Discovering something

From last night’s final “Practicing Forgiveness” session, Stewart Jackson reviewed John Patton’s Is Human Forgiveness Possible? Patton says: Forgiveness is more discovery than act or attitude.

…human forgiveness is not doing something, but discovering something–that I am more like those who have hurt me than different from them. I am able to forgive when I discover that I am in no position to forgive.

Patton seems to be saying that when we participate in forgiveness, received and/or offered, we experience a cosmic reality in which we participate but do not control. This may involve an “ah ha” moment, or many “ah ha” moments in a lifelong process of discovery.

Stewart offered two illustrations: John Wesley’s May 24, 1738 experience at Aldersgate Street in London, and Thomas Merton’s March 18, 1958 experience on a busy street corner in Louisville, Kentucky.

From Is Human Forgiveness Possible?, by John Patton, Academic Renewal Press, 2003

Scalawags

Alabama History was part of my fourth grade experience. I learned about Native American tribes for whom the state and many rivers, towns and counties are named. I learned that de Soto, Bienville and Iberville were early European visitors. We studied the Civil War and Reconstruction.

I learned about Reconstruction era scalawags and carpetbaggers, as viewed by the post-Civil War white majority. As I re-think my identity in light of the J6 insurrection, I’ve begun to embrace the term scalawag and to self-identify with them–a white Alabamian who favored Republican reforms.

Those reforms, viewed as radical by the white majority, were focused on implementing the Fourteenth Amendment. Only after J6 did I identify with the scalawags, whose name expressed the widespread animosity felt toward them by those who sought to revert to pre-Reconstruction ways.

From “Neither Carpetbaggers Nor Scalawags: Black Officeholders During the Reconstruction of Alabama, 1867-1878,” Revised Fifth Edition, by Richard Bailey, 2010

How J6 changed me

I was born in Dixie, early on a frosty morning. I was a 4th grader when the Civil War Centennial began. I wore a gray cap. My dad, like Lincoln, was born in Kentucky. He sported a Lincoln-style beard and top hat. A Gettysburg book made me sad because of the carnage and the Confederate army’s retreat.

Forty-seven years after the Centennial, on vacation in Camden, Maine, I saw a statue of a Civil War soldier. I did a quick double-take, then realized of course it was a Union soldier. It was jarring, like when I heard a Vietnamese person refer to “the American War.”

While planning a trip to the Appalachians, I found a Civil War Trails pamphlet I had archived. I felt Frederick Douglass looking over my shoulder. My 1961 fascination is gone. Now, only Appomattox interests me. I asked myself, “What happened?” “Why am I different now?” J6 happened.

As J6 unfolded, I felt in my gut what I’ve known in my head: The USA, not the CSA, is my country. It was our House that was invaded and desecrated with a symbol of insurrection that wreaked, and continues to wreak, untold damage to our nation’s soul.

From “Confederate flag-toting man, son convicted in Jan. 6 riot,” by the Associated Press, NBC News, January 15, 2022

Three words

Sunday morning began with my mind on (too) many things. Graciously, over coffee some conspirators inspired me with words about simple living. I saw myself in Rita Clagett’s blog post, “The Glasses.” I’ve tried to stop asking, “Have you seen my glasses?” when I realized they’re easier found when worn. The simple word in Rita’s post that lingers with me is “Simplify!“

A Daily Meditation by Richard Rohr co-conspirator Jim Finley drew from Thomas Merton, who said “…we involve ourselves in sadness, absurdity and despair. But … no despair of ours can alter the reality of things, or stain the joy of the cosmic dance which is always there. … we are invited to … cast our awful solemnity to the winds and join in the general dance.” Merton’s word that lingers with me is “dance.”

Finley said in the dance of life “God is the infinity of the very rhythms of your day, breathing in, breathing out, being awake, being asleep, standing up and sitting down.” And his use of the simple, sobering word “home” lingers with me: “It’s like God forever comes to visit, but we’re rarely at home. We’re probably out buying a spiritual book or something, or getting in an argument with somebody about God.”

From Thomas Merton’s quote about dance in Spirituality & Practice, adapted from A Book of Hours, by Thomas Merton, edited by Kathleen Deignan

Penance

Penance can be both personal and corporate. Barbara Brown Taylor said “Repentance is not complete until confession and pardon lead to penance that allows community to be restored…. (such as) Tutu’s insistence on real material transformation.”

Slavery divided the USA from our beginning and we are still divided about how to move past it. In 1877, Frederick Douglass said, “We must not be asked to put no difference between those who fought for the Union and those who fought against it, or between loyalty and treason. … There was a right side and a wrong side in the late war … and while today we should have malice toward none, and charity toward all, it is no part of our duty to confound right with wrong, or loyalty with treason.”

While pondering the relative costs of penance versus avoidance of penance, I read an amazingly thorough Wikipedia article about Denazification, which is part of a series of articles about Nazism. Penance is important, though sometimes painful, work. And, with all forms of penance, sooner is less painful than later, which was an important theme of Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968).

From “Opinion: This single day defined the decade that transformed America,” by Peniel E. Joseph, CNN, August 25, 2023

From “MLK’s dream for America is one of the stars of the 60th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington,” by Gary Fields, Associated Press, April 23, 2023

How nations turn around

The 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence will occur during the 2026 mid-term election campaigns. The 2024 election will determine the context for that celebration: midway through a second Biden term, a second Trump term or someone else’s first term as president.

In 2026, will there be a growing consensus about this week’s iconic mug shot? Or, will it be an ongoing symbol of our national division, with some seeing it as justice and others seeing it as persecution? The 2024 election may determine which view prevails.

It’s difficult for a nation to “turn around” from injustices, from attempts to steal elections or from big lies, especially when there are 180-degree disagreements about who stole, or attempted to steal, and who is telling the truth or spreading lies. Do Sean Hannity and Rachel Maddow live on the same planet?

Tomorrow’s post will point to the words of Barbara Brown Taylor and Frederick Douglass, and on lessons learned about the Denazification of post-World War II Germany.

From “Fox News Wins Cable News Ratings War, Again; Maddow Tops ‘Hannity’ In Demo,” by Dominic Patten, Deadline, April 2, 2019.

This week’s coverage of the first mug shot of a former president reveals the polar opposite universes of Fox and MSNBC, reflecting the deep divide in American TV cable viewing choices.

Turn around

My final seminary year (1975-76) was Stewart Jackson’s final doctoral year. We took Chuck Gerkin’s class on Erich Fromm. Each weekly class was based on a different Fromm book. This week, Stewart mentioned the Hebrew word teshuvah, which means “turn around,” often translated “repent.”

From You Shall Be As Gods: “The meaning of sin as missing the right road corresponds to the term for repent, which is shuv, meaning ‘to return.’” The Hebrew term for one who repents, baal teshuvah, literally means “the master of return.” (For more, see my 12/11/2019 post, “Repentance.”)

The morning after Stewart’s class, I read Richard Rohr’s “The Big Picture of Love” which points to the limited value of retributive justice and the expansive, healing power of restorative justice. Jack Smith and Fani Willis help individuals with important boundary work, offering opportunities to “turn around.”

Nations, as well as individuals, can “turn around.” More about that tomorrow.

For more about Erich Fromm, see “Biography of Social Psychologist Erich Fromm,” by Kendra Cherry, verywellmind, July 25, 2023

My inner Jew

At a “Practicing Forgiveness” class last night, Stewart Jackson spoke to “our inner Jew,” citing Moses Maimonides (1135-1204), whose Mishneh Torah and Guide for the Perplexed together describe a “reason-based vision of the purpose of Jewish life.” The Mishneh Torah condenses the Jewish Torah. Repentance is crucial to the healing process of forgiveness. (More about that tomorrow.)

Stewart cited Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg’s On Repentance and Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World, based on Maimonides’ five steps of forgiveness described in his Mishneh Torah. The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous echoes Maimonides’ five: (1) Name and own the harm; (2) Start to change; (3) Make restitution and accept consequences; (4) Apologize; (5) Make different choices.

From “A Nuanced Look at Repentance, Forgiveness and Atonement,” by Judy Bolton-Fasman, JewishBoston, September 12, 2022

A multiple choice test

It was a 13-hour day, including 8 hours of driving to help a friend with some legal matters, a mix of accomplishments and tasks unfinished. Some tasks were aided by phone conversations with friends and colleagues, including one international call. I marvel at communications technology, fondly remembering my parents’ first phone, installed when I was five years old. Rotary dialing was fun!

As I drove, I thought about the devastation in Lahaina, in Chernihiv, and others who’ve dealt with catastrophe in the first half of 2023. My long day was an exception. Some folks know nothing but long days. I was mellowed by the thought all is well. Then I remembered that I hadn’t thought about Wordle all day. Cathey got it in three, but I had one more test awaiting me. This one was multiple choice:

Abella’s speech

Monday’s post included a link to a Washington Post opinion piece by Rosalie Silberman Abella, based on her speech after receiving a prestigious international jurists award. On Tuesday, we heard about the terms of a former president’s $200,000 bond to remain free while awaiting trial in Georgia.

Yesterday I was too busy to pay attention to the Georgia case. Abella reminded me that a great blessing of the rule of law (or, as Abella prefers, the rule of justice), is that we can go about our daily lives, trusting in those whose work is justice. If that trust is lost, anarchy follows.

In a Disciple Bible Study video, Albert Outler described the era of Old Testament judges, tribal leaders in ancient, pre-monarchy Israel. Samuel resisted the idea of anointing a king, but he agreed because (as Outler put it) “monarchy was preferable to anarchy.”

The rule of law/justice isn’t perfect. As politicization threatens the integrity of the judiciary, Abella’s message becomes more urgent: …never forget how the world looks to those who are vulnerable. It’s what I consider to be the law’s majestic purpose and the legal profession’s noble mandate.

From Equal Justice Under Law: An Autobiography of Constance Baker Motley, Macmillan Publishers, 1999.