Like many people these days I have concerns about the direction our country, and therefore, the world, is headed. Back in 1969 I took an oath to defend the Constitution, and I read it every morning, wondering what it means for me these days. Also, many of my military sisters and brothers who took the same oath as I, would disagree with me on just about everything. I have no solutions, only questions. Among them is what is there in me that is easier to project outside myself onto others and their choices, or onto situations, than to deal with it where it really is and where I can do something bout it — in me? It is easier to blame others than look in the mirror. What is Abba saying to me in all this at this time? This is always an ongoing question, usually answered in a way that leads to other questions.
The Story (Luke 21:25-28, 34-36) talks about great turmoil, which is kinda what I feel these days trying to discern what Abba is saying to me, asking me to do or to be, as the nastiness and uncertainty is unfolding on all sides, including the church. My initial guess is that he wants me to look at where I can do something, and not to where I can’t do anything, at areas of influence as opposed to areas of interest. I don’t see any of what is going on as the end of days. It is just another turbulent point in world history. The difference is that this time I am involved and not just reading about it happening at some other time and place. Some friends are involved in it all at a level and intensity few of us can even imagine, both in the formation of policy and in its execution. We are fortunate that such people are where they are and doing what they do. I don’t see the Son of Man threatening in any way. I see him as asking me to be open to him and let him show me what it means for me here and now in my circumstances (old man with a heart problem) to be open to him and live as his disciple.
While it is legitimate for me to say government policies towards immigrants throughout the world do not reflect gospel values, this is an area where I have no influence. What is ever more legitimate, close at hand, and therefore more difficult, is to question whether the way I live every day and treat the people I meet, reflects gospel values. Looking at myself, I suspect it does not. I don’t think Abba is asking me to point fingers, criticize or blame others, but to look into myself and ask what can I do to live the love now that Jesus lived when he was one of us. He might also be telling me not to be afraid no matter what is coming, find the quiet place deep within me, and deep within each one of us, where Abba is quietly with and in me, and go where this takes me. The people on all sides of the current issues are as beloved by God as I am, as any of us are. While I might see them as “enemies” God does not. If god sees the people I don’t like as enemies, it is the god I create for myself so I can feel strong, safe, and in control.
Servant of God (first step in the process of sainthood) Dorothy Day, an American who started the Catholic Worker Movement, spent time in Cleveland and Avon, and who died in New York City in 1980, said “Christ comes to us disguised as our neighbor”. And, “the only thing I can do about people is to love them”. She believed Christ was in all of us, especially the poor and the outcast, so what I do for them and how I treat them, is what I do for and how I treat Christ. So, the only way I can measure my love for God is by the love I show my neighbor, the people I meet every day. What is happening in our country, and many places throughout the world these days, shows the absence of this idea and gives a hint of what this will cost all of us. Do I just sit back and watch, and of course blame?
This weekend we begin the Season of Advent when we look forward to the Birth of Jesus at Christmas. We also look to be aware of Jesus among us right now. At various levels we say we believe Jesus is among us in each other, but rarely does this belief have any impact on how I live. I fear that for me this is a stated value, not an operational value. Need to do something about this. This might just be a time to ask the Spirit to lead me in some sort of realignment of my values, limitations, and goals. I am coming to see my newfound limitations as gifts, unwelcome though they might be. A number of doors have been closed, while other doors are opening. I’m getting used to living with a newer level of uncertainty than I am familiar with. I have more time to get involved where I Iive, though I’m not sure about the energy and the uncertainty. My prayer that I welcome everything coming into my life today because it is of Abba, is not all that easy, but seems to me to be an invitation from Abba being Abba in my life.
This week a new corporation is taking over the place where I live. Their mission is to “Do ordinary things with extraordinary love”. That would be a good way of living for me. To quote the Irish poet and mystic John O’Donohue, “Though we know one another’s names and recognize one another’s faces, we never know what destiny shapes each life. The script of individual destiny is secret; it is hidden behind and beneath the sequence of happenings that is continually unfolding for us. Each life is a mystery that is never finally available to the mind’s light or questions. That we are here is a huge affirmation; somehow life needed us and wanted us to be.”
In the Story Jesus says, “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy . . . and that day catch you by surprise”. In other words, he is asking me to be aware of what is going on in and around me, ask the Spirit for some kind of gifted awareness, and go where this takes me. In his loving providence Abba has put all of us together at this time and place in the ongoing event of creation. We are, all of us on all sides of issues, in a sense necessary for providence to happen. To paraphrase Dorothy, Christ comes to me disguised as my neighbor. So now what? The Kingdom is beyond me, but won’t happen without me because there are some things only I can do. Have no idea what they are, but they involve everyone I meet. Maybe I can ask Dorothy. Just sayin . . .