75
years
A MESSAGE FROM THE RECTOR
WE CAN DO BETTER
I
n the fall of 2016, only three months after I arrived at Saint Michael, I led an adult forum titled “Post-Election Reconciliation.” That forum fell on the Sunday after election day, and I was more scared that day than at any point in my career. Our country was divided, our church community was divided, and in front of a packed church, I stood up and said one thing clearly: “Let’s not do this again.” My message in that forum was simple: The runup to the election brought out ugliness on all sides and we cannot and should not allow any worldly disagreement to change who we are as disciples of Jesus Christ. As we approach the next presidential election, I fear we are accidentally and unintentionally making the same mistakes. So, in great hope that we can anchor ourselves to a faith that can overcome anything this world throws at us, I believe to the depth of my being that we can do better this time. At first, “doing better” might seem like an incredibly subjective idea. Most of us are passionate, thoughtful people who believe what we believe with confidence. By suggesting that we can do better, I imagine some readers might feel defensive. But hang with me and allow me to explain. When I use the phrase “do better,” I root the idea of better in the image of Christ. I want us to regularly hold ourselves accountable to the life and mission of Jesus as the compass of our actions and identity. Without Christ, the choices we make about how we live, move, and have our being are unmoored and vulnerable to the twists and turns of the world. In the Gospel of Luke, at the very beginning of his ministry, Jesus reads from Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor (Lk 4:18-19).” Immediately, Jesus takes up that mantle, proclaiming that he has arrived to fulfill God’s promise. His announcement was initially well-received, but after he explained that his mission would make the people uncomfortable, challenging their very way of being, the
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THE ARCHANGEL | LATE FALL 2020
people were enraged and tried to kill Jesus by throwing him off a cliff. Anger is a natural human reaction to a world we don’t like or appears to be unfair. I’m painfully aware of how argumentative, hurtful, and sharp our social rhetoric has and is becoming. I’m afraid that passionate issues have become more important than the people they effect, and when issues take on an inhumane perspective, we feel righteous in our opinions, even to the point of aggression. In a recent newspaper column, I recalled a popular phrase that felt like a yearning of my own heart: “Can’t we all get along?” As I prepared to write the article, I did an internet search for “can’t we all get along” to discover the history behind the simple phrase. To my surprise, the moment this phrase was popularized in our culture came in 1992 when Rodney King, having physically recovered from his beating, begged people to stop the riots in Los Angeles. As we likely all remember, Mr. King was beaten brutally by police officers in 1991, and then in April of 1992, the officers were acquitted of wrongdoing. The acquittal ignited intense riots that continued for six days, killing at least 63 people and causing catastrophic damage in LA. On day three of those riots, Mr. King appealed to the public to stop rioting, saying, “People, I just want to say, can’t we all get along? Can’t we all get along?” Nearly thirty years after those riots, there have been very few moments when our country appeared as divided as it did during the LA riots, but it seems so today. I’ve heard these divisions explained as necessary for a healthy democracy. Yet the hurtful, even hateful way people treat one another has begun to exceed even the most cynical view of social discourse. I wonder how healthy our democracy can be after we treat one another so badly, and I wonder how healthy we can be as Christian disciples when we participate. Thankfully, we have come through collective moments like this in the past, and I am hopeful that we can come through this one, too. Although there are great reasons for hope, I’m aware that hope takes action. Hope is active and intentional, calling us all to rise above that which divides us in order to seek the greater good. As a disciple of Jesus Christ, my concept of “the greater good” comes directly from the model of his life shown in
