A send-off to a fiery chaplain
April 22, 2006,
Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City, Utah, 2006)
As a child of the 1960s, I remember well the antics of William Sloan Coffin.
Along with the Berrigan brothers and other “committed clergy members,” Coffin —
a Yale University chaplain — ended up in the middle of the mix whenever there was a protest against the Vietnam War, poverty, racism and most anything else.
He was a firebrand.
But just as active athletes eventually age and turn to coaching, Coffin slowly left the picketing and posturing to others and took to “coaching.”
His religious writing filled books and fueled conversations.
Coffin died last week at age 81 from heart failure — physical heart failure.
His spiritual heart never did weaken.
He was a man of contradictions — a “fiery Presbyterian,” and “optimistic skeptic,” a “contemplative activist” and other oxymorons.
And his complicated nature often found its way into his writing.
He wrote much.
And the best and brightest of his thoughts were collected in 2004 in a little book called Credo.
He called himself “an American patriot who loves his country enough to address her flaws.”
I offer a few of his insights here as a send-off to a man who was fun and infuriating — but never boring.
Here’s William Sloane Coffin on:
Faith:
I love the recklessness of faith.
First you leap, then you grow wings . . . .
Faith is recognizing that if at Christmas Jesus became like us, it was so that we might become more like him.
Social justice:
A nation that puts so much stress on getting ahead has a hard time dealing with those who fall behind.
If you’re successful, you seldom identify with failure . . .
In the long run, I believe “class” will prove a tougher nut to crack than “race.”
Civil liberties:
It has been said that a mind once stretched by a new idea can never return to its former shape.
Let’s listen, let’s learn, let’s read and pray — none of this is easy — until, with Peter’s conviction, we can make a similar confession:
”Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality.”
Hell:
Hell is truth, seen too late.
Riches:
There are two ways to be rich.
One is to have a lot of money; the other is to have few needs.
Let us remember that Jesus — who influenced history more than any other single person, institution or nation — died, his sole possession a robe.
War:
I only trust sad soldiers, as I only trust sad revolutionaries.
Enthusiastic ones are always out to get someone.
The modern world:
We are beginning to resemble extinct dinosaurs who suffered from too much armor and too little brain.
Death:
Life after death can no more be proved than disproved . . .
As a child in the womb cannot conceive of life with air and light — the very stuff of our existence — so it is hard for us to conceive of any other life without the sustaining forces to which we are accustomed.