It was
Sunday, around 2PM when we were waiting for the bus which would take us to
Driebergen-Zest (those going to Nijmegen) and Utrecht Centraal (those going to
Enschede, Amsterdam, and Groningen) at
the Het Zonnehuis bus stop in Doorn, Utrecht. Most of the participants rushed
to that nearest bus stop to catch the 2:08 schedule.
We just came from a national retreat with
a theme, Faith in a secular society, organized by the International
Student Chaplaincy with Fr. Avin Kunnekkadan, SVD, Rev. Edith Plantier, and Fr.
Wiel Eggen, SMA. The 2-day/night (19-21 April) retreat in the villa-like Het
Brandpunt in Doorn, Utrecht gathered 19 participants from 14 countries
(Brazil, China, Fiji, India, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan,
Philippines, Rwanda, Singapore, and South Africa).
At the bus
stop, there was a feeling that there were more stories left unshared. After two
days of being together in the retreat, the level of trust and openness heightened
and expanded among participants. The cold breeze that was sweeping our voices to
reverberate in the area was doused by our joint laughters and smiles. From time
to time, we looked at the direction where the bus was expected to show up. No
one showed impatience and panic when no bus emerged from sight after 2:08PM.
Everyone knew that in no time, a bus would show up. Everyone kept that faith.
When the bus finally arrived, many of us had
no OV-Chipkaart and paid cash to the driver. Having an OV-Chipkaart, I decided
to board in the bus the last. From outside, I saw that the bus driver patiently
accepted cash and dispensed tickets. For about 10 minutes or so, I noticed that
the cars behind the bus were slowly piling in line. There were about 15 cars
waiting for the bus to move. Until I got in the bus and took my seat, I did not
hear any blowing of horns from the cars nor expressions of irritation from the
car drivers. In the countries where most of us came from, it was remarkable,
but here in the Netherlands, it was ordinary.
How does
this extra-ordinary become ordinary in the Netherlands?
While in the bus, I recalled the talks in
the retreat. The first one, Secularization
and internalization, by Dr. Otto Kroesen who provided the historical and
systematic perspective of understanding the ordinariness of notable behaviors
by the Dutch in the eyes of foreigners. According to him, the process towards
secularization is Christian-inspired. He traced the origin of the distinction
between secular and spiritual from the church. For example, the creation and
existence of states emerged with the help of the church that bestowed authority
to kings. However, the violence of small warlords at that time posed problems
with the church’s work on conversion and was condemned as “secular” and
temporary.
Dr. Kroesen
also cited an observation of his Kenyan friend based on church attendance between a religious society (e.g. Kenya) and secular
one (e.g. Netherlands). His friend had observed that there is a higher level of
social trust and cooperativeness in the Netherlands than in Kenya. He argued
that this was because of internalization of human virtues which are
Christian-inspired. In his elaboration and rationalization of the process of
internalization, he often presented three dimensions. For example, quoting
Marcel Gauchet, first was the gods are behind us (e.g. ancestors); then, the
gods are above us (e.g. empires, sun, stars); and lastly, the gods are among
and within us (e.g. secular, in human virtues). Another three dimensional
explanation is with time; first is the time of the Father (One God), then of
the Son (One World), and of the Holy Spirit (One Humanity) in which we live
now. In the third dimension, God is becoming invisible, but the Spirit lives
and moves in and through us. In this time, the role of the Church has changed.
Not anymore of continuous sowing of the seeds of faith such as talking about
God, but the time for harvesting such as living in the Spirit in which love is
increasing and prioritized. There may be no outward representations of God in a
secular society, but His/Her presence is expressed in people’s actions and
behaviors towards others. After his talk, there was a plenary sharing of
several participants’ striking observations and experiences in the Netherlands.
If the secularity of the Dutch society is
Christian-inspired, does this secularity have Biblical roots?
In the second talk on the Biblical roots
of secular concern, Fr. Wiel Eggen offered two possibilities of discussing the
theme – Faith in a secular society; 1) how to be a believer in a secular
society, and 2) how to have faith in a secular faith. He contended that this
world and age as a reality is negatively viewed as contradictory to Christ’s life.
The contradiction is like darkness
versus light (God’s kingdom) which has a connotation of not belonging to this
world. Although the world, as we believe, was created by God, we experience its
imperfections which need redemption. If we have faith in Jesus Christ who does
not live anymore in this world, but who lives in us. He continued the
contradiction by saying that we should live in this world, as if not. Our
salvation is connected to the suffering of this world. Fr. Wiel urged us to
make something of our lives by living according to what gives us mission and
meaning in life, because we only live once (taken from YOLO which means you
only live once).
After Fr.
Wiel’s talk, several participants narrated their stories of the good and less
good things they experienced in the Netherlands. For his part, Fr. Avin
narrated his anecdote of the lost wallet. Others highlighted the high level of
trust, openness, tolerance, and acceptance of Dutch society including marijuana
use, same-sex marriage, and prostitution which are still largely illegal and
unacceptable in most societies.
To provide us with real life stories of
Christians living in a secular society, the third talk featured Rev. Rob van
Essen and Mr. Norbert Abachi. Rev. van Essen, a Dutch pastor, told us that his
first conversion was to Christ and the second to the world in which a community
where virtues are practiced thrives. Mr. Abachi, a Kenyan with a strong
religious background who has lived in the Netherlands for 13 years, intimated
his dilemma. He somewhat fears of losing in time the bases of his religious
practices and the separation of worship and good deeds. But he is reassured of
the sense of community and structure that the Church is providing him. After
their sharing, there was a short discussion on the role of the media in the
society.
We noticed
that the bus was approaching the Driebergen-Zeist bus stop and train station. Four
of us got off the bus and waved goodbye to the others whose destination was
Utrecht Centraal. There was no train schedule from Driebergen-Zest to Arnhem
because of some repairs. We did not feel panicky or anything. We simply asked
someone about how to get to Arnhem, and he pointed to a bus apparently
commissioned by the NS-train. When we boarded the bus, most of the seats were
occupied. Each of us took the available ones in various rows. When my body
settled in the seat and relaxed, my eyes struggled to keep up with my mind
still active reminiscing the last day of the retreat.
On the last day which fell on Sunday, Fr.
Avin officiated a liturgy. The readings, homily, and sharings were centered on
the theme. After the liturgy, the groups presented their sketches depicting
their experiences in the Netherlands and their Christian-inspired responses to
various situations that often challenge their religious traditions and beliefs.
The closing was somehow unceremonious, but it served the purpose of continuing
the personal reflection on the theme, Faith
in a secular society.
Back to the bus, I woke up when we were
nearing Arnhem bus stop and train station. When we were walking towards Arnhem
train station, Noriko asked me about my wallet. I calmly checked my wallet at
my jean’s back pocket. Inside the train going to Nijmegen, we took the group
seats facing each other. When the train moved, I observed that no one showed
surprise why we were moving in another direction. Unlike the first day when we
were on the way to the retreat, there was a tinge of panic because the train
was moving towards the same direction towards Nijmegen where we came from. This
time, there was none. For the rest of the train ride back home, we let things
be, knowing that we were on the right track.
After the
retreat, we have less questions about the secular Dutch society than ever
before. We’ve grown faith in this secular society as we strive to keep our own.
