his idea that “we must not accept what comes to us in our life by wayof good luck as a matter of course, but make a sacrifice of thanksgiving for itby some act of help or service.” Itseems to imply that every human being who finds himself endowed with a naturaladvantage by birth or circumstance should feel some obligation to assisthumanity in whatever way his talent or ability allows.
Inhis theological writings, Schweitzer espouses a “practical eschatology” inwhich 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 Christwhich are ultimately love centered toward God and one’s neighbor. He is less concerned with fulfilling theletter of the Law than the life-giving spirit of the Gospel.
When I attended the First International Albert SchweitzerColloquium at the United Nations in August, 1990, and the Physicians For Social Responsibility Thirtieth Anniversary Meeting in Atlanta in March, 1991, Ihad the privilege of personal meetings with Dr. Schweitzer’s daughter, Mrs. Rhena Schweitzer Miller, who for some years managed herfather’s hospital laboratory in Lambaréné. I told her of my disappointment in beingunable to visit his hospital after becoming ill and having to cancel the longtrip.
Mrs. Miller told me her father’s philosophy was that Lambaréné can exist for us wherever we are and whereverthere are people suffering and in need of our help. Reverence for Life as an ethic turns not onjust 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 Lifecaptures my imagination in a way that my unconscious is tapped and I see a richreservoir of potential within each person for healing and growth. This became the way I viewed each patientcoming for surgical intervention.
Inretirement I wondered how I might use my business background as well as mydegrees from Loyola’s Liberal Arts program and the Institute of Pastoral Studies. Like the Providential guidance to find Dr. Schweitzer’s work, I wasguided to the Henderson County Free Medical Clinic. The clinic is staffed by volunteer doctors,nurses, physical therapists, social workers and specialists who treat theuninsured and underinsured low-income population of Henderson Countyin an effort to alleviate pain and suffering. They have diagnosed and treated everything from colds to cancer withfunds provided by citizens of this county. While I do not have medical skills, I can offer what I know best, whichis to keep things running smoothly by handling administrative and financialmatters behind the scenes.
Yes, we are oneBody with many parts. As we movethrough this journey called Life, we are given opportunities to serve inwhatever 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. Schweitzerdevoted to serving humanity and showing the way—the way really being the ethicsof Jesus—to love God and our neighbor above all else.
BarbaraC. McKenzie
Hendersonville, NC
Member,First, Harvey