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The Christian Testimony of Condoleezza Rice
The Layman, October 2002, via Rice2008.com ^ | October 2002 | Condoleezza Rice, Ph.D

Posted on 11/08/2002 1:13:57 PM PST by B-Chan

THE CHRISTIAN TESTIMONY OF CONDOLEEZZA RICE

"I started to think of myself as that elder son who had never doubted the existence of the Heavenly Father but wasn't really walking in faith in an active way any more."

Miss Condoleezza Rice (47) is the American National Security Advisor. She has reached the highest political office for an African-American woman to have attained. Her father was a Presbyterian minister and she was trained as a girl to be a concert pianist and a competitive ice skater. During an August 4 Sunday school class at the National Presbyterian Church, Washington, she explained something of her own faith in God. Here are some excerpts:

I was a preacher's kid, so Sundays were church, no doubt about that. The church was the center of our lives. In segregated black Birmingham of the late l950s and early 1960s, the church was not just a place of worship. It was the place where families gathered; it was the social center of the community, too.

Although I never doubted the existence of God, I think like all people I've had some ups and downs in my faith. When I first moved to California in 1981 to join the faculty at Stanford, there were a lot of years when I was not attending church regularly. I was traveling a lot. I was a specialist in international politics, so I was always traveling abroad. I was always in another time zone.

One Sunday I was in the Lucky's Supermarket not very far from my house I will never forget - among the spices an African-American man walked up to me and said he was buying some things for his church picnic.

And he said, "Do you play the piano by any chance?"

I said, "Yes." They said they were looking for someone to play the piano at church. It was a little African-American church right in the center of Palo Alto. A Baptist church. So I started playing for that church. That got me regularly back into churchgoing. I don't play gospel very well - I play Brahms - and you know how black ministers will start a song and the musicians will pick it up? I had no idea what I was doing and so I called my mother, who had played for Baptist churches.

"Mother," I said, "they just start. How am I supposed to do this?" She said, "Honey, play in C and they'll come back to you." And that's true. If you play in C, people will come back. I tell that story because I thought to myself "My goodness, God has a long reach." I mean, in the Lucky's Supermarket on a Sunday morning.

I played for about six months for them and then I decided to go and find the Presbyterian Church again. I'm a devoted Presbyterian. I really like the governance structure of the church. I care about the Presbyterian Church. On a Sunday morning, I went to Menlo Park Presbyterian Church [in Palo Alto]. The minister that Sunday morning gave a sermon I will never quite forget. It was about the Prodigal Son from the point of view of the elder son.

It set the elder son up not as somebody who had done all the right things but as somebody who had become so self-satisfied'; a parable about self-satisfaction, and contentment and complacency in faith, [and] that people who didn't somehow expect themselves to need to be born again can be so complacent.

I started to think of myself as that elder son who had never doubted the existence of the Heavenly Father but wasn't really walking in faith in an active way any more.

I started to become more active with the church to go to Bible study and to have a more active prayer life. It was a very important turning point in my life.

My father was an enormous influence in my spiritual life. He was a theologian, a doctor of divinity. He was someone who let you argue about things. He didn't say, "Just accept it." And when I had questions, which we all do, he encouraged that.

He went to great lengths to explain about the man we've come to know as Doubting Thomas; he thought that was an incident in the life of Christ about the fact it was OK to question. And that Christ knew that Thomas needed to feel his wounds; feel the wounds in His side and feel the wounds in His hands. That it was what Thomas needed - he needed that physical contact. And then, of course, Christ said when you can accept this on faith, it will be even better.

I [liked] the fact that my father didn't brush aside my questions about faith. He allowed me as someone who lives in my mind to also live in my faith.

In this job, when we faced a horrible crisis like September 11, you go back in your mind and think, "Is there anything I could have done? Might I have seen this coming? Was there some way?"

When you go through something like that, you have to turn to faith because you can rationalize it, you can make an intellectual answer about it but you can't fully accept it until you can feel it here (taps chest). That time wasn't a failure, but it was a period of crisis when faith was really important for me.

I try always not to think that I am Elijah, that I have somehow been particularly called like a prophet. That's a dangerous thing. In a sense, we've all been called to whatever it is we are doing. But if you try to wear the imprimatur of God - I've seen that happen to leaders who begin too much to believe in that - then there are a couple of very good antidotes to that. I try to say when I pray, "Help me to walk in Your way, not my own." To try to walk in a way that is actually fulfilling a plan, and recognize you are a cog in a larger universe.

I think people who believe in the Creator can never take themselves too seriously. I feel that faith allows me to have a kind of optimism about the future. You look around you and you see an awful lot of pain, suffering and things that are going wrong. It could be oppressive. But when I look at my own story or many others that I have seen, I think, "How could it possibly be that it has turned out this way?" Then my only answer is it's God's plan. And that makes me very optimistic that this is all working out in a proper way. So we must all stay close to God and pray and follow in His footsteps.

I really do believe that God will never let his children fall too far. There is an old gospel hymn, "He knows how much you can bear." I really do believe that. I greatly appreciate, and so does the president, the prayers of the American people. You feel them. You know that they are there. If you just keep praying for us, it is so important to all of us.

In many ways, it's a wonderful White House to be in because there are a lot of people who are of faith, starting with the president. When you are in a community of the faithful, it makes a very big difference not only in how people treat each other but in how they treat the task at hand.

Among American leadership, there are an awful lot of people who travel in faith. It's a remarkable thing and I think it probably sets us apart from most developed countries where it is not something that is appreciated quite as much in most of the world.

I've watched over the last year and a half how people want to have human dignity worldwide. You hear of Asian values or Middle Eastern values and how that means people can't really take to democracy or they'll never have democracy because they have no history of it, and so forth. We forget that when people are given a choice between freedom and tyranny, they will choose freedom. I remember all the stories before the liberation of Afghanistan that that nation wouldn't "get it," that they were all warlords and it would just be chaos. Then we got pictures of people dancing on the streets of Kabul just because they now could listen to music or send their girls to school.

The Layman, October 2002


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: christians; condoleezzarice; elections2004; gop; republicanparty; testimony
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To: B-Chan
Interesting info. As a Southern Baptist I never knew that. Thanks
61 posted on 11/08/2002 7:26:11 PM PST by billbears
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To: sauropod
I think it is PC USA. I used to go to the same church. It's a great church with a great minister. We moved too far south to still go to it. Plus it is a very large church, and we wanted a smaller church for our family.

It is a very Christ centered church with great Bible studies.
62 posted on 11/08/2002 7:27:45 PM PST by luckystarmom
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To: B-Chan
This church is not a feel good and light on Jesus. It is very Biblical based church, and I'm pretty sure it was anti-abortion. I know most of the women in my old Bible study were. I never heard any sermons on contraception.

I know the minister loved to call his church a "hospital for sinners".

They also sent out lots of missionaries to places like China and the Phillipines.
63 posted on 11/08/2002 7:32:20 PM PST by luckystarmom
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To: B-Chan
For a lovely, intelligent woman...
Christian Condi BUMP!

64 posted on 11/08/2002 7:36:09 PM PST by Libertina
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To: B-Chan
The reply's to this wonderful post make me thank God that He accepts my multiply prayers for forgiveness every day. The lady is not now, and never has sought elective office, but some here attack her thoughts. I will pray that she comes to understand the true evil that abortion is.

I will also ask Jesus to give me patience for the judgmental people who make me glad that I am a right wing Christian and yet not a member of the Christian Right!

65 posted on 11/08/2002 7:37:49 PM PST by HoustonCurmudgeon
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To: B-Chan
I'm surprised your parents allow you to have computer privileges.
66 posted on 11/08/2002 7:43:25 PM PST by 2sheep
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To: B-Chan
I have been to the Menlo Park Presbyterian Church. Wow! It's a great church - or at least it used to be.
67 posted on 11/08/2002 7:44:19 PM PST by CyberAnt
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To: CyberAnt
Here's the website:

http://www.mppc.org/who_we_are.jsp

I agree that it is a great church. I haven't been in many years, but it had a great minister Walt Gerber.

It says a lot for Ms. Rice that she attended that church.
68 posted on 11/08/2002 7:48:51 PM PST by luckystarmom
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To: billbears
My pleasure.
69 posted on 11/08/2002 8:04:10 PM PST by B-Chan
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To: luckystarmom
PCA? PCUSA? Reformed Presbyterian? I get them mixed up. I admit I can't tell which Presbyterian church is Bad and which one is Good, but I do know that there are good Christians in all of them -- some of whom suffer under the rule of outright heretics. I have nothing against Presbyterians; it's just that practically every time I see a Presbyterian minister on TV they're talking about "diversity" or "inclusiveness" instead of about Jesus. From now on I'll assume that such people are members of the Presbyterian church that is outside the pale of orthodoxy -- whichever one that is!

FYI: We Catholics are taught [CCC, 838] to recognize all those who believe in Christ and are validly baptized as being fellow Christians (albeit Christians in imperfect communion with the true Catholic Church).
70 posted on 11/08/2002 8:22:19 PM PST by B-Chan
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To: B-Chan
What are the likely reasons that Rice, Culter, and Noonan are all single at their age?
71 posted on 11/08/2002 8:32:03 PM PST by fatguy
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To: fatguy
I appreciate that Rice, Culter and Noonan have done heavy lifting for the GOP, but are these unmarried, attractive, middle-aged women:

• Like the nuns from past generations?

• Workaholics who are unbalanced and hollow?

• Not attracted to men?

• What else?



72 posted on 11/08/2002 8:40:08 PM PST by fatguy
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To: fatguy
I haven't the foggiest notion. "Too busy to look" would be my guess. I tend to discount the "closet lesbian" hypothesis; in today's world of Jerry Springer and tabloids, when a public figure is gay, word always gets around. Was Elton John's "coming out" any surprise? Rosie O'Donnell's? Ellen DeGeneris'? If Dr. Rice were a lesbian, I'm almost certain we'd know it by now. She's pushing fifty.

I do know a few thirtyish-fortyish hetero single gals. From what I've heard, they find it difficult to meet quality guys who share their values and ideas. "I don't go to bars, and I won't date people I work with. The only place left to meet decent men is at church -- and all of them are are either already married or celibate!" Add to that the time squeeze of a big-shot career and you've got a recipe for spinsterhood.

Sure, they could be homosexual. So could the guy next door with three kids. Until I have some evidence to go on besides old-maidhood, it's "hetero until proven homo" as far as I'm concerned.

73 posted on 11/08/2002 8:52:02 PM PST by B-Chan
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To: B-Chan
Well, since I was a member of Menlo Park Presbyterian for about 5 years, I'll tell you what I know. They are loosely connected churches. They each have their own personality. I visted another one in San Jose that was having a lesbian speak and was very liberal. I never attended that church again.

I think MPPC is fairly mainstream conservative church. After five years, I never heard anything strange coming from the pulpit. It was all good strong Christianity.
74 posted on 11/08/2002 9:08:42 PM PST by luckystarmom
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To: jstone78
If you were comparing one of your Italian relatives to a high-profile Italian, she probably wouldn't be insulted at all.

I must point out, however, that when the majority of black children are born out of wedlock, it would appear that very high standards are less prevalent among the group than the group might wish.
75 posted on 11/08/2002 9:28:01 PM PST by lady lawyer
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To: jstone78
BTW, I consider my daughter in law exceptional among young women of any color. She is just an outstanding person, who happens to be black, like Condie Rice.
76 posted on 11/08/2002 9:29:20 PM PST by lady lawyer
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To: B-Chan
Aw, please, not the Trilateral thing... that's so '70s...

      Those who do not understand history are doomed to repeat it.  Of course, to really understand what's going on, you have to go back further that the 70's. 
77 posted on 11/08/2002 9:53:53 PM PST by Celtman
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To: katana; B-Chan; lonestar
B-Chan:
most Baptists do not consider their denomination to be Protestant

katana:
As someone raised Baptist and now belonging to the Disciples of Christ denomination, I'm curious to know where you picked up that little tidbit.


      Most Baptists don't spend a lot of time or words on the subject, but consider their churches to have preceded, and to be older than, both the Roman Catholic denomination and the Protestant reformation. 

lonestar:
I also think there are many different denominations that are called "Baptists." Missionary Baptists are quite different from Southern Baptists. I thought "Baptist" referred to those who believe in immersion baptism.

      Close.  There are a number of different Baptist groups.  I have belonged to GARBC and BBF Baptist churches.  But not all churches which restrict baptism to immersion call themselves Baptist - e.g., Disciples of Christ, Church of God (Anderson, Ind.), Brethren, Assemblies of God, ...
78 posted on 11/08/2002 10:18:36 PM PST by Celtman
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To: Celtman
Most Baptists don't spend a lot of time or words on the subject, but consider their churches to have preceded, and to be older than, both the Roman Catholic denomination and the Protestant reformation. 

That squares with what Baptist friends and relatives have told me. Of course, they're completely wrong...

79 posted on 11/08/2002 10:41:48 PM PST by B-Chan
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To: Celtman
None Dare Call It Conspiracy.
80 posted on 11/08/2002 10:42:27 PM PST by B-Chan
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