Friends and Neighbors
At a local diner this morning, the conversation turned to the spectacle of thousands of people who have converged upon Madison, Wisconsin over the past few days in response to an impending vote on a bill before the state legislature. The people involved in the (very heated) breakfast discussion had apparently known each other for years.
As the volume of the discussion increased, all of a sudden, the restaurant didn't seem like a safe place to be. Listening to friends and neighbors shouting over their eggs and at each other had not been on my agenda. I made quick work of my breakfast and departed. Somehow, 7:30 a.m. seemed a tad early to be mediating arguments.
A few moments ago, after a full workday, I sat down and briefly perused Facebook. I scrolled page after page of my Wisconsin friends' status updates. And not surprisingly to me, their opinions on the proposed legislation were fairly consistent. They were posting the same links, sharing the same videos and pictures from Madison, and their status updates made their position on the issue clear. In fact, my friends' opinions were so uniform that when I scrolled upon a status update from another friend which offered a contrary viewpoint, I found myself lingering over the status -- reading it and rereading it.
Here it was in cyber-print! The truth so easy to forget when we get caught up emotionally in an issue -- friends and neighbors can and do disagree -- sometimes vehemently. And the convictions at the headwaters of those disagreements are so contrary to each other the hope for "compromise" seems hopelessly misplaced.
How do we engage in respectful conversation when we don't fundamentally trust our conversation partners? How do we remember our Baptismal vows and conduct ourselves accordingly when we want so badly to be right? Or to have our position validated? And to WIN? How does the Gospel call those of us who purport to follow Jesus to be with our friends and neighbors who also claim to follow Jesus, but who draw different conclusions about what "following Jesus" means with respect to politics and public policy?
I'm pretty sure the command to "love our neighbors" doesn't just apply to the neighbors who agree with us. The call to friendship isn't about ideological alignment. I am grateful for my friend with whom I disagree. Perhaps being grateful is the first step toward infusing a difficult conversation with graciousness.
At a local diner this morning, the conversation turned to the spectacle of thousands of people who have converged upon Madison, Wisconsin over the past few days in response to an impending vote on a bill before the state legislature. The people involved in the (very heated) breakfast discussion had apparently known each other for years.
As the volume of the discussion increased, all of a sudden, the restaurant didn't seem like a safe place to be. Listening to friends and neighbors shouting over their eggs and at each other had not been on my agenda. I made quick work of my breakfast and departed. Somehow, 7:30 a.m. seemed a tad early to be mediating arguments.
A few moments ago, after a full workday, I sat down and briefly perused Facebook. I scrolled page after page of my Wisconsin friends' status updates. And not surprisingly to me, their opinions on the proposed legislation were fairly consistent. They were posting the same links, sharing the same videos and pictures from Madison, and their status updates made their position on the issue clear. In fact, my friends' opinions were so uniform that when I scrolled upon a status update from another friend which offered a contrary viewpoint, I found myself lingering over the status -- reading it and rereading it.
Here it was in cyber-print! The truth so easy to forget when we get caught up emotionally in an issue -- friends and neighbors can and do disagree -- sometimes vehemently. And the convictions at the headwaters of those disagreements are so contrary to each other the hope for "compromise" seems hopelessly misplaced.
How do we engage in respectful conversation when we don't fundamentally trust our conversation partners? How do we remember our Baptismal vows and conduct ourselves accordingly when we want so badly to be right? Or to have our position validated? And to WIN? How does the Gospel call those of us who purport to follow Jesus to be with our friends and neighbors who also claim to follow Jesus, but who draw different conclusions about what "following Jesus" means with respect to politics and public policy?
I'm pretty sure the command to "love our neighbors" doesn't just apply to the neighbors who agree with us. The call to friendship isn't about ideological alignment. I am grateful for my friend with whom I disagree. Perhaps being grateful is the first step toward infusing a difficult conversation with graciousness.
posted by FrGaryB | 9:55 PM
3 Comments:
You really hit home with this one. I came home on Tuesday from a week away, totally away. No political debate, no church discussion, just friendship, relaxation and restoration. Needless to say, when I got back I was pulled right into the Madison upheaval. Watching some video coverage I saw one of the protester with a sign with the 4 BIG letters, "WWJD".
This made me stop and think. Think about my thoughts, my FB posts and conversations, My feelings. What would Jesus Do? Is God a Liberal or a Conservative? Am I on the right side of this or the wrong side?
Once again I can't help but think about the Screwtape Letters. God is nor a liberal! Nor a conservative! God is God. I see Screwtape just rolling in delight over our devision and fervor over all these temporary political issues that so effectively move us one way or another, all the while diverting our focus from the Main thing, that is Jesus himself.
So I ask myself not "What Would Jesus Do?" but what would Jesus have me do?
Thanks Brad! Your comments remind me of why I'm such a huge Stanley Hauerwas fan...his work constantly reminds me that the work of the Church, while engaged in the world around it, is fundamentally different from the world's work.
Sometimes this is a difficult distinction to keep clear. This is not to say the Church is merely concerned with "issues of the afterlife", but rather to understand that to live as followers of Jesus in a community of followers calls us to a different sort of ethic than can be articulated in a sound bite or summarized on a placard.
The Good News of Jesus is the offer of liberation for all. The challenging News of Jesus comes when we recognize the Gospel intends to completely rework our lives (conversion) to the point where we recognize Christ is the "other" even the ones with whom we most vehemently disagree. Even as I write that sentence I recognize my need for repentance in the hope that I may continue to be converted to this Way of the Cross that leads to Life.
At the request of a blog reader, here is my recollection of the exchange overheard in the diner...
Person 1: "I will be praying for our Governor, that he will remain strong during this difficult time. I don't want him to bend to special interest groups, and besides it's time public employees stopped getting a free ride at the expense of us taxpayers."
Person 2 (with voice raised): "Well, one thing's for sure, as long as this man remains the Governor of Wisconsin (because he's YOURS and not MINE!), there will be no consideration of the middle class and the poor...we will simply be a state CHAINED to the interests of BIG BUSINESS!
Person 1 (at a slightly louder volume): "I'd rather be chained to big business than CRUSHED under the heel of BIG GOVERNMENT which is exactly what YOUR PRESIDENT has been attempting to do to the American spirit for the past 2 years..."
(At this point all heads in diner are bowed, but not in prayer...the breakfast buddies, recognizing their increased volume, resumed their growling dialogue through gritted teeth)
My thought at the time...if we're using words liked "chained" and "crushed" the two-party system doesn't sound like much of a party.
Post a Comment
<< Home