Don't Rock The Boat

I was interested a couple of weeks  ago to learn of the Hungarian doctor Ignaz Semmelweis (1818 - 1865).  He discovered that the washing and cleaning of hands greatly reduced the mortality rate of patients in his maternity ward compared to the wards supervised by other doctors.  He published papers to this effect and insisted that it was the simple act of washing hands that was the key.  His publications were rejected by the established scientific and medical opinions of the time.  He was eventually committed to as asylum for his 'outrageous' claims where he died only 2 weeks after entering the institution, having been beaten by guards.  His theories were proved correct by Lister and Pasteur years after his death.  Today personal hygiene and cleanliness is so much a part of everyday life that it is hard to imagine that the medical world of the mid 19th century did not accept this.


The other day I watched (again!) the now old film The Jazz Singer.  In case anyone is not familiar with the story, it is about a young Jewish man whose father was a cantor in the synagogue.  It was a family tradition and the young man would be the fifth generation of cantors in his family, something that made his father very proud.  However, the young man also lived another life by singing with non-Jewish friends in clubs.  When he got the opportunity to go to California, he realised that singing to the general public was what he really wanted to do.  The result of course was many problems within family relationships and heartache and struggles to come to terms with this idea on all sides.  Eventually he followed his dream and 'made it' in the music world of California.


The first story is a sad one but the second had a happier ending.  The thing is that deep inside we know what is right for us whether other people accept what we say or not.  Truth is truth.  It doesn't depend on how many people agree with us.  It doesn't necessarily mean that the majority must be right.  But it is very difficult to remain true to what we feel deep inside when all around seem to be going in the opposite direction.  The old song that we often used to sing says, 'I'll fear not what men say'.  But we do, don't we?  How often have we heard people say, 'What will people think?'   Today with social media someone can very quickly be made to appear like a saint or a villain.  Whistle-blowers and reporters who tell it as it really is are criticised by established figures and often rubbished in the media when most times what they are saying is the truth that nobody in authority wants the world to know.  It is more difficult when we go against family tradition and when those closest to us reject what we say.  The last thing we want to do is hurt and upset those we love and so often we bury what is inside and carry on just going along with tradition without questioning, closing our minds to any personal or different ideas that we may have had.  Our dreams remain only dreams as we feel unable to seek to make them reality. 


 I have to admit I have great respect for anyone who can stick to their guns when they really believe something regardless of who listens or accepts what they say.  Throughout history we find people who have been ridiculed only to be proved right in later years. Galileo comes to mind when he insisted that the earth went round the sun and not the other way around.  Sadly too often we conform simply to avoid 'rocking the boat'.  We don't want to get a bad reputation as a trouble maker or being a bit wacky.  Sadly this applies to many Christian congregations when those who question or don't fall into line end up outside of the group, excluded.  We have seen it with prominent church leaders like Steve Chalke when he spoke of accepting gay people and Rob Bell and Jim Palmer for offering a different perspective on Christian beliefs.  I find it sad that Christianity is becoming in many places, an exclusive 'club' where if you question, think for yourself, don't fit in and conform or rock the boat then you become excluded.  As for me - I will continue to question and seek truth even if that means being part of a misunderstood minority.  In the end it is only truth that will set us free, free from the fear of what others might think, free to be who we really are, free to be the person God made us to be.