This post by Stacy Parker Aab, titled "Obama's Way," caught my attention and I would like to pass it on to those who might care to read it. It seems to be about reconciliation, about resolving our differences and first trying to understand what is vital to the other person and looking for ways of connecting with him or her.
I want to quote the whole thing here, and I will quote liberally (Forgive me, conservatives!). For example, this:
"Every time I've heard the Senator speak, or have read his work, there seems to be food for everyone. I read Dreams from My Father and The Audacity of Hope back-to-back, and I noticed a certain pattern emerge. [Senator Obama] would take a tough subject, such as immigration (as he does in the "Race" chapter in The Audacity of Hope), and allow all parties to sit at the table. He states one case, tells us why they have a point, moves on to the next party, tells us why they have a point, until he gets all the way around the table, without taking a stand that excludes or shames anyone seated.
"He does not say everybody is right. He lays out their arguments, giving validation in the process, so that hotheads can cool down and common ground can be sought.
...
"For those of us who feel passionately about one principle over the other, this can be maddening. We want someone to say that we're right and they're wrong. This may be soothing for the ego. But is this good for progress?
"Sen. Obama's way is how conflict gets diffused and consensus gets built. Sen. Obama was clear to say this morning on This Week that he is not naïve to think that he's going to get the whole country to hold hands and sing 'Kumbaya'. Instead, these are the skills he needs if and when he brings warring DC parties to the table -- a table that, as things stand now, is practically burnt to the ground.
"I would argue that Sen. Obama's desire to damp-down difference is part of the peacemaker's way. The leader who brings adversaries to the negotiation table is smart to validate points of each argument, to give confidence that she or he knows opposing concerns are legitimate and worthy of discussion. The leader instills confidence that everyone will get a fair hearing. We've had six years of my-way-or-the-highway. A strong peacemaker stands the best chance of creating progress at home and salvaging what's left of our good name abroad."
Then I was caught unawares when I read these very personal disclosures:
"I am from Detroit, a northerner by birth. I remember my first trip to Mississippi two years ago. I spent a weekend in Jackson, often at tables of people I've never met before, people of deep religious faith and conservative belief. We told personal stories. The workings of God's love and spirit came into conversation often. I felt common ground, for I believe in a loving God and a sweetly responsive universe. When we talked like that, the best of our hearts was in communion. But the minute someone asked us to define our politics -- "yes, I'm a Democrat...yes, I'm a Catholic" -- then poof, there it went. I became "this" and they became "that" and suddenly our differences loomed larger than our commonalities and inside I could feel us retreating to our corners. (my italics)
"I've experienced this in my churchgoing as well. I think of myself as deeply spiritual, but I am not committed to any organized religion. I was raised Catholic, and I sometimes go to Mass. But if given the choice, I'd often prefer to spend Sunday in a loving Baptist or Pentecostal service, because among those worshipers I feel the Holy Spirit in a vibrant, passionate way that I don't often do at Mass. Now, if the pastor decided to use the sermon to go political, chances are I would grow anxious or angry. And I know if I sat down and talked belief structures with the worshipers, and we started talking about "I believe this but I don't believe that," -- well, the "don't believe that" is going to get us in trouble. But for that hour+ we were focused on love, on cooperation, on opening our hearts to something greater than ourselves, we were all connected. (my italics) We were all capable of working in concert. It is in that space -- the space a great leader can summon -- that we can make great changes in our own life and in the lives of others."
Two years ago, when Ken and I co-founded a group to discuss God's Politics by Jim Wallis of Sojourners, I had that "space" -- common ground, higher ground -- in mind. Although we ended up with a group of folks with common views who were a lot of fun, I was disappointed that we were not truly diverse, that the other end of the spectrum was not represented. (I give us credit for "going out into the highways and hedges and compelling them to come in," but they were not willing. They were afraid, I think.)
I am still disappointed. The forces of division are still reigning. Some might say that Satan is reigning. Have I allowed my opponents to drive me away, or have they retreated to their corners too? I know it's both. Bitterness and acrimony (I used that word a long time ago on this blog) prevail. May God dispel it. (If God is not "the booger man," as some of my ancestors seemed by their actions to believe.)
I've never remotely been able to practice what the dearest and best of the preachers (Bill Laws, David Smook et al.) have preached, but I know that the ideal still hangs there. Nancy Pelosi, our first "Madam Speaker," quoted the Sunday school song, "Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me." Francis of Assisi's prayer:
"Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred -- let me sow love,
Where there is injury -- pardon,
Where there is doubt -- faith,
Where there is despair -- hope,
Where there is darkness -- light,
Where there is sadness -- joy.
"Divine Master,
grant that i may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
It is in dying that we are born to eternal life."
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God." -- Mt.5:9
Amen.
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