I am reading it with pencil in hand as I am marking statements which cause me to think or have a new idea. Tonight I was reading it while eating supper and for some reason the election of Mr. Obama was on my mind. To say that I have been disappointed in some of his choices would be an understatement. He was not my first choice for this office but I did celebrate his election. Since that time I have found things about him that have given me pause.
But then I read the following in "Scandalous"
In one of his great poems, "Choruses from The Rock," T. S. Eliot asks, "Why should men love the Church?" This is his answer:
She tells them of Life and Death, and of all that they would forget. She is tender where they would be hard, and hard where they like to be soft. She tells them of Evil and sin, and other unpleasant facts. They constantly try to escape From the darkness outside and within By dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good...
"Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good" seems an apt description of much of the efforts of modern life, even in the church. somehow, if we can elect the right people or enact the right program, or secure the right leadership, or provide the right resources, we will reach that point where we can justify who we are and what we have or have not done; and then we can declare in the words of Mae West, that "goodness has nothing to do with it."
There is, however, no system so perfect that no one will need to be good. Our little system of Christian capitalism is inadequate.
{...}
Goodness has everything to do with it, and I am convinced that not only will there always be outer turmoil, but inner peace will always be compromised until we recognize and affirm that we cannot be ruled by our fears but only by our hopes.
Inner strength comes from the sure conviction that God has placed us in the world to do the work of life, an not of death.
In our country we have elected a new president. He follows in the footsteps of one of the (if not arguably) worst presidents ever (Report Card here.). He is the first black man elected to that office and many of us rejoice that America has taken one more step from the racism which has been a part of our national life since its inception. He stands on the shoulders of Martin Luther King, Jr. who we celebrate today. Martin Luther King, Jr. in his turn stood on the shoulders of Prince Hall, American Freemason.
We are in the midst of a war that none of us want - a recession that has cost us all in some way or another. Joblessness is at an all time high, many people are losing their homes. I am afraid that people are putting to much hope in Mr. Obama. It is obvious that he is capable, he is also, like all politicians (and humans) flawed. He has already shown those flaws to the GLBT population. In 1996 he came out for marriage equality and had changed his stance to get elected. He has asked noted homophobic Rick Warren to lead off the Inauguration with prayer (to a god of hate) and his people (supposedly) made the decision to not have Bishop Gene Robinson's prayer at the We Are One celebration be stricken from the telecast.
I have hopes for him. He has done some good things also. It will remain to be seen whether he can lead our country out of the mess in which George Bush and the Republicans placed us. If he can I will be grateful.
In ancient Roman times when a triumph was celebrated a slave was placed in the chariot beside the triumphant celebrant. He would repeat "Remember (that you are) mortal." I think someone needs to whisper that to the American people. "Remember Obama is mortal." He is not going to "save" America all by himself. He may be the person to bring us out of this mess but he is not the Messiah. He is not God. He is a man. A talented man for sure but we should not expect that he will be able to do everything by himself and he may be disappointing to many. He will try and he will do his best. He ran on a slogan of change. He put Hope on his posters. I do have hope. I
hope that he will prove not to be just another politician who will tell you what you want to hear and then go ahead and do what he wants. I hope he can provide the leadership this country needs to bring it back from the disaster of the Bush years. I hope but I also see him for what he is. A human. One doing his best perhaps but still a human.I do not see that we will be able to pull ourselves up overnight. I see that we will all need to participate in the solution. Sacrifice may (will) be necessary. We all have to come together for the promise of America to be renewed. I hope we can do it together. With every segment of our population pulling together with mutual respect.
Gomes also writes;
" The greatest tragedy {of September 11th} may be that we have since been programmed to live by our fears and not by our hopes...Living in fear is no way for a mature society, much less a Christian, society to flourish."Let us all look to this Inauguration as one of hope. One of challenge. One in which we, as a people, find our way...together.
Thanks for stopping by. Always Remember That You Are Loved. Hugs, jcs
1 comment:
It is important to remember that Presidents get way too much credit when things go well, and equally way to much blame when things go bad. The president is the chief executive officer, and he wields a tremendous amount of influence. But Congress makes the laws. Congress controls the purse strings. And while, in many ways, they are more the reason for success or failure, they typically are able to hide in the shadow, or bask in the glow, for good or for bad, of the president.
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