Invited to Make a Lasting Difference
Fr. Dominique
September 2017
We are invited to make a lasting difference in our nations and in our world,
by responding to his call to find a deep unity of purpose in prayer.
Archbishop Justin Welby
(May 18, 2017)
TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design), the nonprofit, nonpartisan foundation started in 1984, whose mission is to spread interesting ideas, recently announced a series of public events to be called TED Dialogues. The announcement hits home for most of us.
These are astonishing days…America has grown even more divided; similar divisions are spreading across the world. Vitriolic rhetoric roars from all sides, and battle lines are hardening…We aren’t listening to one another. Is there space left for dialogue? For reason?...The need for listening has never mattered more.
For me, our parish, Church of the Ascension and St. Agnes, is a space for dialogue, for reason, for respectful listening. Now, some of you may think that we do not engage in enough proactive dialogue on a parish-scale. You may be right, and this is something that the Vestry would do well and hopes to explore. I am referring here to what I see informally occur.
The political landscape of our parish is broad, and it is a rare and beautiful thing. It is also, dare I say, a potentially fragile thing, especially in today’s societal climate. If we are called to love one another (and we most certainly are!), then we must ask: how are we best to safeguard this gift? How are we to proceed such that the entire landscape of the parish be respected, and everyone feel at home here in our parish? It sounds like an impossible endeavor, too tall an order—unless, of course, the heart of what we are called to live together transcends the political landscape.
That the political landscape of our parish be broad, for me, expresses the fact that the heart of the Christian life, divine love (whereby, in Christ, we are sisters and brothers), is deeper than political affiliation. What makes our church, our spiritual family, a truly safe space is the unconditional love that is bestowed upon us, love that comes directly from the heart of Jesus and binds us to one another, no matter where we find ourselves on the political landscape.
That the political landscape of our parish be broad, for me, also expresses the fact that the gospel does not translate into neat categories of political action. Jesus’ various mandates to mercy (in particular, in Matthew 25:35-40) first and foremost must inform our personal interaction with real persons. Jesus’ various mandates to mercy offer an orientation of heart, but do not translate directly into specific public policy. You are, of course, free to disagree... J
I spent 14 years in a monastic community. Two topics were to be discussed with great “trepidation” and great respect: politics and liturgy. Why? Because these two topics, in particular, arouse intense emotion, and intense emotion can blind us to reason, to thoughtfulness. We need but look around today’s political landscape to see this writ large. In fact, interestingly, nowadays, intense emotion seems to be praised—even to be considered virtuous, and to justify all sorts of behaviour.
The two delicate topics of politics and liturgy were discussed in the monastery—from a thoughtful, theoretical viewpoint, with a view to deeper understanding. And, our monastic life was marked by the understanding that, outside of supernatural truth in Christ, we do not have a corner on the market of truth and we are all seekers until the day we die. This makes of us humble pilgrims.
What we are witnessing in our society, and sometimes even in the Church, is a phenomenon called “political motive asymmetry”. An interesting 2014 study done by three psychologists, Waytz, Young and Ginges [and submitted to the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Scientists”, called “Motive attribution asymmetry for love vs. hate drives intractable conflict” (http://www.pnas.org/content/111/44/15687.full)] explores the fundamental distrust that can exist between persons of “opposing” viewpoints, based on unverified presumptions regarding motive. “Political motive asymmetry” presumes that one’s own motives are based in love and those of persons on the “other side” are based in hate. As the article states, there is a “fundamental cognitive bias driving conflict intractability”. Why intractable conflict? Because hatred is a deal-breaker. One cannot engage with hateful persons. There is no room to do so. But, the hatred is sometimes presumed—is perhaps even often presumed. The fact is that, unless persons clearly and articulately share with us what is in their hearts—their motives, for example—we do not know their hearts. The same holds true for the mind, although the heart is even more hidden... With another’s heart and/or mind, we can guess, and, at times, even be right. But….the only thing we can really judge are actions—yet, without inferring motives. One’s needs to be in relationship to know the heart and/or mind of another person.
[For those interested in further, interesting thoughts on these challenges, there is an article by Aaron Blake, from March 16 of last year: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/03/21/the-poison-of-our-political-partisanship-explained/?utm_term=.0d55fa417ad5]
The situation for Sisters and Brothers in Christ is very peculiar. We have been gifted with faith, hope and love—which uniquely “aligns” us, if you will, but not uniformly. The nature of faith is such that we must still think for ourselves. Christ does not think for us. Faith does not replace human thought and does not shed immediate light on all that we can grasp by ourselves—e.g. how to drive a car, or how to make French Toast, or what it is to engage someone in productive interaction, or what the nature of community is. And so, we are like-minded insofar as we believe in Christ and “have the mind of Christ” (I Corinthians 2:16), i.e. view one another and the world in the light of Him--in faith. But, for all the rest, we are not necessarily like-minded
The nature of divine love is somewhat different. There is de facto unity. We are like-hearted. When it comes to divine love, our hearts are in the same place: Christ. Thus, to say to a Sister or Brother in Christ, “our hearts are in different places”, is spiritually and theologically false and, without revealed intentions, humanly false. There is a mysterious communion between us that is not the result of our efforts or understanding, a communion that we must, of course, choose each day.
So, as we find ourselves in different places on the political landscape, under the same roof, in the same community, we have spiritual and theological insight that helps us to navigate with great freedom and respect and peace. There is nothing necessarily wrong when we discover that we are not like-minded. We can simply say to ourselves, “Oh my. I do not understand his/her position. And, in fact, it makes me very uncomfortable. But, if Christ is at work in them, they too are seeking good things”.
Which brings us to the question of our involvement as a community in the political sphere. How are we to get involved in the political sphere? Are we to get involved in the political sphere? As you may have noticed, for me, in the light of everything just stated: no politics in the pulpit. The pulpit belongs to Christ. But, what about outreach and the political sphere? We do not live in a bubble. Should we be on the front lines of “social justice” action?
I would begin by responding, as foundation for a conversation about this: we should be on the front lines of love. Now, love is, of course, expressed in myriad ways. And, love is always personal—and concrete. The question then perhaps is: can we be wholeheartedly engaged in the world, expressing love concretely, and not be, as a community, politically involved? This is perhaps the question! I am inclined to respond, for the most part, as a general rule, “yes”. We must, of course, be open to discerning, case by case, any exceptions to this general rule.
Now, I say “yes” precisely because love is expressed in myriad ways. And, who is to say that spending time with an isolated elderly person or one’s own kids does not make as lasting a difference as a peace rally? Or, who is to say that a parishioner working quietly in the church garden or preparing Coffee Hour for everyone does not make as lasting a difference as a Bishop writing to Congress?
I also say “yes” believing in the power of prayer to make a lasting difference. Pope John Paul II expresses this well in a discourse in the late 1990s to a group of Belgian Bishops:
Closeness to Christ in silence and contemplation does not distance us from our contemporaries but, on the contrary makes us attentive and open to human joy and distress and broadens our heart on a global scale. It unites us with our brothers and sisters in humanity and particularly with children, who are the Lord's dearly beloved. Through adoration, the Christian mysteriously contributes to the radical transformation of the world and to the sowing of the Gospel. Anyone who prays to the Saviour draws the whole world with him and raises it to God. Those who stand before the Lord are therefore fulfilling an eminent service. They are presenting to Christ all those who do not know him or are far from him; they keep watch in his presence on their behalf.
The question of outreach remains an important and ongoing conversation for us as a parish. We have made a few recent strides. We must, however, continue to grow. But, any and every ministry requires careful discernment. Individual parishioners must pursue whatever they feel moved to do in terms of outreach. And informal groups must do the same. Ministry that represents the parish, however, is a somewhat different story. It must represent the parish—as a whole. It must truly spring from the deeper place in divine love where we all, in our viewpoint diversity, meet and are one.
I am open, the Vestry is open to any ideas that you may have. But, we will indeed take our time to discern, to try to know if the Lord is asking us to engage in a particular way. In the meantime, it is helpful to know that we can always be on the front lines of love, in little things. As Mother Teresa would often say, “Do little things with great love.”
Fr. Dominique
September 2017
We are invited to make a lasting difference in our nations and in our world,
by responding to his call to find a deep unity of purpose in prayer.
Archbishop Justin Welby
(May 18, 2017)
TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design), the nonprofit, nonpartisan foundation started in 1984, whose mission is to spread interesting ideas, recently announced a series of public events to be called TED Dialogues. The announcement hits home for most of us.
These are astonishing days…America has grown even more divided; similar divisions are spreading across the world. Vitriolic rhetoric roars from all sides, and battle lines are hardening…We aren’t listening to one another. Is there space left for dialogue? For reason?...The need for listening has never mattered more.
For me, our parish, Church of the Ascension and St. Agnes, is a space for dialogue, for reason, for respectful listening. Now, some of you may think that we do not engage in enough proactive dialogue on a parish-scale. You may be right, and this is something that the Vestry would do well and hopes to explore. I am referring here to what I see informally occur.
The political landscape of our parish is broad, and it is a rare and beautiful thing. It is also, dare I say, a potentially fragile thing, especially in today’s societal climate. If we are called to love one another (and we most certainly are!), then we must ask: how are we best to safeguard this gift? How are we to proceed such that the entire landscape of the parish be respected, and everyone feel at home here in our parish? It sounds like an impossible endeavor, too tall an order—unless, of course, the heart of what we are called to live together transcends the political landscape.
That the political landscape of our parish be broad, for me, expresses the fact that the heart of the Christian life, divine love (whereby, in Christ, we are sisters and brothers), is deeper than political affiliation. What makes our church, our spiritual family, a truly safe space is the unconditional love that is bestowed upon us, love that comes directly from the heart of Jesus and binds us to one another, no matter where we find ourselves on the political landscape.
That the political landscape of our parish be broad, for me, also expresses the fact that the gospel does not translate into neat categories of political action. Jesus’ various mandates to mercy (in particular, in Matthew 25:35-40) first and foremost must inform our personal interaction with real persons. Jesus’ various mandates to mercy offer an orientation of heart, but do not translate directly into specific public policy. You are, of course, free to disagree... J
I spent 14 years in a monastic community. Two topics were to be discussed with great “trepidation” and great respect: politics and liturgy. Why? Because these two topics, in particular, arouse intense emotion, and intense emotion can blind us to reason, to thoughtfulness. We need but look around today’s political landscape to see this writ large. In fact, interestingly, nowadays, intense emotion seems to be praised—even to be considered virtuous, and to justify all sorts of behaviour.
The two delicate topics of politics and liturgy were discussed in the monastery—from a thoughtful, theoretical viewpoint, with a view to deeper understanding. And, our monastic life was marked by the understanding that, outside of supernatural truth in Christ, we do not have a corner on the market of truth and we are all seekers until the day we die. This makes of us humble pilgrims.
What we are witnessing in our society, and sometimes even in the Church, is a phenomenon called “political motive asymmetry”. An interesting 2014 study done by three psychologists, Waytz, Young and Ginges [and submitted to the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Scientists”, called “Motive attribution asymmetry for love vs. hate drives intractable conflict” (http://www.pnas.org/content/111/44/15687.full)] explores the fundamental distrust that can exist between persons of “opposing” viewpoints, based on unverified presumptions regarding motive. “Political motive asymmetry” presumes that one’s own motives are based in love and those of persons on the “other side” are based in hate. As the article states, there is a “fundamental cognitive bias driving conflict intractability”. Why intractable conflict? Because hatred is a deal-breaker. One cannot engage with hateful persons. There is no room to do so. But, the hatred is sometimes presumed—is perhaps even often presumed. The fact is that, unless persons clearly and articulately share with us what is in their hearts—their motives, for example—we do not know their hearts. The same holds true for the mind, although the heart is even more hidden... With another’s heart and/or mind, we can guess, and, at times, even be right. But….the only thing we can really judge are actions—yet, without inferring motives. One’s needs to be in relationship to know the heart and/or mind of another person.
[For those interested in further, interesting thoughts on these challenges, there is an article by Aaron Blake, from March 16 of last year: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/03/21/the-poison-of-our-political-partisanship-explained/?utm_term=.0d55fa417ad5]
The situation for Sisters and Brothers in Christ is very peculiar. We have been gifted with faith, hope and love—which uniquely “aligns” us, if you will, but not uniformly. The nature of faith is such that we must still think for ourselves. Christ does not think for us. Faith does not replace human thought and does not shed immediate light on all that we can grasp by ourselves—e.g. how to drive a car, or how to make French Toast, or what it is to engage someone in productive interaction, or what the nature of community is. And so, we are like-minded insofar as we believe in Christ and “have the mind of Christ” (I Corinthians 2:16), i.e. view one another and the world in the light of Him--in faith. But, for all the rest, we are not necessarily like-minded
The nature of divine love is somewhat different. There is de facto unity. We are like-hearted. When it comes to divine love, our hearts are in the same place: Christ. Thus, to say to a Sister or Brother in Christ, “our hearts are in different places”, is spiritually and theologically false and, without revealed intentions, humanly false. There is a mysterious communion between us that is not the result of our efforts or understanding, a communion that we must, of course, choose each day.
So, as we find ourselves in different places on the political landscape, under the same roof, in the same community, we have spiritual and theological insight that helps us to navigate with great freedom and respect and peace. There is nothing necessarily wrong when we discover that we are not like-minded. We can simply say to ourselves, “Oh my. I do not understand his/her position. And, in fact, it makes me very uncomfortable. But, if Christ is at work in them, they too are seeking good things”.
Which brings us to the question of our involvement as a community in the political sphere. How are we to get involved in the political sphere? Are we to get involved in the political sphere? As you may have noticed, for me, in the light of everything just stated: no politics in the pulpit. The pulpit belongs to Christ. But, what about outreach and the political sphere? We do not live in a bubble. Should we be on the front lines of “social justice” action?
I would begin by responding, as foundation for a conversation about this: we should be on the front lines of love. Now, love is, of course, expressed in myriad ways. And, love is always personal—and concrete. The question then perhaps is: can we be wholeheartedly engaged in the world, expressing love concretely, and not be, as a community, politically involved? This is perhaps the question! I am inclined to respond, for the most part, as a general rule, “yes”. We must, of course, be open to discerning, case by case, any exceptions to this general rule.
Now, I say “yes” precisely because love is expressed in myriad ways. And, who is to say that spending time with an isolated elderly person or one’s own kids does not make as lasting a difference as a peace rally? Or, who is to say that a parishioner working quietly in the church garden or preparing Coffee Hour for everyone does not make as lasting a difference as a Bishop writing to Congress?
I also say “yes” believing in the power of prayer to make a lasting difference. Pope John Paul II expresses this well in a discourse in the late 1990s to a group of Belgian Bishops:
Closeness to Christ in silence and contemplation does not distance us from our contemporaries but, on the contrary makes us attentive and open to human joy and distress and broadens our heart on a global scale. It unites us with our brothers and sisters in humanity and particularly with children, who are the Lord's dearly beloved. Through adoration, the Christian mysteriously contributes to the radical transformation of the world and to the sowing of the Gospel. Anyone who prays to the Saviour draws the whole world with him and raises it to God. Those who stand before the Lord are therefore fulfilling an eminent service. They are presenting to Christ all those who do not know him or are far from him; they keep watch in his presence on their behalf.
The question of outreach remains an important and ongoing conversation for us as a parish. We have made a few recent strides. We must, however, continue to grow. But, any and every ministry requires careful discernment. Individual parishioners must pursue whatever they feel moved to do in terms of outreach. And informal groups must do the same. Ministry that represents the parish, however, is a somewhat different story. It must represent the parish—as a whole. It must truly spring from the deeper place in divine love where we all, in our viewpoint diversity, meet and are one.
I am open, the Vestry is open to any ideas that you may have. But, we will indeed take our time to discern, to try to know if the Lord is asking us to engage in a particular way. In the meantime, it is helpful to know that we can always be on the front lines of love, in little things. As Mother Teresa would often say, “Do little things with great love.”