Beloved St. John’s community,
There are times that lift out of the surrounding moments like lighthouses shining into stormy seas, and Bishop Mariann Budde’s sermon Tuesday was one of them. If you haven’t listened yet, I highly recommend you do. Bishop Budde, who was Rector here at St. John’s for 18 years, spoke about the unity our nation needs right now: not a unity driven by universal agreement or uniformity, but whose foundation is dignity, honesty and humility. Why? Because none of us is absolutely right (or wrong). Because we all need each other. Because in moments of crisis when we are at our best, like the wildfires in Los Angeles or the devastation of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina, the firefighter doesn’t ask who you voted for before pulling you from a burning building. The neighbor doesn’t canvass your opinion about immigration or gun control before giving you water and food when you are thirsty and hungry. What unites us, even in incredibly polarizing times like ours, is that we are all human beings. When we’re cut, we bleed. We all rejoice when we are blessed enough to love and be loved. The sound of a mother keening grief over a dead child is exactly the same whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, white or black, trans or cisgendered, Haitian or Mexican or American.
This doesn’t mean there aren’t significant differences between the parties. It certainly does not mean there is moral equivalence between all opinions or that as followers of Jesus we can be neutral when it comes to policies that violate his commandment to love our neighbors, strangers, and enemies. This doesn’t mean that it is wrong to be angry, hurt and afraid when those we love, especially our trans and immigrant neighbors and family members and friends, are put in danger by the very people sworn to protect them.
Having said this, beloved ones, I am going to ask something of you, and of myself, that is very, very difficult. I believe with all my heart that to thrive—even to survive—we must renounce the poison of contempt, even when it is directed at us. Contempt is the toxin that turns disagreement into hatred, that is one tiny step from demonizing and dehumanizing the Other; it is the energetic precondition for the great evils of our time, including misogyny, racism, genocide and every other wrong. My friends, both left and the right are guilty of it—I am guilty of it. The destructive cancer of contempt distorts our listening, blinds us to the truth and prevents us from seeing the light and goodness that exists even in our worst enemies; it prevents us from seeing the very things we have in common, that could provide the foundation for a way forward. It makes us hear things people didn’t say, believe the worst in each other and lash out in so-called self-defense with far greater violence than is needed, and sometimes in reaction to attacks that don’t exist at all.
Mariann’s words, while prophetic and pointed and honest, did not have a trace of contempt in them. This is why they were so powerful. She disagreed with much of what the current administration stands for; but she did not demonize the President. For example, she took his experience of the saving providence of a loving God in his near- assassination at face value, knowing that no one has a window into another person’s soul. And she built on it to invite the best from him. It seems unlikely he’ll accept her invitation. But we all have many opportunities to choose compassion over contempt, curiosity over fear, and love over hate. When raw power fuels contempt, fear, and xenophobia, it always leads to death: of hope and dreams, and sometimes the death of human beings. Compassion, curiosity, and love lead us on a very different path, one that leads to life and flourishing for all. This path is neither conservative nor progressive. It’s neither left nor right, neither Republican nor Democrat. The path of compassionate love is costly, but it’s also the only way to wholeness. Let us choose life; let us choose love.
Learning to embody love,
Lisa
