by The Rev Lex Breckinridge
The response from the political culture to the horrific tragedy in Tucson has, for the most part, been entirely predictable. Blaming and finger-pointing. Fear and paranoia. Plenty of heat but precious little light. It’s truly bi-partisan. As Christians, our response ought to be different. I share with you part of a reflection written by Diana Butler Bass, writer, theologian, Episcopalian:
“Sunday January 9 is the day on which many Christians celebrate the Baptism of Jesus: “When Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’” Jesus’ baptism in water symbolizes life, the newness that comes of cleansing. But there is a darker symbol of baptism in American history: that of blood. In 1862, Episcopal bishop Stephen Elliot of Georgia said, “All nations which come into existence…must be born amid the storm of revolution and must win their way to a place in history through the baptism of blood.” Baptism as water? Baptism as blood? Baptism accompanied by a dove or baptism accompanied by the storm of revolution?
American Christianity is deeply conflicted, caught between two powerful symbols of baptism, symbols that haunt our political sub-consciousness. To which baptism are we called? Which baptism does the world most need today? Which baptism truly heals? Do we need the water of God, or the blood of a nine-year old laying on a street in Tucson? The answer is profoundly and simply obvious. We need redemption gushing from the rivers of God’s love, not that of blood-soaked sidewalks.
If we don’t speak for the soul, our silence will surely aid evil.”
How will we, as individual Christians and as a Christian community, “speak for the soul”, in the midst of this violent event and its emotionally violent aftermath? First, let us know that the fear and paranoia experienced on all sides of our nation’s political culture locks us into a vicious cycle that produces more fear and paranoia. This is destructive of our minds, bodies, and spirits. But this doesn’t have to be the case. We can create peace in ourselves, our families, and this community. It begins with prayer. We will become what we pray for. If we pray for healing and peace, we will know healing and peace in our lives. If we pray with open hearts for our enemies, in some mysterious way, they lose their power to threaten us. When our prayers are aligned with God’s will, we can bring about a new reality. But it’s impossible to create peace if our hearts are condemning and judging. The bitter disagreements that are dividing our nation contribute to the energy that creates violence, both physical and emotional. “Fight energy,” whether generated by the Right or the Left, is still fight energy. It doesn’t make for peace. It corrodes the soul. We long for the redemptive power of God’s healing love.
I commend to all of us in these times the Prayer Attributed to St. Francis found on p. 833 of the Book of Common Prayer.
Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
If we make this our prayer, day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment, we can become the peacemakers that our Lord Jesus has called us to be. In this way, we will surely “speak for the soul.”
Faithfully, Lex
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