Fighting Fair

One can not tell whether the vitriol in today's political discourse had an impact on the shooter in Tucson earlier in this month. But as the President has asked, I believe we need to seriously take a look at how we disagree with one another. It needs to happen at all levels - between nations, between political opponents, in families, between spouses and partners, and within congregations.

I think it all revolves around treating another human being as a creation of God, and not an object. I was appalled that a Congressman of my own political party called Republican members' tactics in the health care debate comparable to Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels. All that was necessary to say it that he didn't think they told the truth.

But this is a basic in how we disagree with one another on a interpersonal level. It is what I teach in premarital counseling, that is, one needs to focus on the action, not the person. We do not like another person's idea, an action, or word used. We can say that and not call someone a name in the process. It is also about saying "I think", "I feel", not "you are" "how could you".

The Golden Rule is the order of the day. I think prayer and humility will only get us to that spot.

Fr. Patrick

Friendship

St Gregory of Nyssa said that there was nothing greater than being friends with God. The Episcopal Church  in San Francisco dedicated to Gregory uses that as its motto.

I just returned from a week's vacation visiting family members in the Mid-South, and I also took time to renew a friendship with a clergy colleague. It was a wonderful time of catching up on too many years gone by. Over a good meal and several glasses of wine I was struck by how I am so blessed by people who have come into my life over the years.

It seems to me that if being friends with God is to be so highly prized and we are people of Incarnation, it would follow that our friendships, at their closest level, can reveal the face of God to us.

Nurture your friendships for at their best we are touched by God through them.