And so the story goes….Ahab, the King of Israel, wanted the vineyard owned by Naboth. When Naboth refused, Ahab told his wife Jezebel, who then arranged to have Naboth killed by writing letters to the elders and nobles. Afterwards (I KGS 21: 17-29), Ahab went to take possession of the vineyard, when the Lord sent Elijah to Ahab, with these words,
“After murdering, do you also take possession?”
How do feelings sometimes seem to take possession of us? In shocking and unimaginable events, the rupture in our world can surface all types of feelings – rage, disgust, despair, indifference, and extreme sadness. Dare we try to justify these feelings? When we are a member of the community that has been violated, do our feelings suddenly become totally “understandable?” And despite the feelings that arise, what do we do with these feelings? These are difficult questions, especially in the face of a horrific event that kills so many and seemingly destroys the lives of so many others. The question of “why” looms in our minds and hearts accompanied by overwhelming feelings of loss.
“Ahab said to Elijah, ‘Have you found me out, my enemy?’ ‘Yes,’ he answered. ‘
But there is more….(I am glad that this is not the last “word!”)
Matthew (MT 5: 43-48) tells us that:
“Jesus said to his disciples: ‘You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…”
What could this possibly mean? How do you love an enemy? There seem to be “clear-cut” enemies out there that want to do harm to us. They seem to operate from narrow-mindedness that has ossified into rigid stances of intolerance that can do nothing else but burst forth into mindless violence that hurts everyone! Where is the protection? What can we do? How does it end? Can things be turned around? How can I even respond to this?
And then the closing lines of the Gospel story seem to further complicate things:
“So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
How can the two possibly be related – loving your enemies and being “perfect?!”
Catholic theologian, James Alison, in his essay “Failure and Perfection,”[i] reminds us that God, out of love for us, came into our world as a “failure.” We have unfortunately gone to great lengths to cover this up, so to speak. As he puts it, we have lost the sense that the “goodness” of God explodes our common ideas of “goodness” which seem to be based upon the maintenance of what appears to be a stable world, where “goodness” characterizes some if not most of the people we encounter, and then there are those who are not so “good,” who we smugly feel are definitely in need of a redeemer.
As Alison points out, we have lost the radical nature of “perfection” characterized by the life of Christ that has nothing to do with maintenance and protection, but has everything to do with a “goodness” that involves what he calls a “rupture” in our notion of goodness. “Perfection” is an invitation to enter into this rupture and allow ourselves to be transformed by our failures themselves. It’s a place wherein shame and pain and violence can be transformed into creativity, love and compassion.
The issues are important – Violent intolerance against the LGBT community, the potential contribution of gun control (or lack of it), and the terror that can result from religious and cultural fundamentalism. We must name our “enemies.” But, more than that we have to get “close” to them, otherwise we perpetuate the very context in which they thrive. For me, it’s like a two-way mirror. From one side we are looking at our “self”, and only seeing the image we have of our self, totally unaware that there are others on the other side of the mirror that are looking at us. And then again, we many times look through a glass pane at others, not realizing that the glass of pane is also a mirror. The glass has to be broken it seems for us to really begin to see. It’s the rupture, the crack, the shattering of our preconceived images that actually lead us into perfection – a perfection more about completion and wholeness than unattainable and even unrealistic moral heights. As James Alison challenges, “our only access to God’s pattern…is via the rupture of our learning to see our enemies as ourselves and …being towards them, completely and generously, without being over and against them in any way.”
It’s a matter of being possessed by our fears or being willing to go into the wound – the rupture – with each other and start the healing. It can come in so many ways. Sometimes very staunch measures are necessary, but many times, the most effective way is responding right where you are. This is getting “close” to your enemies. I am culpable and I am lovable. We are responsible and we are response-able! Our grasp of “goodness” must be founded upon mercy because we need the radiance of that grace to shine through the darkness.
“The Dam Keeper” (directed by Robert Kondo and Daisuke Tsutsumi) is a beautiful animated film that surfaces how we deal with darkness by cutting through our own misunderstandings and misconceptions, and building together the forces of light and compassion that will illuminate the darkness and, even more, allow us to participate in the creation of “perfection,” – strength in weakness, love amidst pain, transformation in suffering, mercy in the wake of violence. Recognizing the two-way-mirror of our lives, we can swim together in, as theologian and philosopher, Timothy King, refers to as, the ever-widening “circle of mercy.” [ii]
I was astounded by the power of a very simple act that I was able to participate in recently. A family needed a mattress and box springs for a young child. The request went abroad and someone had and donated the mattress and box springs. We brought the mattress and box springs to the family. Simple yet profound. We were carried through cooperation into that encircling grace of perfection that is always attainable. To commit to this moment, in our lives, to be and do what we can to love and allow the ever-growing “perfection” of God’s love to move us towards all others and with all others…may we all strive in hope each day to, as Rilke describes…
“…live my life in widening circles that reach out across the world. I may not complete this last one but I will give myself to it.”
Peace
Thomas
[i] James Alison, “Failure and Perfection,” Oneing; An Alternative Orthodoxy – Perfection, Vol. 4 No. 1, (The Center for Action and Contemplation, 2016), 55-59.
[ii] Timothy King, “Perfection,” Oneing; An Alternative Orthodoxy – Perfection, Vol. 4 No. 1, (The Center for Action and Contemplation, 2016), 69-70.