“More than God is a strategic intervener, he is a teacher. More than he does our will, he teaches us how to do his. Life is God’s call to responsibility”.
– Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, To Heal a Fractured World
I have been re-reading Rabbi Sacks’ book, quoted above, as we approach Election Day. It has been hard to forget about the election because our building has been the site of early voting. The parking lots and side streets have been full and often, the long line has snaked through multiple hallways, rooms and out into Centennial Park. We are on a first-name basis with the poll captain and security team members monitoring the election. Our church staff has worked overtime navigating the communal needs while continuing to keep the church operations humming. There are moments when I feel like bursting into tears simply to witness the beauty of folks gathering to vote from all across the city: the blind, the folks on walkers, the young voting in their first election, the people of all races and religions and languages and socioeconomic groups. They have been patient, courteous and appreciative of our warm and welcoming building. Some waited well over an hour to vote but without complaint.
Rabbi Sacks describes our call to responsibility. Healing a fractured world involves all of us doing our part. Voting is one way we do our part. And after the election, we will have more work to do in healing a fractured world. We could easily contribute to the fracturing of the world. But God calls us to healing. God calls us to mend relationships and build bridges to others, even if they don’t want to be reached. God calls us to tear down the dividing walls of hostility and to let go of feelings of superiority over others.
Rabbi Sacks says something about the Jewish people that really applies to Christians and perhaps all of us in the human race:
“Some, said Shakespeare, are born great; others achieve greatness, while others have greatness thrust upon them. The last seems to me the story of Jewry: an unexceptional people, often stubborn, rebellious, fractious, capricious, not what anyone would instinctively call a community of saints yet made great by being asked to do great things.“
I still have hope that God’s greatness can be thrust upon the human race!
Grace and Peace,
Carla
