Dear Caldwell,
As we travel from Sunday to Sunday this week, we continue to be faced with so many examples – often bad ones – of civic dialogue and respectful exchange. So much public speech reduces opponents to being “the enemy.”
All of this took Anne Hunter Eidson and me, when talking, back to a great workshop we attended on non-violent communications at the recent NEXT Conference. In short, it lifted up the discipline of always seeing “the other” as one who was created in the image of God, rather than the inclination we all have to pathologize or demonize those with whom we disagree.
This Sunday, we will take up the resurrection story of Christ meeting the disciples on the sea shore and giving them some good fishing advice (see scripture below). It’s much more than fishing advice. It’s a lesson about whether we live life out of a sense of abundance or a sense of scarcity, out of generosity of spirit or out of a spirit of fear. As people of faith and followers of Christ, aren’t we called to practice as much abundance of spirit, generosity, respect and grace as we can, even in the deepest of disagreements, even in times when direct speech is needed?
Practicing this way of being is an art, to be sure, because we are all wired with some lesser instincts. What better times than these to practice that art?
We can start with humility, leading with inquiry, rather starting with presumption or judgment. That’s especially important as we navigate these complex times in regard to race and gender. Yesterday, for example, I spent time with two transgender clergy colleagues. I’ve come to know one as a friend over time and I met the other for the first time. I don’t claim to understand their journey entirely. But what I can do is see them in the image of God and listen to what they can teach me, and I will.
The last two words of Sunday’s scripture (John 21:1-19) are the risen Jesus saying, “Follow me.” Isn’t all this what he meant?
Watch for Caldwell This Week later. Also, if you want to read an op-ed I wrote for today’s paper on HB2 and the working poor, it is here.
In Christ,
John