That We All May Be One

It’s become trite to say how differences seem to melt away and people come together when confronted by natural disasters in this country and around the world. But sometimes things become trite because they are so true.

The thousand gallons of sewage-tinged water we pumped out of our basement last Thursday night was nothing compared to the suffering of so many in Iowa — Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, and now Burlington. Keokuk is still in the bulls-eye.

People do stand together, volunteers turn out to sandbag, professionals who service drains sometimes don’t charge for late night emergencies. E-mails and phone calls come in from around the country from friends and family. Comparisons to Katrina are made (over the top, I have to say).

No one would wish this kind of thing on a community. But when such things occur they do remind us of the power of nature, of the fragility of human life, of the futility of self-sufficiency, and the essential nature of community.  Our prayer “that we all may be one” takes on new meaning.

May we remember this in better times…

“That we all may be one” is a phrase politicians are thinking about these days as well as ecumenists. At least one of the considerations (and not an unimportant one) Senators McCain and Obama have in their choice of running mates is who will best help them unify their parties.

Whether that is a gender balance with Obama choosing Clinton and/or McCain choosing Kay Bailey Hutchinson; or an experience balance with Obama choosing Joe Biden or Sam Nunn for foreign policy experience and McCain considering Mitt Romney or Mike Huckaby for gubernatorial domestic and economic perspective — at least as important for them is finding someone who can unite the disparate factions of their own political parties.

That’s certainly important, I suppose, in the short run. But I hope and pray that the theme of unity will also extend into the Presidential campaign itself and the tone taken in debates and TV commercials. Both presumptive candidates at least have the possibility of reminding us all that we are Americans first and Democrats or Republicans or Independents second.

No one party has a monopoly on approaches or solutions to the manifold problems we face and surely no one party has, or will likely have, the votes in Congress to turn those approaches into meaningful legislation unless truly bipartisan consensus can be reached. On the surface, this country looks hopelessly divided in so many ways. Yet, surely, the vast majority of us want to return to a more peaceful world, to close the widening gap between rich and poor, to regain honor and respect for the United States around the globe.

As we work for unity among Christians within and between the churches, let us not fail to pray and work for unity in our own communities, across this country, and for the whole human family. For we, of all people should know it is God’s desire “that we all may be one.”   

“That We All May Be One” is usually understood on this blog to have something to do with the unity of the Church. But, of course, it has broader implications. Not the least of which is the desire that all humankind be one — living together in some kind of peace and harmony.

How then do the draconian raids by the immigration service on defenseless undocumented workers in Iowa and California advance that end? Some 270 have now been jailed from the Iowa raid (after being retained in, of all things, a building known as “the Cattle Congress” in Waterloo, Iowa!).

These are people, of course, who were recruited to come to work (documented or undocumented) by flyers and other material sent to Guatamala, Mexico, or wherever) and who are simply doing the best they can to support their families, both here in the States and back home. Just as immigrants have done for generations in this ‘land of the free and home of the brave.’

But who’s in jail? The bosses and corporate moguls who bring these people here or the workers trying their best to make a new life? Guess.

I’m not naive. I know we have to pay attention to security at our borders. I know that unbridled “illegal” immigration must be checked. But surely there are more thoughtful and compassionate ways to address the issue than herding people into a cattle congress and jailing them with little or no due process.

The only witness to our prayer “that we all may be one” in this sad spectacle is that the churches — Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, Episcopal and others — have been united in their oppostion to these raids.

I guess that’s something.     

All in all — from the Roman Catholic Church’s perspective — this must be seen as a very positive visit by the Pope to his American flock. A warmer persona than perhaps many expected, Benedict XVI attempted to reveal his pastoral, in addition to his scholarly, side on this trip.

From my perspective, I think he took an important step with respect to the sexual abuse crisis. It was largely symbolic but sought to convey steps that already have been take to correct the abuses and hinted at some future changes. I hope that will not entail tarring homosexual persons with the brush of pedophilia by specifically banning them from the ordination track. And, it was a little frustrating to hear this continually referred to as “a crisis in the American church.”

The only reason this has come to light in the US is that our society provides the freedom and protection for victims to come forward and have some assurance that they will be heard. There are countless victims, many of them women as well has children, of Catholic (and other) clergy around the world. I pray that their voices may one day be heard as well…and that the Vatican will pay attention.

I thought Pope Benedict did a brilliant job at the United Nations, naming the downside as well as upside of globalization, affirming that assuring human rights around the world lies at the center of the UN mission, and even venturing into the controversial topic of the “responsibility to protect” raising the ante for international forces, perhaps coordinated by the UN, to intervene in places like the Sudan where the government is unable to protect its most vulnerable people.

The visit to the historic synagogue on the East Side was appropriate and timely, seeking to assure the Jewish community of the Roman Church’s commitment to dialogue and understanding even in the face of the restoration of the Tridentine Mass and its problematic Good Friday prayer for the conversion of the Jews. The ecumenical service was less successful, although no other office in world could gather as diverse a crowd of Christian leaders as we were in St. Joseph’s (German) parish on Thursday night.

A veiled slap at, undoubtedly, The Episcopal Church as one of those taking “so-called prophetic actions” not based on Scripture and Tradition which by relying on “local option” marginalizes such churches was painful, but I suppose fair enough. Ecumenical partners are supposed to be open to mutual “admonition” as well as mutual “affirmation” from one another. We certainly have our critique of the Roman church!

The Mass at St. Patrick’s, the visit to Ground Zero, and the concluding liturgy at Yankee Stadium were carefully scripted and predictable, but no doubt meaningful for those in attendance and many who watched. I was amazed at the energy of this 81 year old Pontiff! And, not only in comparison with the sad physical decline of his predecessor in recent years due to Parkinson’s disease. By any standards, this guy is in good shape for his age!

As I say, all in all, a very successful pastoral visitation to the US by the head of the largest church in the world. Let us pray that it will have positive effects for the church here and around the world.