Word to the Wise
Sunday, August 9, 2009 - Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
[1 Kings 19:4-8; Ephesians 4:30 - 5:2; John 6:41-51]All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.
There are times when I wish someone would stand at the door of every political meeting in this country and hand out a card with the words from Ephesians, quoted above! In the past few days there have been national and local news stories showing U.S. Congressmen and Senators attempting to hold public listening and information sessions about the proposed health care plans now making their way through each of those chambers. One may be certain from what these reports say that there is little or no listening or informing taking place - only bitterness, fury, anger, shouting and reviling! Those who "enjoy" this kind of political turmoil will shrug and say, "If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen." My own reply is that maybe it's time we redesigned the kitchen, with the ultimate goal being the words from Ephesians for today's second scripture. The intensity of the debate on the health care reform subject is probably a reflection of the frustration and fear that so many, especially the elderly and poor, experience in dealing with their own health or that of their loved ones. They feel that all the decisions are being made by financial and political forces so large and so wealthy that the ordinary person really has no say in the matter. The political figures such as congressmen and senators are caught between the folks who vote in the elections and the folks who pay for the campaigns - the "special interests." What concerns me the most is the disappearance of Christian values from the public forum and the loss of all "civility." It seems one more example of the "compartmentalization" of our lives. Christian values are consigned to the privacy of the home (maybe) or the Church (oh really? Attend a meeting about liturgy or money!) If our faith and its demands on our conduct are discarded at the door of the public forum, we are in trouble. Even the "private forum" may be in trouble as well, if the divorce and child abuse figures are any indication. We as individuals, and our local and national as well as international communities are all in the same boat. It ill behooves us to fight over the oars! AMEN
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