That We All May Be One

Most holy and merciful Father:  We confess to you and to one another, and to the whole communion of saints in heaven and on earth, that we have sinned by our own fault in thought word and deed; by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. (Page 267, The Book of Common Prayer)

So begins the “Litany of Penitence” Episcopalians use on this Ash Wednesday.  As much as I value the forty days of Lent as a season for prayer, fasting, and alms-giving, I must admit to increasing discomfort with our focus on begging for mercy from God, often seemingly groveling before the Holy One as “miserable sinners” not worthy to “gather up the crumbs under (God’s) table.”

Our sins don’t hurt God nearly as much as they hurt one another and ourselves. How much better if we said these words from our General Confession to each other, to the ones we have actually hurt and wronged by our thoughtless and selfish behavior:

“…I confess that I have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what I have done, and by what I have left undone. I have not loved you with my whole heart; I have not loved my neighbor (either). I am truly sorry and I humbly repent. For the sake of…Jesus Christ…have mercy on me and forgive me…”

I think we need to spend a whole lot more time this Lent asking one another for forgiveness and seeking to amend our lives for those many ways we have sinned against one another. Including the broader, actually more important, categories than we usually confess, such as those included farther down in that same Litany of Penitence:

“…all our past unfaithfulness, the pride, hypocrisy and impatience of our lives…our self-indulgent appetites and ways, and our exploitation of other people…our anger at our own frustration, and our envy of those more fortunate than ourselves…our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts, and our dishonesty in daily life and work…our waste and pollution of…creation, and our lack of concern for those who come after us.”

Yes, we have plenty of need for a season of “penitence and fasting.” Let’s just have the courage to confess our sins and ask forgiveness of the ones we have actually wounded —  one another.

Every Shrove Tuesday I think of Bill Sanderson. He was a priest in a neighboring parish in Cocoa Beach, Florida and was in a clergy, lectionary-study group with me for six or seven years. We also played tennis together several days a week for some of those years.

I think of Bill on this day because he was something of an iconoclast and, on Shrove Tuesdays, Bill and his parish eschewed the usual “pancake supper” and held instead a steak and wine dinner. His point was, if we’re going to fast, let’s really fast and if we’re going to feast, let’s really feast.

The parish I attend now does something of the same thing. While sticking to the traditional pancake supper, they feature really good, live jazz music offered by the Manny Lopez trio, a local celebrity and his friends. The mood is entirely festive and an appropriate way to feast before the fast begins tomorrow on Ash Wednesday.

As Christians, I’m afraid we’ve really leveled out and tamed the annual cycles of feasting and fasting. Very few of us give up anything particularly significant for Lent beyond desserts or chocolate. And, with the possible exception of a few champagne receptions after the Easter Vigil, we don’t even celebrate together with much gusto.

All this is, I think, to our impoverishment. Of course, we don’t “have” to fast. We certainly should not do it to earn God’s favor or punish ourselves with some kind of penance. But, denying ourselves something, saying No to ourselves in small things can in fact strengthen our spiritual muscles so that we can say No when it is really important in life — No to cheating on our taxes…or on our spouses. No to drugs. No to revenge and violence.

Nor, I suppose, do we “have” to feast. Only if we want to celebrate the incredible gift of this fantastic universe and the beautiful “earth, our island home” on which we live. Only if we are grateful to have awakened this morning to another day of living and moving and having our being together as colleagues, friends, and lovers. Only if we recognize that none of this comes to us because we have earned it. But only because

God is good…all the time!  All the time…God is good!

And that calls for a Celebration.

As I read Psalm 72 this morning, I thought about how it is a really pretty good summary of what might be called “biblical leadership.” At least, these are the qualities the psalmist sought in the “ideal king.” In this political season, when so many are wearing their faith on their sleeves, perhaps this psalm might be a good reflection piece for us all:

(Verse) 1 Give the King your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the King’s Son — so what does justice and righteousness mean here? Read on:

2. That he may rule your people righteously and the poor with justice — so, “rulers” are to treat poor folks “rightly” and with justice.

3. That the mountains may bring prosperity to the people, and the little hills bring righteousness — assuring economic security and justice for all is part of the role.

4. He shall defend the needy among the people; he shall rescue the poor and crush the oppressor — sounds like “a preferential option for the poor” to me. Beware, oppressors!

7b. there shall be abundance of peace till the moon shall be no more — rulers are to be peacemakers.

9. His foes shall bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust — yes, there is a “commander in chief” role here, in our broken world.

12. For he shall deliver the poor who cries out in distress, and the oppressed who has no helper. 13 He shall have pity on the lowly and poor; he shall preserve the lives of the needy. 14. He shall redeem their lives from oppression and violence, and dear shall their blood be in his sight — sounds like the ideal leader has compassion for those in the realm who are victims of violence and mourns every loss of life (maybe even with tears).

15. Long may he live! And may there be given to him gold from Arabia; may prayer be made for him always, and may they bless him all the day long — best wishes and adequate support must be given the ideal ruler. And it wouldn’t hurt to offer our prayers and blessing as well!

Interesting how much more attention is give to the leader’s concern and actions for the poor than to “national security.” Both are there. It’s just that justice is at the heart of the people’s security. Or, so it seems to me.

Worked an event for Hillary and Bill Clinton last night here in Davenport. I was responsible for seating people in the ADA section so that physically-challenged folks could hear, and at least partially, see this famous couple. And, I’ll be on the phones all weekend and on Monday right up until caucus time to try and get out the vote.

Bill was his usual charming, winsome self describing falling in love with Hillary, the amazing accomplishments she had as a young lawyer, working for the Children’s Defense Fund and to combat segregationist academies throughout the south, long before she ever became First Lady, a Senator from New York, or Secretary of State. He said, “She makes everything she touches better.”

Of course, if you dislike and distrust Hillary Clinton, you will continue to believe that her e-mails reveal that she was, perhaps, a spy releasing classified information to damage the United States. And, that she was personally responsible for the tragic death of  Ambassador Chris Stevens (and the others) in Benghazi. Some protesters across the street from our venue obviously believe that as they lowered a banner reading, “Hillary Lied, Americans Died.” And, you will continue to believe that she is hopelessly compromised by her Wall Street donations.

If you like and trust Hillary Clinton (as I do) you will continue to believe that, however, mistaken she was to use a private e-mail server while Secretary of State, virtually all of the microscopic percentage now marked “classified” were done so long after she sent them (hindsight being 20/20) and that in any case no real harm was done. You can bet she learned from that experience.  It will not happen again!

And, I believe that her personal culpability in Benghazi consisted primarily in being Secretary of State while the kind of tragic event occurred which has happened before, and will happen again, in the dangerous world of international diplomacy. Finally, I believe her when she says she will go after Wall Street excesses using existing laws (and working for new ones, if necessary)  but be realistic to know that not all “Wall Street bankers” are either billionaires or thieves and that the stock market, for better or worse, is an integral part of the U.S. (and world) economy and that it is likely best for a candidate for President not alienate the entire system before even taking office. If you want to get things done and not just posture.

As he introduced her last night, Bill Clinton said that Hillary’s values were formed in that “little Methodist church” she attended and that she was motivated in part by the famous quote often ascribed to Methodist founder, John Wesley, about “doing as much good as you can, for as many people as you can, for as long as you can.” I believe that to be her motivation and her life story makes that clear, if people only knew it in its entirety. That’s why I support her.