Molly Little – Houghton STAR

Response to Molly Little’s Chapel

“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.

Opinions_JD_Quote 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.

Houghton College’s fourth annual Faith and Justice Symposium will be tackling the weighty topics of War, Conflict, and Violence, with an emphasis on the enduring presence of hope. Beginning Wednesday September 24th and continuing throughout the week, the Symposium hopes to not only to inform about relevant world issues but also to contextualize and equip Houghton campus with a deepened understanding of conflict.

Wynn Horton, a student coordinator for the event comments, “Every single person at or around Houghton is impacted by war whether they believe it or not. War and conflict have shaped the history of the world and provide the foundations for the present. Without understanding the expansive effects of these violent events, we cannot expect to find resonance with those whose lives have been woven through cultures of war, conflict, and violence.”

This year’s Symposium hopes that students will attend and apply the event’s message to their own lives. Professor of Intercultural Studies and Director of the Center for Faith, Justice, and Global Engagement, Ndunge Kiiti comments, “[The theme of] ‘Stories of Hope’ is to remind us that we can do something about these complex issues. It may be interfacing or impacting one person or many, but, whatever or whoever it is, it makes a difference.” Student coordinator, Moeun Sun, additionally states, “A goal of the Symposium is to explore how even in the midst of deep conflict there remains to be hope. We want to reframe the perception of conflict, not focusing only on the conflict, but also address it in ways that bring hope to people.”

Speaker Molly Little from the United Nations and Office of Humanitarian Affairs will open up this year’s Symposium lectures, and i Courtesy of Moeun Sun t is assumed she will be relating tales from her experience with the U.N.

Other speakers include Reverend Celestin Musekura, president and CEO of African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries (ALARM), recent Houghton graduate Julian Cook, and Luis Noda, Chief International Relations Officer at Food for the Hungry.

This year’s theme of “War, Conflict, and Violence: Stories of Hope” was chosen based on feedback the college received after last year’s Symposium. When asked about the subject’s immediate relevance for Houghton campus, Kiiti responded: “This is an important topic because the impact of war, conflict, and violence is tremendous on human life and development–affecting communities in a multiplicity of ways…Because war, conflict and violence impact so many areas of life, they require holistic and interdisciplinary responses. This is at the core of Houghton’s mission of a Christian education in the liberal arts and sciences.”

The talks and workshops facilitated by this years’ Faith and Justice Symposium will provide Houghton campus with different contexts through which to view today’s tumultuous world. Horton expressed his hope “that students here use this [symposium] as a time to expand their ‘bubble,’ build international connections, and strengthen their understanding of hope.”