The Nativity of Peace

All people are children when they sleep.
There's no war in them then.
They open their hands and breathe
in that quiet rhythm heaven has given them.

They pucker their lips like small children
and open their hands halfway,
soldiers and statesmen, servants and masters.
The stars stand guard
and a haze veils the sky,
a few hours when no one will do anybody any harm.

If only we could speak to one another then
when our hearts are half-open flowers.
Words like golden bees
would drift in.
- God, teach me the language of sleep.

Rolf Jacobsen

Beside the Point

The other day I asked my daughter, "What should I 'blog' about this week. She said, "Blog about why why you keep whining about your daughter not coming home for Chrismtas even after she has booked a ticket to come!"

You can't read the teasing tone she used.

She will not be here for Christmas. She has to work. She will come on the 30th and she does get a nice long stay at home and will overlap her visit with her younger sister. Truly I am grateful for whatver time either of them can be here. And I knew this day would arrive - a time when their careers and their future in-laws will make claims on their time. I knew it was coming but I still have trouble reconciling myself to the idea that our family of four is not intact the way it once was. You know where I noticed it first? There are 5 chairs around our kitchen table ( one for each of us plus the unexpected Guest) and only two placemats. Those mats look pretty lonesome most of the time.

A Christmas without our whole family gathered to decorate the tree, sing by candlelight, tear through the wrapping paper and to place the infant Jesus in the creche on Christmas Eve will be a very different Christmas. I feel some grief and some sense that I did not fully appreciate my the gift of my children through the 20 or so Christmas we were together. Maybe Mary felt like that when Jesus went off to become an itinerant preacher.

Mothers have their memories. We have those that are past and those yet to come. Joy comes in recognizing the potential in both. My daughter said in an effort to comfort me, "You know, Mom, Jesus wasn't really born on the 25th of Decmember". I thought at the time, "That is so beside the point!"
But perhaps it isn't.

Spirituality of Chaos part 2- Say Yes to Mess.

This article in the NYTimes, "Saying Yes to Mess" By PENELOPE GREEN has everything to do with my theology of abundance and how God is present in the chaos of our lives, if we will tolerate enough messiness and uncertainty to let in the Holy Spirit. (You know, butterfly wings flapping and all that...) I can tolerate messiness and chaos in gatherings of teens, young adults, and even in worship sometimes. But a desk and a house are pushing my limit, which may surprise you if you've ever been in my office, which seems to have a natural affinity for becoming a messy closet. I guess I need to give myself more permission to let my space look as chaotic as my hyperactive brain, if I want God to work in me creatively! I feel like this might have something to say to us about the life of a church or other kind of community, too.

Here are excerpts:

"...An anti-anticlutter movement is afoot, one that says yes to mess and urges you to embrace your disorder. Studies are piling up that show that messy desks are the vivid signatures of people with creative, limber minds (who reap higher salaries than those with neat “office landscapes”) and that messy closet owners are probably better parents and nicer and cooler than their tidier counterparts. It’s a movement that confirms what you have known, deep down, all along: really neat people are not avatars of the good life; they are humorless and inflexible prigs, and have way too much time on their hands.

“It’s chasing an illusion to think that any organization — be it a family unit or a corporation — can be completely rid of disorder on any consistent basis,” said Jerrold Pollak, a neuropsychologist at Seacoast Mental Health Center in Portsmouth, N.H., whose work involves helping people tolerate the inherent disorder in their lives. “And if it could, should it be? Total organization is a futile attempt to deny and control the unpredictability of life. I live in a world of total clutter, advising on cases where you’d think from all the paper it’s the F.B.I. files on the Unabomber,” when, in fact, he said, it’s only “a person with a stiff neck.”...

Stop feeling bad, say the mess apologists. There are more urgent things to worry about. Irwin Kula is a rabbi based in Manhattan and author of “Yearnings: Embracing the Sacred Messiness of Life,” which was published by Hyperion in September. “Order can be profane and life-diminishing,” he said the other day. “It’s a flippant remark, but if you’ve never had a messy kitchen, you’ve probably never had a home-cooked meal. Real life is very messy, but we need to have models about how that messiness works.” His favorite example? His 15-year-old daughter Talia’s bedroom, a picture of utter disorder — and individuality, he said.

“One day I’m standing in front of the door,” he said, “and it’s out of control and my wife, Dana, is freaking out, and suddenly I see in all the piles the dress she wore to her first dance and an earring she wore to her bat mitzvah. She’s so trusting her journal is wide open on the floor, and there are photo-booth pictures of her friends strewn everywhere. I said, ‘Omigod, her cup overflows!’ And we started to laugh.”

(thanks for the Story, Emily)

Christmas Prayer

A Christmas Prayer

by Bishop Marc Andrus

Loving God, we people are always trying to find our way home. Unlike the other creatures with whom we share life on this Earth, we sometimes forget that this is what we want and need. Beneath our anxiety, our activities, some part of which cover our anxieties, beneath the things we say are important to us, there is an inner knowledge of our need to be home at last. During the sunny times of the year, we are usually able to stay unaware of this need. But now, with less and less sunlight, we become clearer about wanting to be home. I think, God, that our being here in the Diocese of California today, surrounded in the increasing darkness by visions of Advent and Christmas, with people we love and with people we don’t know but whom we may have realized we love as well, that this is part of our search for home, for you, our truest and best home, our heart. Hear our prayer, and know that we pray for all humanity and the Earth itself.
Amen.

Humble and Holy

A wonderful reflection from Richard Rohr. Some may know him as a Enegram guru.
Gail+

People who have really met the Holy are always humble. It's the people who don't know who usually pretend that they do. People who've had any genuine spiritual experience always know they don't know. They are utterly humbled before mystery. They are in awe before the abyss of it all, in wonder at eternity and depth, and a Love that is incomprehensible to the mind. It is a litmus test for authentic God experience, and is - quite sadly - absent from much of our religious conversation today.

On the terror of being loved.

My dear friend Steve's sermon for the first Sunday of Advent and the first Sunday after our ordination is worth 11 minutes of your day . And not just because I have a cameo in it. He gets at the heart of what expectation, and the Christian anticipation of judgment and the end of time is about. ( To listen, click on the MP3 link for Sunday Dec 3.)


Here is Steve at St. Gregory's with his brother, who he mentions in the sermon.

Our Presiding Bishop on Science and Religion

After getting infuriated with Richard Dawkins, Sunday, I am so grateful for the scientists of faith among us!

Angie N. shared with me this NPR interview with Katharine Jefferts Schori.

Angie says..."I came across an interview with the Bishop that was aired on NPR recently. Lots of great stuff--as a scientist, I enjoyed her thoughts on the creation story and it's relationship to evolution and how we teach the "faith story" vs. "a scientific story." There were, of course, several other topics she touched on---I was very impressed with her thoughts on all of them."

extra-homiletical reflections

You have to listen to this bit on NPR and think about it with your eschatological imagination.

And here are my reflections on Luke 3:7-18 that don't fit in my sermon for Sunday

Unlike some of my wise colleagues, who believe we can think about the wheat and the chaff within ourselves, I think this image of separation is one more vision in the bible where the people of God hope the bad guys will get their due. John the Baptist—radical activist for the liberation of Israel—is pissed off, and he is ready for God to come down and get all prophetic on the bad guys.

And with Mary Wagner, our Advent expert this season, I agree that vengeance is never the good news. When we hope for God’s justice, we are really hoping for our justice. Which is kind of like the difference between listening to the earth in real time, and speeding it up hundreds of times so we can actually hear tectonic plates shift. (listen to the above link to hear what I mean) When we long for the bad guys to get their due, we aren’t seeing with God’s wide vision, and in God’s time, how vengeance is the just the pendulum swinging back and forth, the cycles of violence justified.

Seeing Christ in our friends

There's something really cool happening on my new computer. Whenever I type the word Christ (which I do a lot in sermons and papers), Microsoft Word has taken to suggesting a name from my address book as if that is what I am really typing. My best friend and college roommate, Christine. Everytime I write "Christ" her name pops up in a little box, and if I push enter, Word will substitute her full name and contact info.

Undoubtedly, over 10 years of friendship, the way Christine has gently called me into being a better person is Christlike. As my friendship with her continues to deepen, I understand something of the kind of relationship Christ wants to have with us too.

The Incarnation, Christ becoming human, shows us we learn about God in relationship with one another. So it's a perfectly logical association for me, between Christ and Christine, and I like that my computer has made it so explicit. But I doubt Bill Gates and his minions knew they were doing such profound theology!

Here she is doing some heavy lifting.

Check out the Bishop

Check out the Bishop's new website at Bishopmarc.vox.com You can read more about the Eucharist for Peace and his recent arrest.

Speaking of Codependency

Gentle readers,

I am beginning to feel desperate to know you are out there. I hear from you sometimes in person, but please POST COMMENTS by clicking on the comments link at the bottom of each entry. Do it anonymously. Write anything, write "This is crap" or "I read this but I have nothing to say about it." Please, I am begging you like a pathetic chihuahua...

Codependency versus Mutuality

Over the weekend, I have been pondering what it means to need one another as human beings. My knowledge of psychology, as well as my personal experiences, have taught me to be wary of feeling I need another person, especially when that need is a little desperate.

Recently, I became aware that when I give-- when I share my time or affection with another person, that I do often hope for something in return: a shared affection, a reciprocal gift of attention, or at least the feeling that my gift has been received and appreciated. The possibility of self-gift and return seems to be at the heart of relationship. And at the heart of my faith is the belief that God gives to us unconditionally but also longs for our attention and affection in return. From the Christian perspective, I think altruism is a false category-- there is nothing more holy about giving selflessly. Its simply not possible. What is holy is the relationship created by sharing ourselves with one another.

Usually this hope for return, hope in the possibility of reciprocal relationship, doesn't feel desperate. But it can, and that is when things can get painful in our lives, and when the possibility of healthy relationship flies out the window. I guess this is what we call codependency.

The reason I am sharing this rather personal reflection with you in the second week of Advent has to do with (like you can't guess what I am about to say...) the reign of God. How we live in personal relationships is all about how God is redeeming the world around us. And that we might risk sharing ourselves is a witness to the abundance of God. Intimacy is about generosity, it's about believing there is enough love, enough of all the stuff we humans need, to go around. Codependency is about fear, a sense of scarcity, it's about needing desperately because we are unable to trust that this abundant universe God created can meet our needs and the needs of others at the same time.

Our advent task: Practicing generous and mutual relationship is the work of God-- in our social action, our church 'outreach,' our charitable giving-- how do we witness to the radical belief that God gives us enough? And how do we live that way so that it changes the world?

Arrested at the Table

My husband beats me to the table every morning. He makes the coffee, grabs the newspaper from the driveway and is halfway through the paper before I ever stumble into the light of day. All I have to do is pour my own cup. I should be grateful but there are those mornings when he greets me with a recap of some story he had read - "Hey, the Bishop got arrested yesterday!".

Bishop Marc Andrus, 8th Bishop of the Diocese of California, led a march from Grace Cathedral to the Federal Building in SF yesterday in protest of the Iraq War. He was joined by 200 Episcopalians from around the diocese. I was not able to attend due to previous conflicts. Had I been avaialble I don't know if I would have gone or not. The pastoral concerns of our congregation made it so I did not need to confront that decision - at least this week.

I am an old activist. Beginning in high school and far into my 'mature' years I have protested on behalf or against many causes. I believe in non-violent advocacy. And I share Bishop Marc's conviction that this war needs to end. A friend, one who I know shares my disgust for the actions of our government and opposition to this war, said this week that he feels this kind of protest is passe' and ineffective. So I have been pondering all of that.

What I would have been delighted to witness yesterday is the sight of Bishop Marc celebrating the Eucharist on the Federal Building steps. The image of the festival banquet to which God has invited all of humanity being taken outside the walls of the traditonal church and into the streets is one that appeals to me. That image dances - but it isn't tidy or safe or exclusive. It has a truth that no government, no solider, no officer of the law and, yes, not even any protestor, can possibly stiffle or even grasp.

Banter that feeds my imagination

My friend Nina at Epiphany is doing a truly great job increasing awareness about the Millenium Development Goals in our church. She created an experiential coffee hour about how much food people live on in most of the world (i.e. a bowl of rice), and the increasing divide between rich and poor. Her advent class for reflection on Christian spiritual practice and how we use our material resources is getting rave reviews (sadly, I can't go since its during youth group). She happily told me people keep asking her more about the MDGs, and she said to me today "I don't know where all of this is going."

I said "It's going towards the reign of God...Maybe not quickly, and maybe only as a small part, but I have no doubt that's where it is going."

She said "Oh, well I guess my bones will be moldering by then."

I said "No, Ezekiel's going to be there to prophesy to your dry bones, that's the resurrection."

And she said upon recalling Ezekiel's prophesy, a little tongue in cheek, I think, "What about my tendon, that was transplanted from a man I don't know...won't he need that? This is my problem with the bodily resurrection, because what about all those people with serious organ transplants."

And I said "Someone's being a little literal with their eschatological imagination."

What is eschatological imagination? It's the capacity to creatively picture the reign of God, to visualize whirled peas, to think differently about how we can live in right relationship to one another and all of creation. And once our imaginations start working this way, we can see how the reign of God is already unfolding around us, and we can start to make what we imagine real. The prophets like Ezekiel and Isaiah had a great eschatological imagination-- the dry bones restored to life and the lion and the lamb living together in peace. The eschatological imagination is what my wise friend Frances, who is 11, says is the meaning of life: Believing in Magic (and she drew a really cool dragon to go with it!)

May the scary scriptures assigned for advent, and this holy time of waiting, ignite your imagination and your faith in magic. And if you need help, talk to Nina about the MDGs, 'cause she is headed for the kingdom.

Laughter for a Wise Elder

Recently one of my favorite elders at church sent an email about planning an alternative Evensong liturgy. She wrote "This is fun. I love fun. So does Jesus. " This is core to my theology, but it totally warmed my heart to have someone with the wisdom of years confirm it for me.

This is a poem for you, Nancy G:

He Told me a Joke

My Lord told me a joke.

And seeing Him laugh has done more for me
than any scripture I will
ever read.

-Meister Eckhart

Jim Wallis' Address

The text of Jim Wallis' address regarding politics and leadership:

I'm Jim Wallis, author of God's Politics. I was surprised and grateful when Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid called to say his party wanted to set a new tone and invite, for the first time, a non-partisan religious leader to deliver their weekly radio address and speak about the values that could unite Americans at this critical time.
So, I want to be clear that I am not speaking for the Democratic Party, but as a person of faith who feels the hunger in America for a new vision of our life together, and sees the opportunity to apply our best moral values to the urgent problems we face. I am not an elected official or political partisan, but a religious leader who believes that real solutions must transcend partisan politics. For too long, we have had a politics of blame and fear, while America is eager for a politics of solutions and hope. It is time to find common ground by moving to higher ground.
Because we have lost a commitment to the common good, politics is failing to solve the deepest crises of our time. Real solutions will require our best thinking and dialogue, but also call us to transformation and renewal.
Most Americans know that the important issues we confront have an essential moral character. It is the role of faith communities to remind us of that fact. But religion has no monopoly on morality. We need a new, morally-centered discourse on politics that welcomes each of us to the table.
A government that works for the common good is central. There is a growing desire for integrity in our government across the political spectrum. Corruption in government violates our basic principles. Money and power distort our political decision-making and even our elections. We must restore trust in our government and reclaim the integrity of our democratic system.
At this moment in history, we need new directions.
Who is left out and left behind is always a religious and moral question. In the Hebrew Scriptures, the health of a society was measured by how it cared for its weakest and most vulnerable, and prosperity was to be shared by all. Jesus proclaimed a gospel that was "good news to the poor."
I am an evangelical Christian, and a commitment to "the least of these" is central to my personal faith and compels my public actions. It is time to lift up practical policies and effective practices that "make work work" for low-income families and challenge the increasing wealth gap between rich and poor. We must find a new moral and political will to overcome poverty that combines personal and social responsibility with a commitment to support strong families.
Answering the call to lift people out of poverty will require spiritual commitment and bipartisan political leadership. Since the election, I have spoken with leaders from both parties about creating a real anti-poverty agenda in Congress. We need a grand alliance between liberals and conservatives to produce new and effective strategies.
This week, President Bush met with Prime Minister Maliki of Iraq, seeking solutions to the rapidly deteriorating situation in that civil-war torn nation. Nearly 3,000 Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have died. The cost and consequences of a disastrous war are moral issues our country must address. Leaders in both parties are acknowledging that the only moral and practical course is to dramatically change the direction of U.S. policy, starting with an honest national debate about how to extricate U.S. forces from Iraq with the least possible damage to everyone involved.
Our earth and the fragile atmosphere that surrounds it are God's good creation. Yet, our environment is in jeopardy as global warming continues unchecked and our air and water are polluted. Good stewardship of our resources is a religious and moral question. Energy conservation and less dependence on fossil fuels are commitments that could change our future - from the renewal of our lifestyles to the moral redemption of our foreign policies.
A culture that promotes healthy families is necessary to raise our children with strong values, and the breakdown of family and community in our society must be addressed. But we need serious solutions, not the scapegoating of others. And wouldn't coming together to find common ground that dramatically reduces the number of abortions be better than both the left and the right using it as an issue to divide us?
We need a new politics inspired by our deepest held values. We must summon the best in the American people, and unite to solve some of the moral issues of our time. Americans are much less concerned about what is liberal or conservative, what is Democrat or Republican. Rather, we care about what is right and what works.
The path of partisan division is well worn, but the road of compassionate priorities and social justice will lead us to a new America. Building that new America will require greater moral leadership from both Democrats and Republicans, and also from each and every one of us.
I'm Jim Wallis. Thank you and God bless you.

The blessing of wholeness

My sister-in-law, as in my husband's brother's wife, is an Episcopal Priest. I remember after her ordination I asked her how it was to be a priest, and she told me it felt right, like she was truly herself. I puzzled over that, and wondered if I would have a similar experience if and when I would be ordained a priest. Well, 36 hours after my ordination to the priesthood, I have a sense of what Sarah might have meant-- it started at my ordination retreat on Monday and Tuesday, when a wonderful young priest I know shared the feeling that she sometimes has: that she isn't good enough to be a priest. Knowing her, I know this is absurd, and that she is frankly one of the best people I know, in terms of kindness and mindfulness both. (Absurd, but to be fair, also real in the sense that no matter how good we are, we are often plagued by the belief we are insufficient, or not good enough for God's love).

Upon hearing this, I suddenly had a profound recognition (perhaps I could call it an irreverent epiphany) that my job isn't to be holy enough, as a priest-- but to be as holy as possible as a Christian and human being, and to point back to the people of God (if you are reading this, you qualify, and if you aren't you still qualify) to remind all of you of how holy you are, too. That holiness is about being awake to what God is doing around us, and its about striving to live in right relationship with the rest of creation. Neither is an easy task, but nor are they the stuff of experts, which we can imagine ordained people are, and sometimes ordained people want us to imagine!

Right relationship is complicated-- love, fear, anger, and responsibility to the reign of God come to mind as major complications in trying to living a holy life. Living faithfuly into the truly complex reality God has blessed (and confounded us) with, requires a lot of discernment-- it means thinking, praying, and choosing carefully how we spend our time, money, energy and affection.I know I fail to live in right relationship all the time-- from not making the extra effort to recycle something, to letting fear effect a personal relationship-- but I will keep trying in good company with the rest of you.

And I discovered after my ordination that many of my dear friends, who don't come to church, are deeply suspicious of religion and indifferent about God, have noticed my attempts. The blessing of wholeness came this weekend when I realized they understand what I am about, and they have listened when I have told them what I imagine Christianity could be, as a force of radical transformation in the world. Having finally felt that my secular friends understand my vocation was the best gift the Holy Spirit could have given me yesterday, and it changed my heart, and gave me hope that indeed God is doing things all around us-- nudging, and sometimes kicking us into redeemed relationship-- into the reign of peace and justice that is the Kingdom of God. What an amazing feeling to have on the occasion of first celebrating the great Thanksgiving (communion) in response to all God has given us.

The Wages of Fear

This is a reflection from a priest in my colleague group. To put this in context the Diocese of California celebrated the ordination of 20 new priests and deacons on Saturday ( I was there and our own Amber was ordained priest!).
The same day the Diocese of San Joaquin led by their Bishop passed a resolution at their convention that effectivley takes them out of the US Epicopal Church in "protest". They object to a female as head of the US Church and the inclusion of gay and lesbian persons in the leadership of the church.
I think Richard's reflection is a good one. I would like to know what you think.
Gail+

The Wages of Fear

It has been a day of ironies for me.This morning, I battled for parking so I could attend the ordination of twenty clergy, many of them younger than I, to the priesthood and diaconate at Grace Cathedral. As I joined the throngs, praying with so many close friends and colleagues, I thought of the Diocese of San Joaquin as they considered the next fateful step in a determined march out of the Episcopal Church. I prayed for the friends I have there, for those who oppose the schismatic resolutions, and for those who face broken churches and an uncertain future for their faith communities.I gazed into the stained glass as we sang "I am the bread of life," the Christ window becoming an icon of our Savior speaking to me of promise and the bottomless upwelling of love breathing through Grace Cathedral. I wondered if this is what Bishop Schofield meant when he talked of "deepest, darkest San Francisco." Is one person's hell another's heaven?I thought of the irony that he once prayed within these hallowed walls with the colors of diverse opinion and theological perspective bouncing off the high pillars, the laying on of hands as people gave themselves in love to God's people for leadership. . .and yes, vowing to uphold the "doctrine, discipline, and worship" as this church has received it. . .however mistaken and marred it is by process, argument, and the inscrutable vagaries of history and culture.I wondered at the peace a dear friend wished me today as she recognized my frustration at my own fatigue, despite a two-week vacation -- that fatigue that only parents of three-year-olds can really understand. For peace when, as I knelt with trepidation on "I AM" lovingly woven into the altar cushion. . .knelt to receive a small portion of the grace of God in the bread and wine. . .I knew others were gathering with just as much fervor and a claim on God as I have. . .and they were gathering to angrily detest some of those newly ordained who were bringing me the sacrament.I wondered, as I tootled up to Mill Valley to finish preparing for the first Sunday of Advent at Church of Our Saviour, and walked into a room filled with Christmas items to be sold so that the proceeds might benefit someone in need. . .I wondered about what was more sinful: risking heresy for the disenfranchised, that they might receive the full sacramental blessing of the Church; or threatening to further divide the Body of Christ for the sake of protecting an historic understanding of faith.As I gazed across the table at my lovely wife and the dinner she had so graciously prepared -- and wondered that I could marry her, the daughter of traditions and customs of a far-off land -- without fear in one century -- but would well have been barred from doing so in another -- what room is there in this world, this church, this place, and the current conflict in Anglicanism, for a bit more than simple vitriol, hateful words, and spiteful actions?I pray for God's grace in San Joaquin, but not that my will be done. But that whatever fear is there, whatever hatred, whatever righteous anger -- and the narrow tunnel and myopia that brings (I know it too well myself); that there be a measure of peace this Advent, even as we look ahead to a troubled year for our branch of Christ's Church.I wrestle with a God who loves all of us on both sides of this chasm. I wonder at a grace that promises to see us through this, even the nastiness that is yet to come. Of what abuse we may yet have to endure with our gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and transgendered sisters and brothers -- abuse hurled in the name of Christ. And what abuse we may be tempted to hurl back as the blame circles another round, presentments and lawsuits are filed, and the blood boils yet another day.And the grace our leadership will need to seek a way forward as we try to move ahead with less than imperfect steps in what Christ calls us to: justice, hope, and peace for a world groaning with her warfare, disease, hunger, and environmental degradation. In sadness, I write that we are all deeply gorged with the wages of fear, arrogance, and sin. But it is Advent, and hope is not gone. I light a candle and pray. May our hope burn in the darkness. Our hope for grace that we cannot yet see. Our hope for an end to the "fever in our blood," and a path to our true home, perhaps even a path together.
God's peace,
Richard+

Working for the Common Good

From Jim Wallis, author of God's Politics and director of Sojourners. Please read this and tune in if you can or go to the link and read the text. I am a BIG fan of Jim Wallis!
Gail+


Wednesday morning, my phone rang, and on the other end of the line was Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. In an unprecedented invitation, he asked if I would speak to the nation in the Democrat's weekly radio broadcast this Saturday. In the past, these addresses have been given by elected officials, but the senator thought a non-partisan religious leader could speak to the moral values our nation needs. I thanked him for the invitation, and said I'd get back to him.
Whether or not to accept was a difficult decision. I work hard to maintain my independence and non-partisanship, and didn't want to be perceived as supporting one party over the other. But it was an occasion to get our message to millions of people, so I decided to accept. Our country faces pressing issues. We are in a time like no other. This requires new ways of engaging leaders, and the Americans they represent. Forums like this one are rarely offered by either party. I thought the good faith effort by Sen. Reid in risking a new approach should be met with my willingness to act in a new way.
I have always looked for opportunities to witness to gospel values wherever possible, regardless of the political party. In the early years of the Bush administration, I publicly supported the faith-based initiative and was in several meetings with the president. At our Pentecost conference last June, senators from both parties - Sam Brownback, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Rick Santorum - addressed the participants. Just this week, I met with key Republican staff members on Capitol Hill to discuss a bi-partisan anti-poverty caucus. So this opportunity comes as part of a long pattern. If the Republicans offered a similar venue, I would accept and deliver the same message.
It is an opportunity to move outside our usual circles and reach many new people. I had complete control of what I would say, and could speak in a non-partisan way about the values and solutions our country so desperately needs by challenging both parties. The text speaks of the need for a government with integrity that can work for the common good, the importance of bi-partisan political leadership in overcoming poverty, the moral need to extricate ourselves from Iraq, the protection of our environment, the changes needed to produce a culture that promotes healthy families, and a common ground effort to dramatically reduce the number of abortions in America. All of these are part of a new politics; the kind of politics that are inspired by our deepest values and that require new leadership by both Democrats and Republicans, and (as I conclude my remarks), from "each and every one of us."
Check your local listings for broadcast times, and check the God's Politics Blog tomorrow for text and audio of the address. I pray that the message breaks through and truly speaks to America.
Sincerely,
Jim Wallis