Since Monday, I’ve been participating in a contemplative prayer retreat with some of my fellow bishops in Schuyler, Nebraska. The time we’ve spent has been meaningful, and I am particularly grateful to have begun this new year focused on prayer—this most essential part of our Christian discipleship that can often fall by the wayside as the concerns and crush of the world mount.
Like many of you, I awoke on January 3 to the shocking and disheartening news that our country invaded Venezuela, forcibly removed their president, and unabashedly stated that the U.S. was going to run the country and control its oil production. For an administration that promised many things, including the end of our involvement in “forever wars,” this action is especially alarming. The fact that our duly elected representatives in Congress had absolutely no involvement in this decision is beyond troubling for such a weighty and consequential action.
I asked myself, “What can I do as a Christian, as an American citizen, and as a child of God who values the hard-won democracy that generations of our forebears bled for, marched for, and sought to perfect?”
I am not so naïve as to believe that my salvation arises through our political system or our elected leaders. I do my best to avoid partisan bluster. I endeavor to refrain from the same dehumanization of those who vote differently from me that I find deplorable when aimed at me.
But there are times that require us to make our ultimate allegiance known, and the combination of this action in Venezuela, repeated attempts to rewrite the history of the January 6 Capitol riot, and yesterday’s murder of Renee Good in Minnesota by ICE agents makes me do so now.
As a follower of the One we know as the Prince of Peace, I see war as one of our worst human failures and must only be considered as a last resort. To actively seek it out, especially when one’s own life is not offered in service to the cause, is reckless, foolish, and decidedly not in line with the teachings of Christ.
The attempts to whitewash the violence and insurrection of January 6, on the day we Western Christians celebrate the last day of Christmas and the arrival of the wise ones at Jesus’ manger is jarring. As Christians, we celebrate the Epiphany, which is about the promises of God extending beyond Jesus’ narrow social context and tribe to enlighten the nations and larger world. And yet, January 6 in our country is now known for division, destruction, and deceit. Such misdirection and schemes are more easily associated with King Herod than with the King of Kings who is the way, the truth, and the life.
And when I see another civilian murdered by an ICE agent on a residential street in Minnesota, and the sickening spin that ensues, I wonder when it will be enough. How many more innocent people will die before we decide to say no more? How many of the freedoms our forebears fought for must be erased before we stand up together and take our own risks for freedom’s sake?
As I said earlier, I’ve chosen to begin this new year with a renewed focus on contemplative prayer. The Bishop of Minnesota, the Rt. Rev. Craig Loya, who now must deal with this crisis in his diocese, as well as the Bishop of Washington, the Rt. Rev. Mariann Budde, who called our country to decency and mercy last year during this season, have been praying here as well.
I ask all of you who read this, regardless of who you vote for, to join us in this renewed focus and to attend to your own prayer lives.
Not as a way of shutting out the world, or disengaging from the hard work ahead of us, but as the surest path to discerning how and when to enact your faith allegiance in the public square.
Through contemplative prayer, each of us comes face to face with two simultaneous truths—we are all beset by fears and the shadow sides of our souls that we’d prefer to ignore or hide AND we are all beloved by God in unfathomable ways that we spend this existence exploring. The more we can attune ourselves to these truths, the more we can both receive and extend grace and perceive when it is time to take the fruits of prayer and convert them into action.
As we move into this Epiphany season, in a time of uncertainty and fear in our country, I pray that you will resist the urge to meet violence with violence, hatred with more hatred, and dehumanization with more dehumanization.
Sink the roots of your heart deep into the rich soil of Jesus’ way, truth, and life and draw from the living water that only he can provide. And most importantly, connect with your siblings in Christ for strength and support and keep reminding one another of “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable,” and then find ways to live that out together.
For the sake of our country, the sake of our planet, and the sake of your very souls.
Yours in Christ,
Austin