Matthew 5:43-48 Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Reflection The second paragraph read in congress on July 4, 1776 boldly proclaims, We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness?--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men… Then follows the extensive list of offenses by the monarch (British Crown) against the people of the colonies, which I highly commend to your reading. This is time well spent, perhaps in lieu of a barbecue or watching fireworks. But I digress.
Consider this. From its inception, the grand experiment of these soon to be United States was fraught, fraught because the audacious aspiration to insure access to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all people puts us cross-wise with ourselves, individually and collectively.
If we affirm that all people are created equal, how can we justify programs and policies that benefit some groups to the detriment of others? Think of the Indigenous people of the North American continent. If we act to insure access to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness for all, how can we justify securing our wealth by benefiting from others’ labor? Think slaves, purchased and imported wives, outsourcing. If we believe all people are endowed by One God, how can we fail to respect the dignity of every human being, even if their race, gender, age, ability, sexual orientation, social class , political or religious preference is different than ours?
From the beginning as individuals and as a nation, we the people have endured a tug of war within us, a war between our high-minded ideals and our inordinate desires for security, safety, esteem, power and control. In theological terms this is the abyss between orthodoxy (right belief) and orthopraxy (right action).
It is relatively easy to say, “We hold these truths to be self evident…” Never once have I heard a parishioner complain, “ I simply cannot reaffirm my Baptismal Covenant, especially the part where you ask, “Will you strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being?” Not one person has ever told me they have a problem with that. The question is not, do we believe these truths. The question is, “How do we live them? “
If we are honest the answer is, with much difficulty because we are conflicted. On one hand, our deepest, truest self knows what is right and good and aligned in the will of God. This is the still, small voice of the indwelling Spirit. This is our inheritance, the Light of Christ that opens our eyes to see reality as it is and stretches our hearts to feel compassion with all people and creation and compels us to act for the common good. This is our true self.
On the other hand, our social, cultural and emotional self hears the echoes of years of teaching, “You better look out for number one. Life is a zero sum game. The more the other guy has, less is available to you.” This conflict percolates within us even as it lays siege to the world around us. Orthodoxy - orthopraxy? Right belief -right action? As individuals and as a nation, we have been wrestling with this for two hundred and forty four years.
Phyllis Tickle, who died in 2015, was an American writer, poet and authority on religion who sparked the imagination of the emerging church in the United States. Tickle penned this Prayer for Morning.
I am so weary, Father, of using myself as the measure of everything and everybody. Just for this one day, I beg you, help me find release from the old pattern of seeing the different-from-me as either less-than or more-than me. Grant instead that, for just this one day at least, I may see everything and everybody I meet in terms of how I want you to see me at this day’s end. *
Returning to the parishioner who when asked, “Will you strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being?” who boldly pronounced, “I will,” Phyllis Tickle’s prayer reminds us that there is something important missing in our high-minded parishioners response. The appointed response is, “I will, with God’s help” because we are conflicted and fail to embody our high-minded ideals. Without God’s help we cannot live into God’s dream for humanity.
Yes we can set our minds on big, beautiful, audacious dreams such as “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” And we must remember, simultaneously we are subject to social, cultural, political and even religious voices demanding we sell or shun or sacrifice our dream, God’s dream, in order to belong (orthodoxy) and claim a sliver of security, safety, esteem, power or control.
“Do you hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness?” If you answered “yes,” I implore you; pray. Pray every day that God will help you put flesh on the bones of your high-minded beliefs.
- Tickle, Phyllis in Boyd, Malcom & Talton, Chester eds (2003) Race and Prayer: Collected Voices Many Dreams, 11.
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