Mary's Song of Joy

Le Magnificat, James Tissot, France, 1886-1894

The last section of Luke 1 describes Mary's visit to her older relative Elizabeth, and Elizabeth's prophetic welcome:

Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!

What follows is a song so revolutionary it was omitted from Bibles read to American slaves, and banned from public reading in colonial India.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer called it 

the oldest Advent hymn. It is at once the most passionate, the wildest, one might even say the most revolutionary Advent hymn ever sung. There is none of the sweet, wistful, or even playful tone of many of our Christmas carols, but instead a hard, strong, relentless hymn about the toppling of the thrones and the humiliation of the lords of this world, about the power of God and the powerlessness of humankind. 

Today in church I learned that Mary's song echoes the pattern of Hannah's sang in 1 Samuel 2 and contains references to at least 15 other passages of scripture. Was Mary, an uneducated teenage girl, a scholar of the Hebrew scriptures? Or was her song inspired by the Holy Spirit, echoing prophetic themes across the earlier centuries? 

My soul glorifies the Lord
    and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful
    of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
    for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
    holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
    from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
    he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
    but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
    but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
    remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
    just as he promised our ancestors.

In 1976, mothers in Argentina, grieving the loss of children who disappeared under a repressive regime, began gathering to sing and read the words of Mary's song in the Plaza de Mayo, the central square of Buenos Aires. They prayed that Mary's words would come true, even under the abusive power. Some of the women who began the movement of the Madres y Abuelas de la Plaza de Mayo disappeared themselves not long after they started, but other women took their place in a movement that grew to confront dictators and death squads across 8 Latin American countries. 

Posters the mothers made portraying Mary and her words were outlawed and removed, but the prayer echoed through hundreds, then thousands of women. In 1983 Argentina returned to democracy and launched the National Commission for the Disappearance of Persons (CONADEP). Mary's words still gave hope and power 2000 years after she first sang them.

The Christmas story is itself an enactment of Mary's prophetic words. Jesus, the savior, the promised king, was born in a stable, and visited by shepherds, outcasts in their own culture. Not long after his birth, Jesus, Mary and Joseph were refugees in Egypt, fleeing Herod's jealous rage. 

I watch with sadness as Christians cheer the ascendance of Donald Trump and his wealthy, power-hungry cronies. Elon Musk invested at least $250 million to help Trump regain the presidency, a small investment with high potential return given the billions of governmental contracts Musk's companies enjoy. Will an administration composed of millionaires and billionaires serve the poor? Or is it far more likely that they'll cater to powerful allies while the hungry wait for crumbs?

Bonhoeffer's advent sermon about Mary's song was written in 1933, at the very start of a dark, dangerous time. He saw Mary's song as a reminder that God does not answer to us, does not fit our script, does not need our approval:

God’s path is free and original beyond all our ability to understand or to prove.

There, where our understanding is outraged, where our nature rebels, where our piety anxiously keeps its distance — that is exactly where God loves to be. There, though it confounds the understanding of sensible people, though it irritates our nature and our piety, God wills to be, and none of us can forbid it. Only the humble believe and rejoice that God is so gloriously free, performing miracles where humanity despairs and glorifying that which is lowly and of no account. For just this is the miracle of all miracles, that God loves the lowly. God ​“has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.” God in the midst of lowliness — that is the revolutionary, passionate word of Advent. 

I read Bonhoeffers' words, and Mary's, with both hope and sadness.

Here is the sadness:

While Mary's baby survived to adulthood to become the Christ, the crucified savior of the world, other boy babies of Bethlehem were slaughtered by Herod in response to the Magis' search for the newborn king. 

While Hitler and his quest for power eventually failed, over 50 million people died in World War II, the deadliest war in human history. 

While the mothers of Argentina helped bring down an oppressive military regime, most of the Desparacidos, the Disappeared, were never recovered or identified.

There is no promised of fast, happy endings when power grabs control and the poor are trampled.

Yet the hope in Mary's song, and in those terrible times of oppression, is the hope  known by followers of Christ around the globe and across the centuries. While injustice has its day, the powerful will fall. The poor will be lifted up. God will stand on the side of the little ones, the hungry, the forgotten. Unjust power rules for a season, but there will be a day when the lowly rejoice in the righteous rule of peace.

Christmas is a good time to pause and wonder:

Where do we place our hope?

What do we do with these words of Mary?

How do they shape our understanding of Jesus?

How do they shape our politics? Our worship? Our service? 

A few more lines from that sermon by Bonhoeffer, worth carrying with us through the Christmas season and into the year ahead:

God is not ashamed of human lowliness but goes right into the middle of it, chooses someone as instrument, and performs the miracles right there where they are least expected. God draws near to the lowly, loving the lost, the unnoticed, the unremarkable, the excluded, the powerless, and the broken. What people say is lost, God says is found; what people say is ​“condemned,” God says is ​“saved.” Where people say No! God says Yes!

Where people turn their eyes away in indifference or arrogance, God gazes with a love that glows warmer there than anywhere else. 

from Magnificat, Maurice Denis, France, 1901

A Song of Emperors and Angels

I confess, I've found the past few months exhausting.

When every word can trigger offense, anger and division, sometimes silence seems the easiest alternative. 

When every effort seems met with an insurmountable wall, why even bother?

I stopped listening to the news (local NPR) soon after the election. I've been listening instead, when I drive, to the Porters' Gate on Pandora.

I've dramatically cut my time on social media, doing what I need to do for my work, but scrolling as little as possible. 

I've been keeping my head down, tackling the daily tasks before me, praying for wisdom and grace and continuing my normal morning practice, reading the daily notes and passage suggested by Scripture Union's Encounter with God. 

The Prophecy of Isaiah, Francisco Bayeu, Spain, 1778-9

From November 15 to 30, the readings were in Isaiah 22 to 34. The accompanying notes were written by my husband, Whitney Kuniholm. He worked for Scripture Union from 1976 to 1983, then was President of Scripture Union USA from 1997 to 2016. Over the years he's written many Bible studies and many Scripture Union notes. The Isaiah notes were interesting in that they were written almost two years ago, but felt as though they'd been written very specifically for the weeks after the election. 

Those chapters have much to say about justice and righteousness, the danger of trusting oppressive leaders, the folly and snare of selective prophecy. 

Sometimes passages of scripture seem as immediate as the day's news, sometimes as timeless as humanity itself. The people of Isaiah's day thought that as God's chosen, they could pick the rules they liked and ignore the deeper obedience of listening closely for God's voice and caring for the poor, the weak, the hungry and the weary earth itself. 

The prophets can be rough going but for me, in this season, the chapters in Isaiah, and Whitney's daily commentary have been a gracious reminder than political turmoil is not new. Manipulation, deceit, corruption and abuse of power are recurrent themes in history and in scripture.  

But they're not the end of the story. 

In almost every chapter, Isaiah describes corruption, disdain for the poor, environmental destruction and God's fury at disobedience. Interwoven with those passages, often without transition, are descriptions of a future overwhelming joy.

Isaiah 24 surprised me. It seemed to capture the moment entirely.

Heartbreaking news of Gaza and Lebanon battered by drone strikes. 

Strange president-elect pronouncements beyond the bounds of legal authority. 

My own feeling of exhaustion. 

And there in the middle: announcements of joy.

They raise their voices, they shout for joy . . .

 From the ends of the earth we hear singing:
    “Glory to the Righteous One.”

I've read it before, but this time, I was struck by the idea of an unknown "they" singing from the far, unknown ends of the earth. The song doesn't start in the seats of power. It comes from the edges, not as conflict, anger or revolt, but as songs of joy. 

How do we live as people of song, rather than angry protectors of our own sense of right?

Jesus told us in the beatitudes: blessed are the agents of mercy, peace and light, even when surrounded and attacked by darkness and division. 

Sometimes, looking toward Christmas, we fall into a vision of twinkling lights, with all we hope for wrapped and waiting beneath a tree.

It's helpful to remember that the lights of the Christmas story were angels, speaking to shepherds on the margins, and the one bright star, ignored by God's people, drew distant travelers longing to be included. 

And it's wise to remember that the tree of the Gospel was not a well-decorated fir tree, laden with ornaments and happy memories. 

It was the cross, an instrument of power, oppression, pain and death. 

Thinking and praying about this time we're living in, I stumbled on a Christmas Eve sermon by Anglican bishop N. T. Wright. The sermon is called "Emperors and Angels," and begins with short verse, apparently Wright's own:

Sing a song of Christmas, of emperors and angels;
Sing a song of Christmas, of darkness now past;
Sing a song of starlight, of shepherds and of mangers;
Sing a song of Jesus, of peace come at last.

In his sermon, Wright insists that the Christmas story is deliberately political and that Christ's kingdom challenges all kingdoms, values, and existing power structures.  He shares the example of William Wilberforce, who spent 20 years pressing the British parliament to outlaw the slave trade, then spent the next 26 years doing all he could to outlaw slavery completely throughout the British empire. 

[I]n 1833, as he lay on his deathbed, Parliament passed the bill which got rid of the scandal once and for all. My friends, it can be done. There were massive vested interests ranged against Wilberforce, but by prayer and faith and sheer hard work he and his friends took the gospel forwards into the real world. It’s always costly, always tiring, it always takes everything we’ve got; but this is what it looks like when the song of the angels is heard and obeyed, when the power of the emperors is challenged and confronted, and when the Prince of Peace is celebrated and proclaimed in the middle of it all.

While Wright's sermon encourages political engagement, I'm doubtful he meant it in the ways we've seen most recently. He doesn't argue on behalf of a party, or a particular point of view. Rather, he suggests we learn to watch and listen well: 

we can watch for the empires of the world, the Augustus Caesars of our day: we can keep our eyes open for where the powers that run the world are crushing the little people who live on our street, in our town, in our local hospitals or prisons. And we can listen for the song of the angels. It will come in surprising ways, as it always does. God doesn’t call everybody in the same way. But if you are learning to love the Christ-child you will find your eyes gradually being opened to what the powers of the world are up to and your ears gradually becoming tuned to the particular song that God’s angels are trying to sing to you, and, more dangerously perhaps, through you.

The more we read the songs of the Psalms, the songs embedded in Isaiah's prophecies and recorded in the early chapter of Luke, the more we can recognize and repeat the recurrent themes, as in the song of Isaiah that Jesus read in the temple in Luke 4. 

      “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
      because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
      He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
      and recovery of sight for the blind,
      to set the oppressed free." 

That song of good news it the song of the prophets, the song of the angels, and the song that gives us peace, rest and joy.

May that peace, rest and joy be yours this Christmas. 

The Annunciation to the Shepherds, Nicolaes Bercham, Amsterdam, 1649

A Warning

In June of 2022, Liz Cheney gave an address at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. She talked about her experience "working in places that are not characterized by democracy, that are not characterized by free government", and shared stories of individuals who stood against totalitarian regimes. Part of her speech was commemorative, part inspirational.

Part was a warning:

I'm a conservative Republican. And I believe deeply in the policies of limited government, of low taxes, of a strong national defense. I believe that the family is the center of our community and of our lives. And I believe those are the right policies for our nation.

But I also know that at this moment, we are confronting a domestic threat that we have never faced before -- and that is a former President who is attempting to unravel the foundations of our Constitutional Republic. And he is aided by Republican leaders and elected officials who have made themselves willing hostages to this dangerous and irrational man.

Now, some in my party are embracing former President Trump. And even after all we've seen, they're enabling his lies. Many others are urging that we not confront Donald Trump, that we look away. And that is certainly the easier path. One need only look at the threats that are facing the witnesses who've come before the January 6th Committee to understand the nature and the magnitude of that threat.

But to argue that the threat posed by Donald Trump can be ignored is to cast aside the responsibility that every citizen -- every one of us -- bears to perpetuate the Republic. We must not do that, and we cannot do that.

Ronald Reagan said,

It is up to us in our time to choose and choose wisely between the hard but necessary task of preserving peace and freedom, and the temptation to ignore our duty and blindly hope for the best while the enemies of freedom grow stronger day by day.

No party, and no people, and no nation can defend and perpetuate a Constitutional Republic if they accept a leader who has gone to war with the rule of law, with the democratic process, or with the peaceful transition of power, with the Constitution itself.

Cheney's warning echoed one given in 2016 by 122 GOP national security leaders, who signed an open letter that began:

We the undersigned, members of the Republican national security community, represent a broad spectrum of opinion on America’s role in the world and what is necessary to keep us safe and prosperous. We have disagreed with one another on many issues, including the Iraq war and intervention in Syria. But we are united in our opposition to a Donald Trump presidency. Recognizing as we do, the conditions in American politics that have contributed to his popularity, we nonetheless are obligated to state our core objections clearly:

His vision of American influence and power in the world is wildly inconsistent and unmoored in principle. He swings from isolationism to military adventurism within the space of one sentence.

His advocacy for aggressively waging trade wars is a recipe for economic disaster in a globally connected world.

His embrace of the expansive use of torture is inexcusable.

His hateful, anti-Muslim rhetoric undercuts the seriousness of combating Islamic radicalism by alienating partners in the Islamic world making significant contributions to the effort. Furthermore, it endangers the safety and Constitutionally guaranteed freedoms of American Muslims.

Controlling our border and preventing illegal immigration is a serious issue, but his insistence that Mexico will fund a wall on the southern border inflames unhelpful passions, and rests on an utter misreading of, and contempt for, our southern neighbor.

Similarly, his insistence that close allies such as Japan must pay vast sums for protection is the sentiment of a racketeer, not the leader of the alliances that have served us so well since World War II.

His admiration for foreign dictators such as Vladimir Putin is unacceptable for the leader of the world’s greatest democracy.

He is fundamentally dishonest.

That warning, as we know, was ignored.

It was echoed four years later by 130 former GOP national security advisors who expressed opposition to Donald Trump in even stronger language. 

I'm not quoting these letters in full, but am sharing large parts of them because the language is so stark, the examples so clear. I'm surprised there was little press coverage of any of these. I wasn't aware of any until very recently. 

​Donald Trump has gravely damaged America’s role as a world leader. Trump has disgraced America’s global reputation and undermined our nation’s moral and diplomatic influence. He has called NATO “obsolete,” branded Europe a “foe,” mocked the leaders of America’s closest friends, and threatened to terminate longstanding US alliances. Other global leaders, friends and foes alike, view him as unreliable, unstable, and unworthy of respect.

​Donald Trump has shown that he is unfit to lead during a national crisis. Instead of rallying the American people and the world to confront the coronavirus, Trump has spent the past half year spreading misinformation, undermining public health experts, attacking state and local officials, and wallowing in self-pity. He has demonstrated far greater concern about the fate of his reelection than the health of the American people.

Donald Trump has solicited foreign influence and undermined confidence in our presidential elections. Trump publicly asked Russian president Vladimir Putin to assist his 2016 campaign, called on Chinese president Xi Jinping to “start an investigation” into his current political opponent, and pressured the president of Ukraine to act against his opponent. Citing exaggerated claims of voter fraud, he has challenged the integrity of this year’s election, even suggesting that it be postponed.

Donald Trump has aligned himself with dictators and failed to stand up for American values. Trump has regularly praised the actions of dictators and human rights abusers. He proclaimed his “love” and “great respect” for North Korean strongman Kim Jong Un, endorsed “brilliant leader” Xi Jinping’s move to serve as China’s president for life, repeatedly sided with Vladimir Putin against our own intelligence community, and pronounced himself a “big fan” of Turkish president Recep Erdogan despite his crackdown on democracy.

Donald Trump has disparaged our armed forces, intelligence agencies, and diplomats. Trump has attacked Gold Star families, scoffed at American prisoners of war, interfered in the military justice system, and embroiled our military in domestic politics. He has ridiculed US intelligence agencies and falsely branded our nation’s diplomats as the “deep state.”

Donald Trump has undermined the rule of law. Trump has compromised the independence of the Department of Justice, repeatedly attacked federal judges, and punished government officials who have sought to uphold the law. To protect himself from accountability, he has fired officials who launched investigations or testified against him, threatened whistleblowers, dangled pardons as incentives to stay silent, and blocked prison time for a political crony convicted of lying on his behalf. He has impugned journalists investigating his misconduct and has repeatedly denounced the press as the “enemy of the people.”

Donald Trump has dishonored the office of the presidency. Trump engages in childish name-calling, mocks the disabled, belittles women, persistently lies, peddles baseless conspiracy theories, and continually embarrasses Americans in the eyes of the world.

Donald Trump has divided our nation and preached a dark and pessimistic view of America. Trump consistently seeks to incite political, racial, and ethnic divisions, weakening our nation and delighting our adversaries. In contrast to Reagan’s vision of America as a “shining city on a hill,” Trump speaks of “American carnage,” pits Americans against each other, and stokes fears that “angry mobs” and “anarchists” are destroying our country. 

Donald Trump has attacked and vilified immigrants to our country. Trump routinely denigrates immigrants and inflames prejudices as he seeks support for his reelection. Despite America’s legacy as a nation of immigrants, he has demonized Americans who come from other countries, even telling members of Congress whose families immigrated to the United States to “go back” to the “crime-infested places” from which they came.

Donald Trump has imperiled America’s security by mismanaging his national security team. Trump has dismissed or replaced — often by tweet — the secretaries of State, Defense, and Homeland Security, the Attorney General, the Directors of National Intelligence and the FBI, three National Security Advisors, and other senior officials in critical national security positions, many because they refused to cover for his misdeeds or demonstrate sufficient personal loyalty.

While we – like all Americans – had hoped that Donald Trump would govern wisely, he has disappointed millions of voters who put their faith in him and has demonstrated that he is dangerously unfit to serve another term.

I once wondered why no one stood in Hitler's way, as the Wiemar Republic collapsed and the Nazi regime began. I wondered why no one sounded a warning. 

I now realize there were many who tried, but their warnings went unheeded, or were swept away in a flood of threats and lies. 

The same is happening now. Good people swallow a steady stream of misinformation, while power-hungry partisans condone the lies rather than jeopardize their political futures. Church leaders will have much to answer for as they condone, compromise and lead their people astray.

Yet informed, courageous voices continue to call out a warning, despite the cost and personal danger. 

In late August, more than 200 Republicans who worked in the two Bush administrations, plus former GOP presidential candidates Mitt Romney and the late Senator John McCain, released a letter endorsing Kamala Harris and expressing concern about a second Trump presidency. 

At home, another four years of Donald Trump’s chaotic leadership, this time focused on advancing the dangerous goals of Project 2025, will hurt real, everyday people and weaken our sacred institutions.

Abroad, democratic movements will be irreparably jeopardized as Trump and his acolyte JD Vance kowtow to dictators like Vladimir Putin while turning their backs on our allies.

We can’t let that happen.

Still not convinced?

Last month, 740 former leaders released a longer, more emphatic public letter. Some of the signers are people who voted for Donald Trump, who were appointed by him, who worked with him closely. Surely their voices are worth hearing?

We are former public servants who swore an oath to the Constitution. Many of us risked our lives for it. We are retired generals, admirals, senior noncommissioned officers, ambassadors, and senior civilian national security leaders. We are Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. We are loyal to the ideals of our nation—like freedom, democracy, and the rule of law—not to any one individual or party.

We do not agree on everything, but we all adhere to two fundamental principles. First, we believe America’s national security requires a serious and capable Commander-in-Chief. Second, we believe American democracy is invaluable. Each generation has a responsibility to defend it. That is why we, the undersigned, proudly endorse Kamala Harris to be the next President of the United States.

This election is a choice between serious leadership and vengeful impulsiveness. It is a choice between democracy and authoritarianism. Vice President Harris defends America’s democratic ideals, while former President Donald Trump endangers them.

We do not make such an assessment lightly. We are trained to make sober, rational decisions. That is how we know Vice President Harris would make an excellent Commander-in-Chief, while Mr. Trump has proven he is not up to the job. As leaders, we know effective leadership requires in-depth knowledge, careful deliberation, understanding of your adversaries, and empathy for those you lead. It requires listening to those with expertise and not firing them when they disagree with you... 

Mr. Trump denigrates our great country and does not believe in the American ideal that our leaders should reflect the will of the people. While Vice President Harris follows the democratic norms we expect of any political leader—including promising to abide by the outcome of the pending election and respecting the rule of law—Mr. Trump is the first president in American history to actively undermine the peaceful transfer of power, the bedrock of American democracy.  

Mr. Trump threatens our democratic system; he has said so himself. He has called for the “termination” of parts of the Constitution. He said he wants to be a “dictator,” and his clarification that he would only be a dictator for a day is not reassuring. He has undermined faith in our elections by repeating lies, without evidence, of “millions” of fraudulent votes.

He has shown no remorse for trying to overturn the 2020 election on January 6th, promises to pardon the convicted perpetrators, and has made clear he will not respect the results of the 2024 election should he lose again.

That alone proves Mr. Trump is unfit to be Commander-in-Chief. 

Last week Liz Cheney and Vice President Harris held a campaign event at People's Light Theater, a venue I drive past every Sunday on the way to church. I'll drive by there again this morning. It was a remarkable gathering, invitation only, with current and former civic leaders from across the political spectrum, hosted by lifelong conservative Sarah Longwell, of the Bulwark podcast. 

Cheney said this at the start:  

[C]oming to this as someone who’s been a lifelong Republican, a lifelong conservative, also as someone who spent time working overseas before I was elected to Congress, and I’ve spent time working in countries where people aren’t free and where people are struggling for their freedom, and I know how quickly democracies can unravel. 

And I know that, as Americans, we can become accustomed to thinking, “Well, we don’t have to worry about that here.”  But I tell you, again, as someone who has seen firsthand how quickly it can happen, that that is what’s on the ballot.  That’s absolutely what’s on the ballot. 

 

Country Over Party Campaign Event, Malvern, PA 10/21/2024

Seek Wisdom

God does not require His people to vote for Donald Trump.

In fact, I believe the opposite is true. 

I've been steeped in Proverbs since first or second grade. I memorized verses from Proverbs at the small fundamentalist camp where I spent my summers. I've reread the 31 chapters multiple times, sometimes spending a month reading a chapter each morning. 

The themes of Proverbs are clear: Seek wisdom. Avoid mockers and fools. Hold fast to truth. Don't fall prey to liars.  

I've had trouble reading Proverbs since 2015. That was the year I saw people I'd long loved and respected declaring allegiance to a man who, to me, epitomizes the proverbial fool. 

Just a small sampling:

• How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? (1:32)
• Whoever conceals hatred with lying lips and spreads slander is a fool. (10:18)
  
• The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice. (12:15)
  
• Fools show their annoyance at once, but the prudent overlook an insult. (12:16)
• A fool’s mouth lashes out with pride, but the lips of the wise protect them. (14:3)
• It is to one’s honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel. (20:3)
• Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end. (29:11)

There's endless evidence of Trump's lies, anger, mockery, insults and slander. No need to share that here. The wise can find it easily. Those not interested have already shut their ears. 

In the years since the 2016 election, I've had friends and family tell me "I know Donald Trump isn't always a good person, but God is using him to save our country."

I know the Old Testament described evil kings God used to punish his people. I'm not aware of any time when God used evil kings to save them. I've heard the suggestion that Trump is like King Cyrus. Cyrus was a pagan king (meaning he wasn't an Israelite) but was known as benevolent, compassionate, and sypathetic to the Hebrew faith. 

I'm not aware of any scripture that suggests God affirms our action in appointing evil leaders. In fact, the warnings are clear: stay away from fools. Their folly is a trap that will drag you into danger.

Back to Proverbs:

• Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm. (13:20
  
• Stay away from a fool, for you will not find knowledge on their lips. (14:7)
  
• Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool bent on folly. (17:12)
  
• Sending a message by the hands of a fool is like cutting off one’s feet or drinking poison. (26:6)

On Friday I happened on an interview between Marty Moss Coane of our local NPR station and Francis Collins, head of the NIH through four presidencies. I've done interviews myself with Moss Coane and find her a thoughtful questioner. I heard Francis Collins speak at a youth convention not long after he completed oversight of the Human Genome Program. The entire interview is worth hearing. It's a gentle, respectful conversation between a self-proclaimed atheist journalist and an internationally respected Christian scientist. The occasion for the interview was Collin's new book: The Road to Wisdom: On Truth, Science, Faith, and Trust

Here's a sad statistic that jumped out at me in that conversation: between June of 2021 and March of 2022, 234,000 American deaths could have been prevented by free, readily-available vaccinations. That's over a quarter of a million people who died because of misinformation and casual lies. Folly on an unprecedented scale. Still unacknowledged. Still unaddressed. 

God does not require his people to vote for Donald Trump. He DOES require us to practice wisdom, to see the difference between lies and falsehood, to avoid mockers and fools. 

My husband Whitney has been listening to the Audible version of Liz Cheney's new book, Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning. I've long admired Cheney for her courage at the Republican Vice-Chair of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. She has been consistent in her insistence on accuracy about what happened, who was responsible, and what that means for our nation. despite death threats and political fallout in her latest run for office. As she said in her opening remarks at the first Select Committee hearing:

Donald Trump and his advisors knew that he had, in fact, lost the election. But, despite this, President Trump engaged in a massive effort to spread false and fraudulent information – to convince huge portions of the U.S. population that fraud had stolen the election from him. This was not true. . . .

President Trump ignored the rulings of our nation’s courts, he ignored his own campaign leadership, his White House staff, many Republican state officials, he ignored the Department of Justice, and the Department of Homeland Security. President Trump invested millions of dollars of campaign funds purposely spreading false information, running ads he knew were false, and convincing millions of Americans that the election was corrupt and he was the true President. As you will see, this misinformation campaign provoked the violence on January 6th. . . . 

It was only after multiple hours of violence that President Trump finally released a video instructing the riotous mob to leave, and as he did so, he said to them: “We love you. You’re very special.” 

I'm troubled by pastors who say "all Christians must vote for Donald Trump." Is there anything in his example we would wish for our children or grandchildren?

I'm saddened when I hear Christians talk about radical Democrats closing churches and persecuting Christians. No one is closing churches. No one is persecuting Christians.

The greatest threat I see to American Christianity is abject hypocrisy and tragic folly. (Check Trumpism Is Emptying Churches. From what I can see, it's true).

A vote to oppose Trump is not an endorsement of his opponent, or of the Democratic platform. It's a vote to preserve the rule of law, and the peaceful transfer of power. And a repudiation of lies, folly and disrespect for law. 

Here's what Liz Cheney said earlier this month when she announced that she would vote for Kamala Harris:

“As a conservative, as someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this. Because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris.”

We all have a role to play in this strange election season. Our children and grandchildren will wonder who we voted for. Non-Christians watching will wonder who we applauded. 

If we embrace folly, we'll continue to face the tragic consequences: lives lost, our nation in danger. The witness of American Christians damaged for generations. 

Only wisdom will save us. As Proverbs 2:12-15 tells us:

Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, 
from men whose words are perverse, 
who have left the straight paths to walk in dark ways, 

who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, 

whose paths are crooked and devious in their ways. 

Here are some Christian groups speaking out against Donald Trump. 
This isn't an endorsement, but an invitation to consider:

• Vote Common Good
• Evangelicals for Democracy
• Faithful America
• Evangelicals for Harris
• Christians for Kamala 

Xenos: Us vs Them

One summer on family vacation, a grandson decided we should have a family Olympics to mirror the games unfolding that summer in Brazil.

The team names: Us and Them.

We had lots of amusing conversations and plenty of confusion. I remember asking repeatedly: "Am I an Us or a Them?" I think I was a Them, but still not quite sure.

When it comes to immigration: are we an Us, or a Them? 

I was 12 or 13 when I stumbled on the poem "Outwitted," by Edward Markham, a little known American poet born in Oregon in 1852: 

He drew a circle that shut me out--

Heretic, a rebel, a thing to flout.

But Love and I had the wit to win:
         We drew a circle that took him in!

I copied it and memorized it quickly. Not so much because of the idea of heretic or rebel, but because I was captured by the idea that the circles others draw can be overcome by wider, intentional circles of love.

I believed it then. I believe it now. 

I've been saddened to hear Christian friends speak about immigrants as a dangerous "them", threatening and endangering a self-protective "us."

I've known many immigrants, from all corners of the globe. I've never felt threatened by any. Instead I'm grateful:

• For Hudson, the Ugandan refugee who helped me with my West Philly community garden, then came and shared the produce for dinner.
• For the Hmong families who joined our church and invited my husband and me to a celebration dinner in honor of a daughter they named after our own first daughter.
• For Tran, the Vietnamese refugee who helped me lead our Brownies in their camping trips, sitting by the fire after the girls were asleep, sharing stories of her years in a refugee camp. 
• For the immigrants I see in our church every week, adding their rich perspective to conversations over shared Sunday lunches. 

Some came through international refugee programs. Some won the immigration lottery. Some had work that paved the way to green cards. 

Others? I never ask. Current US avenues toward legal immigration are messy, broken, and in great need of reform. 

The Bible has much to say about our welcome of the exile, the stranger, the immigrant, the unknown "them." A quick review of the most forceful:

“You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien; for you were aliens in the land ” (Exodus 22:21)

The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 19:34)

For the Lord your God...loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing.  You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
(Deuteronomy 10:19:

‘Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow.’ Then all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’
(Deuteronomy 27:19)

Old Testament passages suggest that when it comes to "strangers," we are all in that group, and should treat others as we would like to be treated. 

Jesus makes the case even stronger: our acceptance of strangers is equal to our acceptance of him. Our denial of stranger is a denial of him and ample cause for his own denial of us. 

Read Matthew 25:31-46 carefully, prayerfully. Jesus challenged the "us" and "them" of the people who considered themselves chosen. He said there would come a a day of judgment that would not go as they expected. 

The word “xenos” in the original Greek, translated “stranger” in the Matthew passage, could also be translated foreigner, alien, sojourner, guest. It's the root of the word “xenophobia”: fear and hatred of strangers, foreigners, anything strange or foreign. 

Treatment of the "xenos", Jesus said, is the same as treatment of Jesus himself. 

There are plenty of arguments to be made for welcoming immigrants. 

Our economy has for centuries been dependent on immigrant labor, work ethic, ingenuity. 

Opposing arguments about immigrant crime have no basis in fact. For decades studies on the issue have shown immigrants are far less likely to commit crimes. Undocumented immigrants in particular do all they can to avoid any encounter with law enforcement. 

Non-citizens voting? The Heritage Foundation leaves no rock unturned in efforts to prove wide-scale illegal voting, but review of their data "shows just how extraordinarily rare noncitizen voting truly is."

The World Relief Corporation of the National Association of Evangelicals provides a six-session study: Discovering and Living God's Heart for Immigrants: A Guide to Welcoming the Stranger.  The study addresses issues raised above and more. 

But for Christians, our response to immigrants, legal or otherwise, ,can't be based on economic questions, protection of "our" way of life, or judgment of the motives of the strangers struggling to join us. Jesus suggests none of that matters. The deeper issue is love of neighbor: the command second only to love of God himself. 

Wouldn't it be wonderful if churches spreading alarm about "illegal aliens" would take time to learn the facts and see what God has to say? 

If you're interested in learning more, spend some time with that World Relief study guide. 

If you hear people talk about "illegals," dangerous aliens, our borders overrun: ask for facts, sources, and offer that study guide. Or invite friends of family to read that Matthew 25 passage together. 

What I see in the Matthew 25 discussion of sheep and goats is Jesus' rebuke of the self-important, self-protective "us" vs "them." I hear him saying "don't assume you're the insiders, the chosen. You may be surprised."

The divisions will not go well for those most eager to divide. Jesus stands with the "them": the strangers, the foreigners, the "illegals", the xenos: "I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me."

Earlier posts on this subject: 

• Welcome the Stranger, January 28, 2024
  
• Walls, Welcome, Mercy, Law Sunday, August 28, 2016
  
• Epiphany and Filoxenia: Entertaining Angels, January 4, 2015

A movie that helped me see this more clearly: The Visitor 

A song that captures the questions of us and them. Who are the citizens? Where do we belong?

Sacred Solidarity

Happy Labor Day.

I've spent time this weekend thinking and praying about workers, Labor Day, and the strange political landscape we live in. 

I'm troubled at the way some politicians cater to foreign investors and their wealthiest donors.

The Trump tax cuts are failing badly,
Washington Post, May 31, 2019

I'm offended by assumptions that poverty is always the result of laziness. 

I'm saddened by Christians who celebrate and admire a presidential candidate born to excessive wealth, whose business model depends heavily on cheating workers, creditors, and political supporters. 

Looking back through earlier posts, I discovered I've written quite a lot about workers, wage theft and Labor Day. No need to repeat all that. The links are below. 

What's your own theology of work? Grace? God's provision for the poor?

The Bible has far more to say on this issue than on other topics most Christians I know prefer to focus on. There's certainly far more about wealth, poverty, work and treatment of workers than we hear about in our Sunday services. This weekend I stumbled on a website called The Theology of Work, and a page titled What Does the Bible Say About Wealth and Provision? It's long, but worth some study.  

Here's the section that most caught my attention:

We Are to Change the Organizations and Structures of Society

Christians are called to work not only at the small enterprise and person-to-person level in seeking to alleviate poverty, but also at the macro or structural level. The world contains resources enough to meet everyone’s needs. But the social, political and economic motivation and means to do so have never come together on a global scale. This too is a form of human sin and error. We are to be involved in changing the organizations and systems of provision and wealth in our societies. Although we may feel too small and insignificant, too far removed from the halls of power in our society, God has a habit of using outsiders and insignificant people to bring great economic changes in societies.

My own involvement in PA politics was a direct result of time spent with friends born into poverty, struggling to find a way out and too often trapped by structural roadblocks. I am still deeply involved with some of those friends, but after years of looking for ways to help on a personal level, I found myself challenged to look at political structures that cater to the wealthiest among us and fail our poorest children. 
It's interesting to consider that Jesus, the center of the Christian faith, was born in a carpenter's family, lived his early years as a refugee, surrounded himself with fishermen, and chose to die on a cross between two thieves. 

The Labor Cross, Fritz Eichenberg, 1954

In the Catholic faith the word "solidarity" is used often to describe Jesus' actions toward us and our required actions toward others. Just as Christ chose to embed himself in human form, chose to take on our troubles and live among us, Catholic teaching on solidarity insists we're called to do the same for others.

From Pope Francis: 

Solidarity means much more than engaging in sporadic acts of generosity. It means thinking and acting in terms of community. It means that the lives of all are prior to the appropriation of goods by a few. It also means combatting the structural causes of poverty, inequality, the lack of work, land and housing, the denial of social and labor rights. It means confronting the destructive effects of the empire of money. (Pope Francis, On Fraternity and Social Friendship [Fratelli Tutti], no. 116)

Here's another way to approach it, from the United Church of Christ's Witness for Justice: 

To build solidarity is to entangle ourselves more deeply in the vulnerabilities of the world produced by injustice.  

I like that word "entangle." It's messy. It suggests we find ourselves caught and held together in ways we can't control. 

This Labor Day weekend, while thinking about the needs of workers, I've been fielding calls from a younger friend whose car died on Friday and whose family depends on her getting to work on Tuesday. "Entangled" suggests her problem is also mine. 

Jesus entangled his life with his friends and followers. So much so that he gave his life for them and all who follow after.

I have lots of questions. Not many answers:

• What does it mean for us to entangle our lives with workers struggling to build a sustainable life in an economy that rewards some people richly and leaves others struggling to survive?
• How can we travel through this world in ways that encourage and enrich the poorest, weariest workers we encounter?
• Where can our own actions, our votes, our voices, help end structural injustice? 
• How can we shop, travel, worship, give in ways that benefit workers most in need of help. rather than the wealthy who already have far more than they need?

I think maybe the first step in all of that is to make sure we step outside our safe bubble of belief and behavior, to know workers in different walks of life, different economic circumstances. Ideally, our congregations are places where that can happen. If not, maybe that's the first place to start. 

Almighty God, you have so linked our lives one with another that all we do affects, for good or ill, all other lives: So guide us in the work we do, that we may do it not for self alone, but for the common good; and, as we seek a proper return for our own labor, make us mindful of the rightful aspirations of other workers, and arouse our concern for those who are out of work; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen (Collect for Labor Day, Book of Common Prayer p 261)

Earlier posts about work, workers and Labor Day

• Work, September 5, 2011
  
• How Much Does Justice Cost? September 1, 2013
• What Are Workers Worth? September 1, 2014
  
• Solidarity Forever: Love, Labor, Unions, September 6, 2015
• Workers and their Wages, September 4, 2016
• Labor Day Lament, Monday, September 7, 2020