The rule is, there are two things you cannot discuss at work, religion and politics. You can imagine my surprise when a coworker caught me in the staff lounge and decided to bring up one of the hottest topics in both politics and religion: abortion. I already knew that this chap leaned very far to the right. He may not have recalled but he asked me many years prior about my thoughts on gay marriage. This was before I had even an conscious thought about myself. I argued vehemently for marriage equality. I seem to recall ending my position with a joking statement that suggested , why should the gay community be deprived of all the heartache and agony straight couples have? I know I walked away thinking that he was a stooge for someone else's religious diatribe against marriage equality. He had puppeted several of the more blatant and patently false arguments against equality.
So, on to abortion. Bear in mind that I was working very much in a fog. I went to work not as an obligation but more as a means to occupy my time, mind and emotions as my father-in-law died the previous day. We would not be flying out for the services for a few more days. Occupying my brain was a good idea even if I did not present myself at full capacity. So, I engaged this chap in a spirited and yet cordial debate. I debunked several of his more emotional points. I confessed that I too dislike abortion. I quickly added though that I will never be in a position where I would have to decide about having one. My point of view is that that decision should always be in the hands of a woman and perhaps her doctor ( as advisor ). It should not be in the hands of religion or politicians. Further, I probably went more ballistic lamenting the hypocrisy of the myopic right and religious wing nuts that are not in fact pro-life but merely, pro-birth. The fact that the question is about abortion and not about the respect for the entirety of life is telling. What about pre-natal care? Child care? Day care?School lunches? Senior living? Simply, how do we respect the entirety of life if a person is so "pro-life"? I finally suggested that instead of legislation the religious right might find better support by showing how they actually live out being pro-life , not how they parade around and picket. OK, yes, I was fully engaged a this point but we still were having a respectful discussion, even if I spoke rather enthusiastically.
Afterword's I thanked my friend for bringing me back to reality. I had been wallowing in my grief a bit and I told him he was the hand of God that brought me back to focus. I then told him, because he had no way of knowing, that my father-in-law had died the day before and that I really meant it when I said he was an agent of God reaching out to me.
That all seems a bit nauseating to some I know. I still believe religion and politics should be left out of the workplace. We only survived because we have a mutual respect born I believe of how we see the other leading decent and holy lives even while we seem at different ends of the political spectrum. This is a rarety.
What is the point. Well, this is what came to mind from reading the passage from John this morning. ‘I can do nothing on my own'. We like to hold up 'the self-made man', we like to think of how we did it all ( by ourselves ), handled it all by ourself or that our successes are our very own. We laud our accomplishments and wealth as if we alone were responsible. My point is that there are always someone else who helped, contributed and perhaps even bore most of the grunt work. Angels abound as well as friends, family and lovers. We are all co-conspirators in each others accomplishments, growth and foibles. We are willfully ignorant and arrogant at best if we think we do anything alone. God's presence is all around in every person you come across, every friend, every family member, coworker and lover.
Soon I will be offering a eulogy for my beloved father-in-law. I will speak of a life well lived. I will note the importance he placed on family, note a few of the relationships that made this man a 'success' and made life a dream come true. He did not do it alone and he certainly cooperated with the will of God in love and acceptance. He knew intimately the twists and turns of life and how so many varied people touched and affected his life. There are so many amazing stories there and I am sure it is true for all of us.
No, it is for certain, we do nothing alone. We may find it wise to realize just how many people touch and have touched our lives and how rich our lives are for it. God's hand is always near and at work in some of the least expected and varied ways we could think of. Think of the people you come across every second of your day and know God is there. Also know, they may not always be there.
For recognition and appreciate of 'the others' in our lives, I pray this day.
John 5:30-47
‘I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my judgement is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
‘If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that his testimony to me is true. You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth. Not that I accept such human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved.He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But I have a testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father has given me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself testified on my behalf. You have never heard his voice or seen his form, and you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not believe him whom he has sent.
‘You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. Yet you refuse to come to me to have life. I do not accept glory from human beings. But I know that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; if another comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe when you accept glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is God? Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?’
No comments:
Post a Comment