But the practice of Zen meditation filled the void he felt in his life. In fact, at first Buddhism grated disagreeably with his faith in Christ. It was not the teachings that first attracted him to Zen. Although their relationship did not last, his interest in her religion did. Lance had lost everything on earth he held dear.Ī year later, Lance began to date a woman who was involved with Zen Buddhism. And though he spent everything he had to fight for them, the courts awarded the children to his ex-wife. She had decided the children would be better off with her. After a couple of years Lance’s ex-wife took him to court. In order to support his family Lance took a position as a youth minister in another state. But now no one wanted him as a head pastor. Inevitably, many of the leaders of his congregation - along with the assistant pastor - compelled Lance to move on.Īt one time Lance was a young rising star in the evangelical world. But a divorced minister is a stigma that many churches have great difficulty accepting. At first, other Christians sympathized with Lance’s plight. Lance was heartbroken, but found consolation by pouring all his affections into his children. Finally, she left Lance and her three young children for another man. In time, she rebelled, becoming involved with different men. Although she loved to be in the spotlight, she hated acting the role of a saintly wife. They valued his counseling because he was able to touch people’s deepest needs with caring insight.īut Lance struggled with one burden: his wife was miserable as a preacher’s wife. People loved his preaching because he was able to convey the love of Christ in a way everyone could understand. It was not surprising to anyone that he entered seminary and graduated with honors. Lance Miller was raised in a Presbyterian church, where he learned to love God and where he decided to give his life to the Lord. Zen’s emphasis on self-effort, contemplative experience, and detachment from one’s desires appeals to many Westerners, who have abandoned rational philosophies and religious dogmas for a religion that stresses “nonthinking.” As one of the many schools of Mahayana Buddhism, the primary goal of Zen is to achieve personal enlightenment by meditating upon specific illogical phrases.
One of the most popular forms of Buddhism among non-Asian North Americans is Zen Buddhism. For further information or to subscribe to the Christian Research Journal go to: This article first appeared in the Christian Research Journal, Winter (1995).
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