THE FIRST DUTY OF LOVE IS TO LISTEN
Paul Tillich was a German born theologian and Christian existentialist. He was born in Brandenburg Germany 1886, and died in Chicago U.S. 1965. He initially taught at universities in Germany, and later at Harvard in the U.S.. and at Chicago University.
For those who know of Paul Tillich, they might automatically think of his infamous phrase; “ultimate concern.” But there is more to Tillich than that. He certainly starts out with 'ultimate concern, but he allows that to take us into a place of mystery, courage and personal responsibility. Tillich has to be understood as an existential mystic. This is why we started with the teaser; “The first duty of love is to listen.” He leads us into personal responsibility, courage, mystery and love. If we stop at Ultimate Concern then we would miss what he is really getting at. However, to understand Paul Tillich, we do have to start with "Ultimate Concern."
Tillich says that faith is the state of being Ultimately Concerned. In faith the ultimate concern is for the nebulous of meaning. (You may have to pause and think about this for a moment). The ‘ultimate concern’ we carry does not focus on the content of faith (God), but focuses on the psychic character of each person. What the person is ultimately concerned with, or for, is the object of their faith. (It is worth personalizing it at this point. Choose something you think might be your ultimate concern) The object of that concern is expressed in symbol, which we call God. This is an important to understand. Tillich does not assent to a God that can be defined. Rather, God is a symbol, that we are led toward if we pay attention to our ultimate concern. For Tillich, everyone has an ultimate concern.
Whatever we decide our ultimate concern is, we are asked to surrender to it. Surrender is very closely aligned to acceptance. When we identify our ultimate concern, and we surrender to that ultimate concern, we begin to enter into The Mystery of God. We begin to accept life on life's terms, and we begin to become comfortable relaxing into the nebulous of what we do not know or understand.
Another German theologian, Karl Rahner, said; “tomorrow’s Christian will be either a mystic, or s/he will not exist.” We think there is much truth in this. The institutional church of tomorrow will need to have a quality product, and it will need to be one that is in demand. Rahner suggests that will only be tolerated and accepted by the wider community if it is a nebulous mystery. Any community perception that an institution will impose morality on it will be rejected. God as mystery is not a new concept - it is in fact very ancient. In such case, Paul Tillich’s formula (Ultimate Concern + Surrender = the mystery of God) becomes even more potent.
But as we said at the start, there is more to Paul Tillich than ultimate concern.
Symbol and language (which is also a symbol) express our ultimate concern. Symbols refer to that which is beyond our ability to understand. Symbol creates a landscape that we can move toward, especially when science cannot take us to that place. Symbols arise from our unconsciousness. We cannot manufacture symbols. Symbols are born of need, and they perish when they no longer generate a reaction. Without realizing it, humans often rely on symbols to express meaning. Consider the Australian flag, for example. We may not give it a great deal of thought in some common settings. But if we have the same Australian flag at an ANZAC Service it suddenly represents the collective mind gathered in that place, and it helps to articulate and express what is deep within the collective minds. Our values, cares, gratitude, sorrow and hope are represented in that flag. Symbol has power in certain contexts.
Mythology is a collection of symbols, which represent our ultimate concern. Tillich says we cannot live without them. Myths are never logical, but they are necessary. One cannot remove mythology from human consciousness. In the symbolic language of faith but we cannot afford to accept myths as literal truths, because then they would lose their meaning. If we were to make a myth literal and logical, it would rob faith of the nebulous and its mystery. If God stops being beyond our understanding, then God stops being God. God needs to remain beyond what we can understand.
Tillich also speaks about anxiety and courage. He identifies three anxieties.
1. The anxiety of fate and death. To accept fate is to accept a small death. These are the things we don't want, but they are present anyway. To accept life on life's terms, is the ultimate acceptance. If we can do so, we cease to rely on others to tell us what will happen. We begin to find the courage to seek answers for ourselves, and we discover the courage to accept the world as it is.
2. The anxiety of guilt and condemnation. Tillich says we are responsible for our own morality and the way we live. We have questions which we must answer ourselves, Then we must realize the answers we discovered are unsatisfactory. Anxiety is produced when we realize we could have done better. This is the courage to be, the courage to accept ourselves, even though we are unacceptable. This point especially makes Tillich an existentialist. It is his way of saying; 'take responsibility for yourself, even though you will fail. Dust yourself off and try again.'
3. The anxiety of meaninglessness and emptiness. This is a lack of ultimate concern, and a loss of spirit. Anyone in this state would feel the threat of non-being. They would feel there is no purpose in life. Man only finds the courage when he turns to God in these circumstances and rediscovers his purpose, but perhaps in new ways. The source of this courage is our ultimate concern, which will guide us toward the mystery. We must find this for ourselves. (if we become open to the possibility that, in God there is purpose, then God is more likely to find us).
You may have noticed by now that Paul Tillich has little interest in defining God, as though God were an entity that lives somewhere off with the stars in outer space, watches over us, and seeks our compliance. Instead Tillich encourages us to focus on our ultimate concern, which is something that leads us to mystery. That mystery in turn will bring purpose and courage to our living. On the way we overcome our anxiety as we learn courage for living. Sometimes art symbol and myth help our soul to make a journey that science cannot always take us on.
Paul Tillich's Ultimate Concern is not just a philosophy. It is presented as a way of life , and a way of spirit culminating in the ecstasy of listening and loving in a way that leads us to intimacy with the divine.
Also from Paul Tillich
“Doubt is not the opposite of faith. Doubt is one of the elements of faith.”
“Language has created the word “loneliness” to express the pain of being. Language has also created the word “solitude” to express the glory of being alone.”
“Neurosis is a way of avoiding non-being, by avoiding being.” This is like believing we wont die if we don't live.
“Decision is a risk, rooted in the courage of being free.”
“The first duty of love is to listen.”
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