Rambling Rant Complete With Apology
RAMBLING RANT COMPLETE WITH APOLOGY
Seems like a time of apocalypse now doesn’t it. In the Middle East popular rioting against abusive government, already toppling a couple of governments, threatening and frightening the others including Saudi Arabia; currently in Libya fierce opposition to a crazed dictator, reports of unconscionable shedding of blood. In the southern hemisphere, earthquake with death, injury, destruction on a monumental scale in Christchurch, New Zealand. To many folks on the scene it may seem like the end of the world is at hand. New Zealand is a country where EfM is a big thing in the Anglican Church, and those of us on the EfM mentors’ listserve are reading almost daily conversation from and about EfM colleagues in New Zealand concerning the nightmare. Father Steve is in Haiti where a year ago a catastrophic earthquake caused the loss of over 300,000 lives, injured hundreds of thousands more, and left over a million people homeless, many of whom are still homeless, without sufficient food, shelter, clothing and hopeless.
Over fifty years ago my ship USS CORRY visited Port au Prince, Haiti on a liberty call as a break during our intense training at Guantanamo Bay, and I was overwhelmed with the poverty I saw in that nation’s capital. It was an epiphany of what happens under the rule of ruthless dictators whose interest is power and their own wealth and not the welfare of their people. With caring government and universal education Haiti might have been so different today. In the Middle East it could have been so in Iraq also but it wasn’t and now chaos. Saudi Arabia may be in line for uprising, though it seems to be a kingdom where immense oil wealth is being used to improve the situation of ordinary people, but apparently, because there is unrest, not soon enough or fast enough. “Too little too late” comes to mind.
In due course abusive governments will fall violently to the people because only violent popular uprising can bring them down. We understand, because of our own Revolution and Independence. It is still happening, and will and should where government is about itself and not about its people.
Still, it isn’t The Eschaton, though religious extremists may enter the Book of Revelation and come out proving that all this was prophesied. It isn't the End of Time it's humans correcting human evil on one hand, and the experience of Acts of God on the other.
“The poor you will have with you always,” Jesus said, and it is still manifestly so in our day and age of great wealth for some and obscene poverty for more; and notwithstanding scientific marvels capable of overcoming almost any social ill. There is poverty anyway and not only overseas but in the midst of us. Ultimately the obscenity of extreme difference is what brought down czarist Russia: God help them for the horror that replaced their arrogant imperial family with even worse. One never knows when evil is overthrown what will take its place. That very unknown is fearsome in the Middle East right now even as we begin another Friday.
What can an Ordinary Christian do? Anyone who reads this will, with Baptismal Covenant in mind, know better than I what to do. Speaking for self, in Apalachicola we established and managed programs to help the impoverished in our community whether they were chronically poverty-stricken or just in extremis for the day because of hand-to-mouth lifestyle. Not just food but shelter when asked, a tank of LP gas when asked, a paid electric bill when asked. Clothing when asked: our Penny’s Worth consignment shop made a nice profit for the church but never charged people who were down and out.
There’s an odd and interesting culture. Every morning state authorities checked Apalachicola Bay to determine whether it was bacteriologically safe for harvesting, and the announcement came over Oyster Radio whether the Bay was open or closed that day. When “the Bay was open” for oystering there was sufficiency for the most part. When “the Bay was closed” my Food Pantry was besieged by noon because people needed food for supper that night. No one was ever turned away. The ministers in the community had rules, including a limit of one visit in a month to anyone’s Food Pantry or for a food coupon to the Red Rabbit Supermarket, but to my mind, rules are hiding places for those who lack confidence in their own judgment. In fourteen years, not one single person was ever turned away from the Trinity Church Food Pantry even if they were frequent visitors, even if I had seen them earlier in the week.
What can an Ordinary Christian do? Some years ago when Kristen was part of the Holy Nativity Episcopal Church youth group, instead of making their annual summer trip to North Carolina Appalachia to rebuild porches, put floors in shanties, and put new roofs on homes, the youth group stayed in Panama City and did major work, including new floors and new roofs on homes way out Hamilton Avenue, to help very poor, helpless, hopeless people. Our kids were very proud of their work. And I was very proud of Kristen.
The poor are indeed always with us. Unfortunately and inconveniently for us, the Sermon on the Mount, the Letter of James, and most personally our Baptismal Covenant make it impossible for us to ignore them wherever they may be.
Finally, I apologize for the Rambling Rant. It just came over me and in the predawn darkness I didn’t take time to clean it up.
Peace anyway.
Fr. Tom+