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Dear saints,
Last Saturday evening, many of us witnessed an act of violence in the middle of a political rally. Since then, a great many things have been said and written about who, and how, and why on behalf of the shooter, his victims, people charged to serve and protect and all that the sickening event says about our life as a nation. The insertion of violence within acts of political expression is nothing new both here in the United States and in many places around the world. It is for historians and social scientists to wonder why it is that the attempted or successful assassination of political leaders is so prevalent in this country when compared to other industrialized nations. And it is for political analysts and politicians themselves to reflect on what last Saturday's events say to us about the kind of politics we have in America today and the kind we may want to have in the future.
As a theologian—as someone who seeks to find a word about God present in the life of the world—I feel that while others interrogate what went wrong last weekend, there is also an imperative for us to ask about the future. Specifically, what sort of social contract might we want to have with one another in light of last weekend that is better than the attempt to fatally silence another human being? That is a political or at least a political philosophy question, but it is clearly also a deeply biblical question. To think in those terms, we might ask how our faith covenants us to one another and to God?
In the biblical tradition, covenants often appear on the horizon when things have gone wrong. The covenant God makes with Noah follows the flood. The covenant God makes with the Hebrews via Moses on Mount Sinai follows 400 years of slavery. Even at a very personal level, the terrible story of Abraham's seeming willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac is the precursor to the covenant of progeny, the divine promise to make Abraham’s descendants as "numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore." Whatever the purpose was of these stories within the life of antiquity for the ancient people of Israel, we might at least note that it has been the case in the history of the faith we share that tribulations sharpen the mind. The struggle, the setback, loss and suffering can all be openings to a new dispensation, to a new chapter for how a people might elect to live together.
These next few months, we will quite literally be presented with the case for why we should elect one way or another of life together. How might our faith inform how we see those cases for the future of this country, and indeed our life within the global community? What is our theological imagination for that future? Current political discourse is not distinguished by intellectual rigor, let alone theological nuance. Surely we can offer something to enrich that conversation? We can ask what the common good should mean to Americans in 2024 and beyond. We can ask what our economic priorities should look like if we truly do want a society that is invested in the dignity of all human beings? We can ask how God’s kingdom of justice and peace sets the standard for whatever we might aspire to be and do in this particular corner of that kingdom.
I pray that the remainder of this election cycle can be completed without any person standing for public office—high or otherwise—needing to fear for their safety. And I also hope that we might see an opening for us to forge a more generous and engaging social contract in this time and place. Let us remember all those who fall victim to the violence of others, and let us resolve to be a people who will point toward the abundant life God calls each person to.
Peace,
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