“What did you think of the chapel speaker?” It was the phrase that made its rounds across campus after Molly Little, a UN representative and former Houghton Grad, gave the opening lecture for the annual Faith and Justice Symposium. She was honest about her struggles with faith and gave no indulgence to optimism; and naturally her provocative chapel speech ignited strong opinions throughout campus. The controversy was evident. Many people even debated whether somebody like Little should be allowed to speak in chapel. All the while, others commended her for her direct and refreshingly cynical approach.
If I’m being honest I do not think anybody liked Molly Little’s talk. It is hard to watch someone share intimate moments of despair and like it – that would be sadistic – but her message was incredibly moving and her raw truth-fullness was at its very least thought-provoking. I would hope that those who appreciated Little’s speech, like myself, did so not for the sake of controversy, but to preserve the integrity of her vulnerability. That being said, not everybody was appreciative of Little’s sheer bluntness and some found her despondency off-putting. I would like to carefully remind this group that yes, Molly Little is responsible for her ideological communication, but we as listeners are equally responsible for our reactions.
It is incredibly easy to come into chapel and evaluate speakers based on our own personal theological expectations. We want to be energized. We want to be refreshed and we want that warm feeling in our belly that reminds us that the Holy Spirit is real; but chapel isn’t about that. It is about lifting one another up and becoming one worshipping body under Christ. So when people like Molly Little come and, by their own admission, state that their “faith is a skeleton of what it used to be” and that they greatly struggle to find power in the Christian life, we shouldn’t feel offended by their theology because that is a selfish reaction to their pain. We are acting as if Little’s struggles are inconvenient to our personal lives of faith, and as a result we degrade and ostracize her from the body of believers. This type of reaction has no redemptive power. Instead, we must lift her up in prayer.
I don’t know Molly’s pain, I can’t give her an answer, but her lack of faith is not absurd. I too know of an individual who at the height of His calling proclaimed, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me,” and then rose again in glory. And if the Lord of our hearts can feel the burden of His calling and rise from the depth of despair, why do we have difficulty believing similar instances can happen and be restored in the Christian life?
You don’t need to agree with Molly Little’s ideas. You don’t even have to like what she said, but you need to be empathetic and appreciate her honesty. Would it be easier if Little’s message was all roses and rainbows? Of course. But it wasn’t and even still our God has the ability to work in her, through her and with her, because that’s who God is. His grace is not contingent on our eloquence or our eligibility. It just is, and because of this we have hope for our most despondent situations, stories and friends.
One reply on “Response to Molly Little’s Chapel”
That was a beautiful reflection and admonishment, thanks for sharing your thoughts. I appreciated the chapel talk – it’s raw vulnerability – and also it’s message – a critique of naive optimism – but I didn’t go where you went with my reflections on it. So I truly appreciate where you took it – it adds richness to my memory of Molly Little’s words.