Everything begins in mysticism and ends in politics.” So
wrote Charles Péguy (1873–1914), a French poet and writer who lived in
solidarity with workers and peasants and became deeply influenced by Catholic
faith in the last years of his life. This provocative quote identifies the
foundational starting point for how faith and politics should relate.
Usually, however, we get it backward. Our temptation is to
begin with politics and then try to figure out how religion can fit in. We
start with the accepted parameters of political debate and, whether we find
ourselves on the left or the right, we use religion to justify and bolster our
existing commitments. . . .
But what if we make the inward journey our starting point?
What if we recognize that our engagement in politics should be rooted in our
participation in the Trinitarian flow of God’s love? Then everything changes.
We are no longer guided or constrained by what we think is politically
possible, but are compelled by what we know is most real. At the heart of all
creation, the mutual love within the Trinity overflows to embrace all of life.
We are invited to participate in the transforming power of this love. There we
discover the ground of our being, centering all our life and action.
The
Reverend Wes Granberg-Michaelson
Quoted
by Richard Rohr (Daily Meditation, Nov. 5, 2020)
Justice is the body of love, and love is the soul of
justice. Separate them and you do not get both – you get neither… Justice without love may end in brutality,
but love without justice must end in banality.
Love empowers justice, and justice embodies love.
John
Dominic Crossan
How
to Read the Bible and Still Be a Christian. P. 245
____________________________________________________
here we sit
waiting for resolution
when there will be no resolution
for we have wrapped ourselves up in externals
whether those externals be the fear of change
or white supremacy
or a profound focus on accumulation and power
or whether that focus be on the struggles of the poor
the fight for equity and justice
we are focused on Biden and Trump
Democrat or Republican
Conservative or Liberal
And it is not that those things do not have import
they do
but the issue is our starting point
do we start with the issues, and drag them into the
context of faith
drag them to the feet of Jesus
or do we start by sitting at the foot of the cross
but sitting in that place of sacrifice
and emptiness
and death?
to me it is ever more clear
that we have subjugated Jesus
to political expediency
at the foot of the cross we experience
the radicality of God (Crossan)
but we all too often move from that radical place
of love and sacrifice
generosity and grace
into the normalcy of the world
that world of domination and accumulation
that world where fear and anger drive us
and resentment and retribution rule
I cannot claim that I live the radicality of the Gospel
I have not sold all that I have and followed
I cannot embrace all with love equally
I cannot do it
But I believe I still have to start with that radicality
I have to start with sacrificial love
With humility
With a willingness to give up my agenda
And grab hold of an agenda that is focused on the other
The immigrant
The homeless one
The person afflicted with addiction
The person struggling with resentment and seeking
retribution
The person who seeks a sense of power within the context
of white supremacy
The person whose color, and language, and culture and
creed differ from mine
And rather than make my faith fit my politics
I must make my politics fit my faith
I must be willing to dismantle structures
I must be willing to let go of things important to me
I must be willing to sacrifice
This is hard work
This is scary work
This work of creating justice
This work of living love
And letting go of power and privileg
This work of being political
Of voting
This work of living life
In the shadow of the cross
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