With the permission of the Communication and Innovation Department of the University of Latvia and of the author of the interview, Andra Čudare, we are republishing the interview of 21 September 2018 with professor Dace Balode, dean of the UL Faculty of Theology.
Source of the interview: University of Latvia
RESEARCHER OF THE MONTH DACE BALODE – DREAMS AND CURIOSITY DRIVE US FORWARD
09/21/2018 Andra Čudare
While August was still carefree, we invited the dean of the Faculty of Theology, Dace Balode, for a conversation. Meeting a week before the start of the academic year, the calm reigning in the faculty is deceptive, for behind the doors activity is bustling. Dace Balode admits that her heart is at peace, because the state-funded places for both the bachelor’s and the master’s study programmes are filled. Her heart is also full of pleasant excitement, because at the end of June Dace was ordained as a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia Abroad (ELCLA).
How did you spend your holiday, did you manage not to think about work?
I enjoyed the time together with my family – we travelled a lot, swam and sunbathed, yet a sense of sacrifice came over me too and I got caught up in work matters. But it is so pleasant to read, to research and to immerse oneself unhurriedly in some theological question! I would like there to be even more of those moments when I can follow my academic interests and enjoy an interesting book. I look forward to the academic year, because discussions with students give me great pleasure.
It is not possible to enjoy only the creative moments; reports and boring mountains of paper are also necessary.
A dead end is also part of the matter – when it seems that everything has already been said. I do not want to complain, because we can moan endlessly and talk about troubles. It is important not only to survive, but truly to live, to rejoice, to enjoy and to feel that you are alive, that life is worth living. One of the things that revives me is cycling; I have to admit that I quietly listen to music through earphones, and then the gliding on the bicycle creates the feeling that the world is in order at that moment.
What were you listening to while cycling this morning?
The song “Works of Art Are Born in Torment” by the band “Pērkons”. I have just downloaded songs by the German musician Max Raabe; one of them is about cycling, where it says – when you are on a bicycle, everything is fine. I feel very much the same.
What are your expectations for this academic year?
This will be my fourth year in the post of dean and, to be honest, only now have I understood what needs to be done for the faculty to develop. This knowledge, in which the intuitive and the pragmatic come together, comes with time, because a faculty is made up of people who are constantly changing.
To work with such supportive and knowledgeable colleagues is a true joy. I want us to continue to see in one another inspiration, a strong shoulder. We are very different, which is both a plus and a pleasant challenge. There are things about which I know – here we will not be of one mind, but that is only normal! In theology there is much talk about conviction, truth and the search for it. I want to think that, despite our differences, we are able to find a common language.
Theology is not about pulling the blanket to one’s own side, but about constructive conversation.
Exactly! I could not define it better. There, where the imposition of an opinion begins, freedom ends. Faith is not born where a person is restricted. Yes, we are placed within some kind of frame, from which we learn and take over a great deal, but quite often after a while it must be discarded, because in the search for ourselves we move forward. What I call faith is reliance. It is complete trust; one might even say – the entrusting of one’s life. I will allow myself to compare life to a cake – faith is not the whipped cream that is piped onto a multi-layered cake to make it look prettier. Faith is like the rum that soaks through all the layers and gives flavour; it is the essence that permeates everything.
Theology is the search for oneself, the attempt to understand what this cake is made of, while eating it.
Indeed, it could be the eating of a cake. Theology does not arise from faith; it helps to understand what faith is, to evaluate it.
At the Faculty of Theology there are also people who do not believe in God.
Quite often people have the notion that we prepare pastors, which we indeed also do. Judging by the lists of graduates, we are quite definitely the institution that has prepared the most clergy in Latvia. And of various denominations, at that! Accordingly, that is one of our tasks. But only one of them! I would like to see better cooperation with the churches; I believe that we must carry out a critical function, reporting if something in the church is not happening as it should. Just as a journalist cannot stay silent about events in society, theologians must serve the church. A broader task, which can be observed increasingly everywhere in the world – theologians turn to religious studies, analyse the significance of religion in society, study religious phenomena and how the identity of religion changes. At present people are becoming less and less involved in institutions, and interest in classical Christianity in the church is decreasing.
What will come in its place? Perhaps the awareness that the church is not a branch office for receiving God, but that you can sit in the forest and talk with God there.
It is clear that God is not the private property of the church and that God is all around us. The church is a community. The highest commandment is to love God and your neighbour; the church is a training ground where one learns to love. Because, speaking purely in the abstract, we can love humanity, but in reality we learn it in relationships. To live alone is both easier and harder. You may seem very good to yourself, but only another person can draw out other aspects.
A person is becoming more individual, and therefore institutional religion is declining. In the past a household lived in one room, where they ate, slept and made love, but now a person quite often is not satisfied even with three rooms. I hope that the search for closeness will return. Yes, we enjoy our freedom, but at the same time we also suffer from it. The church and the congregation create the feeling that you are not forgotten; it is a place where one learns humanity and remembers that we are different, but that we all need love and forgiveness.
Modern technologies do not help, because everything is designed so that there is as little human contact as possible – self-service checkouts, food delivery to the home. It is easy to become lonely.
I quite like to immerse myself in the virtual environment; I do not want to give it up. Many schools make radical decisions, banning the use of phones; undeniably, much creativity flourishes there. The progress of technology cannot be stopped, and it is not necessary! Pessimists might perhaps say that everything is going to the bad, that the human being is so highly developed that there should be no wars and disasters. At that moment God becomes a helper; it is important to me to know that the world is being carried or held in His hands, that I am not alone here. I have no answers regarding the suffering that humanity has had to experience – wars, the Holocaust, deportations – how one can justify such evil and see meaning in it. Such disasters are as inevitable as the change of the seasons, but I have the hope that afterwards comes resurrection, a new morning or an unstoppable sprout – that new generations come who bring something good.
The good is not possible without the bad. Not all plants can be edible; some are poisonous.
The eschatological view, which several religions represent, asserts that beyond this world there is a more ordered place. I do not know whether there is such a place, but a song comes to mind that I heard in my teenage years – “I do not know what is around the corner, but I know that you are there, God.” It is similar for me – who knows what happens after death, but it is important to me that there, in Nirvana or in paradise, wherever it may be, that God is there. I do not know whether I like the idea of a paradise where everything is ideal, whether it will not be too boring. But when there is suffering and people are wiped off the face of the earth, one longs for a place where there are no tears. When a loved one dies, it hurts so much that one longs for the white, perfect world.
There is only one way to find that out.
All the descriptions in religious texts are dreams. It is the hope that even in death you are not left alone.
But can dreams do harm? Dreams and desires drive us forward, make us get up from the sofa.
The human desire to find meaning in the world prompts us to make attempts, makes us think about the future. If a person wants nothing, he is dead. Some find it hard to let go, others want to dream too much, but dreams lead forward, and that is how we have arrived at technologies. Inside a human being there is a terrible force – it is interest. As long as a person’s head is not cut off, curiosity will drive them forward.
At the Faculty of Theology there is a course on suffering, and with the students we always run up against the question – are we developing or regressing? Many theologians believe that the whole world is still in the great process of creation, and therefore suffering must be experienced, because from it we learn and become more humane. Only in such a process can we come to know God, because a human being cannot come into the world all at once with knowledge and convictions, for then the freedom of decision is lost – whether I wish to be with God.
Perhaps if we were granted to live 500 years, then we could judge that?
Even then it could not be said! Once a lecturer at the faculty asked – was the 7th grade a mistake? It was simply the 7th grade, which had to be experienced at that moment. But have we progressed since that age? Perhaps we have lost a great deal?
Possibly, courage. Do you remember how easy it was to make friends in childhood?
Give a child these little sheets of paper, and they will be an aeroplane, a ship, a house, but I will only know that you can write a to-do list on them. Hegel said that we develop in a spiral, but does it move upwards?
Perhaps it is better not to know? Is it easier that way?
It is possible that this tension also creates movement and drives us forward. If we knew the answer, then there would be no motivation to build a better future.
Congratulations on the fulfilment of one dream – the ordination, which took place on 29 June!
The feeling that one day it would happen has been there for a long time. It seemed important to take this step right now, both for personal reasons and because of the post of dean. My forebears were pastors, and it is good when there is a pastor right on site at the university. The realisation of the dream has been hindered by the Church’s decision not to ordain women; at first it was a decision of the leadership, but in 2016 the synod adopted the decision to change the Constitution. I believe that at the time this decision was not discussed sufficiently and it is not entirely clear what impact it has had. It must be admitted that men’s attitude towards women is different. Once a lady told me about a colleague who did not support women’s ordination, yet despite that they were able to cooperate successfully. But after the official decision the attitude has changed. I believe that this decision is a loss for men as human beings and for their souls.
I am ordained outside Latvia, but in the Latvian district, which is an interesting situation. I still belong to two churches and will not leave the ELCL, even though I have given my vow of ministry to the church abroad. I have a great deal of work at the faculty, so I will not take on work in a congregation, but since I am in the status of a vicar, I can stand in for the dean of the district.
In the Lutheran tradition, the consecration of the Holy Communion is entrusted to the pastor, although in my understanding every baptised person is essentially a priest and answers for themselves before God. Nevertheless, the order of the church is such, and it is important to me that I can consecrate the meal. It is a symbol of God’s hospitality, which invites everyone to the table in a sacramental way. The true hospitality of God, however, appears in human relationships in everyday life, but the shared Communion is a symbol that helps us to strive towards the good.
Aren’t you tired of going to fight for the idea that a woman’s place is in the church?
I am! And I feel that some grumble: “Oh, there she goes again, harping on about her thing!” But what else is one to do? I see how discrimination manifests itself in life, when women are pushed out and encounter an arrogant attitude. I cannot stay silent about it! It is the same kind of violence as a blow to the face. It seems to me that Jesus would not want it so. He tried to show that hierarchy in relationships is not important; there are accounts where he speaks with women as equals, and his disciples are amazed at it.
I am glad that I have the opportunity to be ordained right here in Latvia; I hope that it will be an encouragement to other women.
Discrimination, in my opinion, is fear of the strength of women.
Yes, a man quite often feels threatened; all that remains is the awareness that he is superior. Thomas Aquinas said – God created woman as a helper for man. And not in the intellectual sense, at that; there only the man can take part. The woman is useful only for the bearing of children. How can one not be vexed about that?
Theology helps one to become aware of one’s own worth. Yes, Eve was the first to pluck the fruit, but that does not mean that the woman is of lower standing! God does not look at the woman as being of lower standing! There are two stories of creation – God creates man and woman, and both are created in the likeness of God. The woman is neither lower than nor superior to the man. In Latvia people are afraid of the word “feminism”, because they think that it is the combating of men, the domination of women. The woman simply needs to be recognised as a full human being, that is all! Freedom and respect towards the woman create a gain for everyone; the man loses nothing, but only gains – a colourful and interesting person.
We have talked at great length; I will ask you to conclude the conversation with a final thought as the researcher of the month.
I invite you to follow your curiosity, to give yourself over to the pull of life, and not to live in fear.