Reflections

“Scripture reveals in these words that he who has not completely forgiven those who stumble, and has not brought his heart to God free from grievance and illuminated with the light of reconciliation with his neighbor, will fail to attain the grace of the blessings he has prayed for.”

St. Maximos the Confessor
“On the Lord’s Prayer”
Philokalia Volume 2 pg. 303

Reconciliation is the spiritual practice of seeking loving, liberating and life-giving relationship with God and one another. Reconciliation pushes us to heal and transform injustice and brokenness in ourselves, our communities, institutions and society. This work is dependent on our ability to center God and God’s call on our life as the primary way we evaluate our decisions. St. Maximos points out that this is an important part of our work as Christians.  Our inability to reconcile with others and our actions towards them severely holds us back from a full relationship with God and one another.  On the other hand, reconciliation can be rewarding and fulfilling because it moves us outside of ourselves and brings us closer to God’s sphere.  God reconciles with us by sending his son, Jesus Christ, in human form; because of this, we can find strength to reconcile with others. However, that’s only one part of our work. As we work toward reconciliation, we must ask ourselves: What are the systems that divide us and how can we change them?   When we can acknowledge how our decision, or even indecision, has contributed to these systems we have begun the work of reconciliation.     

“¹⁴ Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. ¹⁵ If the foot were to say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body’, that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear were to say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body’, that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. ¹⁹ If all were a single member, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many members, yet one body. ²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you’, nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’ ²² On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; ²⁴ whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, ²⁵ that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. ²⁶ If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.  ²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
1 Corinthians 14-27
NRSV

I am going to spend the next three weeks writing about the theme of racial reconciliation. February is designated as African American History month — a time when we “join in paying tribute to the generations of African Americans who struggled with adversity to achieve full citizenship in American society.”  This tribute also reminds us of a very dark part of our common life as Americans, where we enslaved other humans as well as treated them as if they were inferior to us. Even after emancipation, racial prejudice, exclusion, denial of rights and fear kept them trapped in servitude.  We find ourselves still struggling to overcome these very forces today.   I also think about many others who face racism and bigotry daily, either because of their skin color, educational level, economic status, their lifestyle or their country of origin.  As I reflect on this reality, I am reminded of St. Paul who describes the Christian community as “a body with many members.”  When I observe my son, Lennox, I am reminded of how complex bodies are and how interdependent the parts are.  For example, my toddler son, Lennox, is attempting to walk, but it is clear to him that his feet, ankles, legs, knees, and hips all must work in sync to take just one step.  God calls us into this great diverse human family with a truth that undergirds the whole creation: We are all brothers and sisters, and we need each other!  When we acknowledge this reality, we begin to wipe away the sin of racism and bigotry because everyone we meet becomes a brother or a sister in God.  We know that we need these individuals to accomplish the work God calls us to.  Renowned African American novelist, playwright, and social critic James Baldwin captures this sentiment in his letter to his nephew, “we cannot be free until they are free.”  This is the longing God has for his people:  That we love each other just as he loves us. 

As Baldwin writes in “The Fire Next Time,” “In order for this to happen, your entire frame of reference will have to change, and you will be forced to surrender many things that you now scarcely know you have.”

³¹He looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; ² he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. ³ He said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; ⁴ for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.

Luke 21:1-4

We kicked off the season of Epiphany remembering the trek of the wisemen following a star.  I was wondering whether the wise men were expecting some grand palace at the end of the star’s trek (pardon the pun) across the sky. Instead, they find a smelly, humble stable full of barnyard animals with some homeless people and a squawking baby.  The “stables” in life give us perspective – they tell us how high our stars are. Likewise, the “stars” in life tell us to look deeper, that humble tasks and supposedly insignificant things are truly meaningful. No amount of stewardship is too small; all work is worthy; all contributions are significant.  The widow emulates this very truth by giving freely from what she has without worry. She models the humility and radical grace experienced in Jesus, but also reminds us that a call to Christ is not glamorous or filled with success; it’s humbling and surprising and deeply satisfying.

Please try to be clear, dear James, through the storm which rages about your youthful head today, about the reality which lies behind the words “acceptance” and “integration.” There is no reason for you to try to become like white men and there is no basis whatever for their impertinent assumption that they must accept you. The really terrible thing, old buddy, is that you must accept them, and I mean that very seriously. You must accept them and accept them with love, for these innocent people have no other hope. They are in effect still trapped in a history which they do not understand and until they understand it, they cannot be released from it. They have had to believe for many years, and for innumerable reasons, that black men are inferior to white men.

Letter to my Nephew
James Baldwin
Text | Video

We must all learn to live together as brothers or we will all perish together as fools. We are tied together in the single garment of destiny, caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. And whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. For some strange reason I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. And you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the way God’s universe is made; this is the way it is structured.

Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr
Sermon delivered at the National Cathedral
March 31,1968
Text | Video

We saw our annual celebration of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  For some, Monday was just another day, for others it was a moment to pause, and for others it was a moment to reflect on our past as we look to our future.  I quoted from two sources above that both speak to our mutuality and dependence on one another.  James Baldwin and Dr. King both speak of the idea that we, despite our differences and background, are connected to each other.  As Dr. King says “whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly”.  Interconnection of humanity was woven together by God at the time of creation.  This idea scares us because it reminds us that we are not called to only look after ourselves, but also seek out the needs of those around us.  Our decisions do not just affect us, but those around us.  This very hard truth becomes the hope and the hope is realized when we look at our world and the ways we can build not destroy, love not hate, embrace not exclude each other.  When we live into this reality, we begin to see the gaps in our world and the work that lies before us.  As Christians we are called into the gap of despair, ignorance, and hate to bring the light of God.  Our work begins in accepting who we are, whose we are, and who we are connected to.  As I look out on our world, I do not underestimate the work that lies before us, but I am encouraged by individuals like Dr. King and James Baldwin who give us one example of how we engage in work that seems insurmountable.  “God grant that we will be participants in this newness and this magnificent development. If we will but do it, we will bring about a new day of justice and brotherhood and peace. And that day the morning stars will sing together and the sons of God will shout for joy. God bless you” (Dr. King).