I'd like to share someone else's
words as much as any of my own.
When
I think about what's on our minds just now, the big things in the
world and in our own country, I really haven't got the words. I
don't know. I can't see easy pointers to where the Spirit of God,
where the wisdom of God, could be guiding us.
I
think of the importance of history and not mistakenly believing that
we do things better now. The complexities that in retrospect we can
see in conflicts of the past – the triggers of the First World War,
the experience of Vietnam, the 1980s war in Afghanistan (just some
examples), help us realise that today's context also is no black and
white matter. Can today's world leaders learn from the past?
I
also think about fear, and the way fear can take over and become the
main factor in decision-making. It can make us forget what really
matters.
Do
I fear for our world, for the planet and for the peoples of the
world? Do I fear for our country and its social fabric?
Yes,
I do. But what am I to do with that fear and still stay true to our
top purpose as people of faith: to “love one another as I have
loved you.”1
Here's
what Mary Luti of the United Church of Christ in USA has written
recently2.
Learn
to Weep
When
Jesus saw her weeping, and those with her also weeping, he
was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved… and Jesus
began to weep.
John
11:33-35
A little girl asked him why
God lets children suffer — asked Pope Francis, that
is, in Manila last January. "Terrible things happen
to children," she told him through tears. "It’s not their
fault. Why does God permit it?"
It
was an entirely unscripted question. So was his answer.
He didn’t correct
her theology or otherwise attempt to pacify Glyzelle Palomar who,
in front of a million people, had just told him that she scrounged
food from garbage and slept outside on a cardboard mat.
Here’s
what he did. He enfolded the sobbing child in
his arms. Then he admonished everyone to pay close attention because
he said, "She has just asked the one question
with no answer." To her he said, "Only when
we are able to weep about the things you have lived will we
understand anything and be able to answer you."
Then
he taught the crowd, "The world needs to weep. The
marginalized weep, the scorned weep, but we who are more
or less without needs, we don't know how. We must
learn. There are realities in this life you can see only with eyes
cleansed and clarified by tears.... If you don't learn to weep,
you're not a good Christian!"
Whenever we’re
asked the question with no answer, "Our answer must first
be silence, and then a word born of tears."
Prayer
Give
us tears, O God, so that we may see; and seeing, join each
other in suffering; and in joining, be moved to love in
deed.
To
Mary's thoughts I add just this:
Rangimarie
Peace Shalom,
Robyn
 |
|
Pope
Francis hugs Glyzelle Palomar at a youth rally in Manila 18 January
2015
|
1Jesus, John 15:12
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