The world is out of control.

The Novel Corona Virus is out of control. Our attempts to get the virus under control have put our economy and our public life out of control. And now our attempts to take back control of our economy and of our public life may decrease the little control we have achieved over the virus.

We don’t like this feeling of losing control. And some religious leaders are tempted to take advantage of these negative feelings in order to sell their beliefs. The sales pitch is simple: “You feel like you are losing control and I can provide relief from that feeling. You may not be in control but God is in control. In fact, by definition, God is in control of all things. The way to get control of your life is to connect yourself with God; join our team. I have a quick and easy way to connect you with God and to save you from this chaotic world.” We can even hear this sales pitch in commercials that are currently airing on TV.

Snake oil …

The basic problem with attempts like this to exploit a crisis for religious purposes is that our human desire to be in control of our lives is the direct opposite of faith in God, faith as a trust that sustains and empowers our lives.

There is a common exercise in trust which, when examined closely, illustrates how different faith is from the desire for control. Have someone stand behind you and then fall backwards trusting that person to catch you. At first this is simply a matter of control. You cede your control of the fall over to a person you trust. Your cognitive mind can imagine that person catching you. You know it will all be fine so you can use the control your mind has over your body to instigate your fall. You are in control of the beginning and the other person is in control of the end. But the real question is not a cognitive one. The question is what you feel in between, in the moment you are actually falling? If you feel fear; that is a result of a desire for control. If you feel freedom and joy; that is a result of faith.

The faith that you have while falling, when you experience freedom and joy, lives at a level within you that is deeper (and less in your control) than your cognitive mind. Here is how Denise Levertov talks about this in a poem from Oblique Prayers:

As swimmers dare
to lie face to the sky
and water bears them,
as hawks rest upon air
and air sustains them,
so would I learn to attain
freefall, and float
into Creator Spirit's deep embrace,
knowing no effort earns
that all-surrounding grace.

And a haiku of mine:

beyond the breakers
I trust my breath
to swell and trough

Suppose that, as you are falling, in the time after you are in control and before the time your friend is in control, suppose that you feel both fear and freedom. Then the question becomes how do you increase your feelings of freedom and lessen your feelings of fear? In these in-between times, how can we live by faith? How do we live faithfully instead of in a vain attempt to regain control? How can we “learn to attain freefall, and float into Creator Spirit’s deep embrace”?

Maybe what we need most of all in this time of Covid is not so much a relief from this loss of control. Maybe what we need is simple faith which lives at a level deeper than our cognitive minds. A religious “faith” which promises to bring control back into life might be just the opposite of what we need.