Though I know you might be expecting a letter about spiritual practice as it relates to loving well, I find that I must deviate from course for just a moment and illustrate something that I have spoken about in my letters to you.
In recent days I have watched the press take stabs at Barack Obama over comments that he made regarding Americans, and in particular Pennsylvanians, becoming bitter over the economic injustices that affect the vast majority of us. These comments, while perhaps poorly worded, are true in my experience. Americans are bitter. They may not all be bitter about the same issues, but they are all struggling in some way to create or maintain some financial stability in their lives. Whether its health care costs, soaring fuel and food prices, lower paying or non-existent jobs, or the fact that you just can’t hardly buy anything made in America anymore, we are frustrated. I would even say that I am afraid. We are so far removed from the state of our own oppression that we are willing to be side-tracked by a few words misspoken.
How can we be so blind? Barack Obama has been consistently a man of character and compassion. His speech is generally eloquent for sure. But have we listened? His message is ever more so. It is a message about loving well. You can see that this is true because he does not discount the poor, the rich, the white, the red, the brown, the yellow or the black, the Christian, the Jew, the Muslim, the Buddhist or the Atheist. We are all one people, one human race with the same basic needs for food, clean air and water, shelter, safety and healthcare. Barack sees that our basic requirements for life have been and are being encroached upon by those who live in a state of plenty.
Despite a message of love, sacrifice, and equality, some see fit to call him an elitist. What could be more erroneous? Does the fact that he has an ivy league education make him an elitist? My husband does too. Hmmm. No I don’t think it’s that. In fact, when Barack could have taken a high profile, high salary job, he instead chose to become a community organizer in an area of forgotten and despairing citizens. He did not sit on the board of a major corporation, or go jet shopping with his heiress wife. Barack doesn’t have to pretend to be one of the people because he IS one of the people. In his person is manifested the bridge between our diverse populations.
So will we content ourselves with sound bites, measure the man in a single moment? By the measure of your own judgment, so shall you be judged. Who among us has not a single moment of error that if taken in isolation would be the undoing of us? No one is perfect, nor ought they be expected to be. God does not demand that of us and we should not demand it of each other. Do not be fooled when the speck in one man’s eye is offered as a distraction from the log in another’s. Don’t let a misspoken truth steer your attention away from the real injustices in our country and in our world.
A real injustice is that our current administration has not just abandoned the working class, it has abandoned all of those for whom our Christian foundation commands us to care. In the book of James it says, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” (1:27) In this verse, as in many others, widows and orphans act as a symbol for all those who have no voice or means. James urges us in this passage to advocate and provide for those without protection or livelihood. In doing so we are more clearly reflecting God’s love into the world. For too long, our government has ignored those without a voice or means. Barack has taken up the mantle of this increasing demographic. I believe he has proven his sincerity and offered a much needed hope to those of us who are overwhelmed by fear and need.
So I offer you this letter as a call to righteous anger, not just for those who would attempt to denigrate a champion of the downtrodden, but for those who steal from you everyday and for a government that sits idly by and allows it. In chapter two, James says:
My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say ‘Have a seat here, please,’ while to the other one who is poor you say, ‘Stand there,’ or ‘Sit at my feet,’ have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you? You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as a transgressor. (2:1-9)
There are some who would have you believe that someone who makes millions (or billions) of dollars and lives a life of luxury is somehow better and more worth defending, assisting and knowing. But this is so far from the truth, my friends. Those who grow and harvest your food, clean your water, teach your children, pick up your trash, build your houses, fight for the salmon, the spotted owl and the wolf—these people guarantee you your life in one way or another. And yet they have been largely forgotten by this administration. Barack has made a place at the table for them and for you and even for the fat cats who live off the sweat our backs. I am not asking any of you to vote for Barack--even though you know I think you should. What I am asking is that you see him for who he is and for what he has consistently given of himself. If you do this, I think you will find it difficult to believe what his detractors say.
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