The
Teachings
“The
central tenet of Christianity as it has come down to us is that we are to reach
out when our instinct is to pull inward; to give when we want to take; to love
when we are inclined to hate; to include when we are tempted to exclude.”
Jon
Meacham
I had
the privilege of hearing a lecture by Jon Meacham last night at Samford
University. He has a new book out called The Soul of America: The Battle for
Our Better Angels. Last night he spoke about the ideals of America, the tenets
of Christianity and our current climate of incivility. He managed to do it in an
entertaining and amusing way by telling stories of the famous people he has
spent time with while writing their biographies—particularly, George H. W. Bush
and John Lewis. He highlighted these two people because he sees them as
embracing the Christian values listed above. He said they were not perfect
people, but they almost always acted from love—even when they disliked someone.
He told a story of John Lewis stopping an American Nazi who was charging toward
Dr. King, not by hitting him, but by grabbing and hugging him. And, instead of
crowing over his victory, President Bush allowed the former president of
Russia, Mikhail Gorbachev, time to grieve after the fall of the Berlin wall which
ended the Soviet Empire and the cold war. The innate kindness of these men, and
their adherence to the dictates of their better angels impressed Meacham more
than their political prowess.
It’s so
hard to live by Christian values because they go against our human instincts.
When we “win” we want to cheer, even though our win means someone else loses.
When we don’t like the look or the smell of someone else, everything in us
wants to cut a wide berth around them, not befriend them. Jesus modeled for us
how we should be, but we have a hard time following him. It is the nature of
human beings to fail, to worship false gods (like money and power), and to fall
for shiny people with clay feet and Machiavellian intentions. Jesus didn’t teach easy stuff; he knew we
would fail most of the time, but he loved us anyway. He tried to set us on the
right path, knowing that we have free will, and can screw up anytime we choose.
And most of the time, we choose to screw up—speaking for myself, of course.
As a flawed
person, I can only act against my instincts—they are after all reptilian—from that
old, defensive part of the brain. We encounter them every day, and sometimes
they get the better of us. But we keep trying and consider it a good day when
we manage to act in accordance with our values half the time. At least, I do. Be
gentle with yourself today. That will make it easier to be gentle with others.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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