Obedience

James Carroll is one of my favorite authors -- both his fiction and his non-fiction.  I am now reading "Practicing Catholic" which he published in 2009 and I am finding it as deeply moving as his autobiographical "An American Requiem:  God, My Father, and the War That Came Between Us".   We are "almost" contemporaries -- he is seven years my senior.   The seven years are not enough to change the dramatic effect of the Kennedy era, the Second Vatican Council and the Vietnam War era on our lives.   His was a more privileged life than mine -- his father a high ranking military officer, mine a Private First Class in the Marine Corps.   And that changed some things -- a sense that he has been more at the center of the institutions than I ever was.    But when I read these two books I am moved from the center of my very being at how he captures these formative aspects of my own life.   And I am grateful to hear him come to some of the same conclusions to which I have arrived myself along these "highways and byways" of a deep catholic spirituality, a deep sense of patriotism, and a call to live out the Gospel to the best of my ability.

This morning I am reading the chapter "The Scandal" which follows fairly closely to chapter 6 "Sex and Power".   He speaks of the nature of "obedience" in terms of the vows Roman Catholic priests take and he says, "In the hierarchical order there is obedience upward, but there is obedience downward too."    It is all too clear to me that the Roman power structure of our church has long since forgotten about their obedience "downward" to the people they are there to serve and I am grateful to him for this sentence that clarifies things for me.   I am reminded of one of Rabbi Abraham Heschel's books where he speaks about the Commandment to "Honor Thy Mother and Father".  He tells us that intrinsic to this commandment is the requirement of mothers and fathers to behave in ways that are themselves honorable.   These are reciprocal vows and commandments.   There is no way to separate them and be in truth.   All life is at the beginning and end interwoven and relational.

So this was on my mind when I made my way to my office several hours ago to write this reflection.  

One of the things I did before sitting to write, was to check in on Facebook.  Last week was a hard, busy week and I haven't even looked at it in many days.   I read a "Truth Out" op-ed by Chris Hedges (see http://www.truth-out.org/ if you are interested in the entire article) and was struck by how similar his reflection on the corrupt nature of electoral politics in this time is to what I read this morning relative to my beloved church.   He says, "Turn off your televisions.  Ignore the Newt-Mitt-Rick-Barack Reality Show.  It is as relevant to your life as the gossip on "Jersey Shore." 

Those who "lead" our polity use the powers of distraction from the real issues in the same ways that the Pope and the Bishops have used distraction from the real issues within our church.    Both sets of actions by those who are supposed to "lead" and have obedience "downward" have covered up deep and outrageous lies that have resulted in so much damage to the dignity and quality of people's lives.   So much damage to the integrity of our country and to my church.

And yet, as James Carroll says relative to the sex abuse scandal of our church, it is not only those who lead that have culpability.   It is also all of us who have chosen to be distracted rather than to demand truthfulness and obedience downward from our leaders.  Again, my dear Rabbi Abraham Heschel comes to mind.   When speaking out against the Vietnam War he was clear that in a Democracy few are to blame and all are responsible.

Although our present days seem filled with conflict and difficulty, when I stop being distracted by all the easy distractions, I am encouraged that it is almost impossible to cover up any lie today.   That truth is breaking through all of the institutional and personal lies.   And that ordinary people, who are filled with the dignity of their very creation, are finding the courage to tell the truth and to refuse distractions.   To assert our common human dignity and our inescapable relationship to the eco-systems in which we live.

It is painful and also encouraging.   I believe from personal experience that truth, no matter how painful, actually does set us free and heal us.

I think that is all for today.

With love to all!

Donna