“Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.”
Matthew 15: 14
As I was taking my daily walk on the Spring Lake boardwalk several days ago, I couldn’t stop thinking about this memorable scripture reading from Matthew’s Gospel that I had recently heard at Mass about the blind leading the blind into a ditch. I have a strong sense that many people today feel blinded by an environment that is increasingly characterized by polarization, deep-seated anxiety, a fear of the future, and uncertainty as to how best to move forward. Much of that blindness can surely be traced to the toxic political discourse in Washington where our leaders have perfected the art of open warfare and a failure to come together and work for the common good. So, it does feel at times like we are being led into that proverbial ditch that Matthew speaks of.
The recent efforts by Senate Republicans to repeal and replace Obamacare with no real plausible plan of their own is just one of many examples where the big issues of the day are not being addressed in the collaborative, solutions-oriented manner such a complex issue deserves. Other big issues like global climate change, the growing divide between rich and poor, the debate over tax reform and who should be the major beneficiary, the need for substantial investments in our basic infrastructure, and even reforms needed in our immigration policy leave plenty of room for legitimate compromise yet solutions for the common good remain as elusive as ever. On foreign policy matters, the populace continues to be blinded by more than 15 years of a failed strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan where we have witnessed significant loss in human life and treasure. Recent tensions in North Korea only add to our overall feeling of insecurity about the nature of war itself, reminding us of the powerful lyrics from the great 1960s anti-war song by Peter, Paul, and Mary “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” and the unanswered question of when will we ever learn?
Charlottesville — A Reminder That We Must Have Zero Tolerance for Hate and Bigotry of Any Kind
The violent demonstrations in Charlottesville a few weeks ago were another painful reminder that the framers dream “to create a more perfect Union” is still a work in progress. Seeing the disturbing videos and photos of the raw violence on display made us think we were traveling back through the time tunnel to an earlier, painful period in our history, especially after hearing the hate-filled chants and slogans of the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacists filling the airwaves. Matthew’s reading encouraged me to reflect more deeply on how we could arrive at such a difficult moment in our history, especially when you consider what the framers wrote in our Declaration of Independence in 1776:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
That basic, underlying principle of equality was reiterated by President Abraham Lincoln during the height of the Civil War in his famous Gettysburg Address of November 1863:
“Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.“
Such foundational principles of our democracy aligns perfectly with what God asks of us in the practice of our Christian faith and perhaps best captured by the timeless words of the great prophet Isaiah who said, “My house shall be a house of prayer for all the nations.” There can never, ever be a rational justification or any legitimate defense of a group like the Ku Klux Klan whose underlying mission from its very inception is “to maintain forever white supremacy.” There are no groups, no ethnicities, no religions, no sexual orientations of any kind that can command superiority over any other group as it violates the basic spirit and founding principle of our country and is anathema to God’s message of how we must love thy neighbor as thyself. There needs to be zero tolerance for the lie that some people and some groups in our society are somehow less equal than others. Hatred and bigotry must be called out at every turn and so it’s not surprising why so many of our citizens were deeply disappointed by President Trump’s initial response to the violence and for failing to denounce the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups in more forceful language.
Hurricane Harvey Offers Us Hope for The Better Angels of Our Nature
And then, this past week, we witnessed the massive damage and loss of precious life inflicted by Hurricane Harvey to so many of our citizens in Houston, Texas. Like all natural disasters, Harvey did not discriminate on the basis of our political beliefs, our socioeconomic status, our ethnicity, or our sexual orientation. We saw it all in real time —the generosity and incredible acts of courage, the sense of community and outpouring of support of people who really care about each other, the hundreds of stories of fellow citizens pitching in and doing everything they could to help and to save countless lives or what Lincoln referred to as “the better angels of our nature”. We’ve had many proud moments in our history where people rallied and came together for the greater good — after the surprise attack at Pearl Harbor, the long fight to end the Cold War and bring a peaceful end to Communism in Eastern Europe, and after the attacks of 9/11. Could Harvey be that moment for all of us where the light begins to shine brightly again and blocks out some of the darkness of our recent history? Can our leaders finally come together and practice the great Latin motto y pluribus unum “out of many, we are one” and give the people of Texas what they truly deserve — the resources they need to rebuild their lives and their local communities?
Maybe the Age of Aquarius Is Still Within Reach
As I continued my daily walk the other day and reflected on these developments, I soon found myself with a big smile on my face as I listened to one of my favorite tunes of all time, The Age of Aquarius by the Fifth Dimension. Suddenly, it was 1969 all over again and I was reliving the happy thoughts of a 14-year old boy who just loved the lyrics of that song and its invitation to imagine a future where everything is possible in the years ahead:
“When the moon is in the Seventh House
And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars
This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius
Age of Aquarius
Aquarius, Aquarius
Harmony and understanding
Sympathy and trust abounding
No more falsehoods or derisions
Golden living dreams of visions
Mystic crystal revelation
And the mind’s true liberation
Aquarius, Aquarius
Let the sunshine, let the sunshine in, the sunshine in
Let the sunshine, let the sunshine in, the sunshine in.”
Yes, I still believe that the light in our world is stronger than any darkness that may blind us and make us feel as if we are headed for the ditch that Matthew warns us of when we allow the blind to lead the blind. If you look long and hard enough, you can find all the light we cannot see. You can see it everywhere around you — in our people, in our communities, and in our everyday lives. So, in the words of the Fifth Dimension, let the sunshine in! Lord knows we need to find it whenever we can.
Blessings, Jack
