Resiliency

Friends,

I am done for now with analytical political punditry, charts of gender, race, age, finger pointing, projections of a Trump administration. I just need to sit quietly, humbly, trying adapt to, and likely resist, the impact of the election on me personally, my family and friends, and the global raft of vulnerable people whose lives are now even more subject to an uncertain and threatening future. 

For solace I have turned to reflections on the resiliency in the ancient biblical narrative. I understand that the following remarks assume a general biblical literacy that many may not share, but the dramatic historical narrative of a particular people in a particular time and a particular place also offers a universal story of humanity’s rise and fall, and offers a testament, a sacred record, similar to what the whole world is now faces during this era of dangerous instability and turmoil.
 
The ever-fascinating account of biblical history begins with the liberation of a particular tribe who established a new identity and a new ethic that introduced a concept of a God that offered a new moral contract, a covenant. The covenant promised that if the people will retain a profound reverence for all that is holy and just within the sacred laws ascribed to them, they will not only have survived the travail of slavery but will thrive in a new land. Their history then follows both an honoring of that covenant and the failure to do so, with both great prominence and plenty followed by periods of subjugation and displacement. Yet their tribe and their faith repeatedly recovers and continues to endure as a powerful testimony of their resiliency.

Later a surprising Jewish reformist movement arises led by a prophetic young leader who teaches an ethic of radical inclusive love, inclusive even of enemies. The movement initially thrives. Especially the poor, the outcast, even some oppressors, recognize and honor the liberating power that the message of love and nonviolence offers the people. But, alas, the power of the radical love ethic disturbs and challenges the religious and political status quo and is squelched with the tragic and cruel death of its leader. The movement is shattered; the people despair. The despair is overcome, however, with the experience of personal and communal resurrection that emphasizes a sacrificial commitment to a ministry of healing and service, especially to the poor and marginalized. Allegiance to this new love ethic continues to generate remarkable humane, social, ethical transformation, but it has also been associated with eras of historic wars and horrific failure in contradiction to the bedrock standard of compassion. 

My point in my narrative is to remind myself and others that despite times of despair humanity is ultimately compelled to renew a commitment to address the brokenness of our political and societal systems and to seek a righteous, cooperative, and fulfilling way of life we  know is possible. Despite difficult times, the aspiration for peace, justice, and freedom ultimately does prevail as it has throughout the tumultuous biblical narrative. Out of the depth of despair arises again the ancient vision of hope, a renewal of the Spirit that offers the opportunity to again abide by a covenant with the promise that when the people honor the moral directive to “act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God” (Micah6:8) they again will be given a new beginning, a new song, that will establish the foundation for the fulfillment of their communal needs and an attunement of their spiritual lives.

I believe the whole world, not just the U.S, is subject to a great test about whether we can and will honor a universal covenantal promise for a sustainable, communal  planetary life, and to pivot from the exploitation of the earth and each other toward an ethic of peace, justice and love. In the grand sweep of history, as well as in the cycle of nature, however, we regretfully learn that old life must often be painfully challenged, disrupted, perhaps destroyed, before new life can again flourish. Such may be the time in which we are now living.

The message and perspective of the consequences of radical change is never easily received. A contemporary reckoning with this reality, however, is upon us, and we will all be challenged together to overcome the common planetary plight faced by conservatives and liberals alike in all nations and all walks of life. So, whether by the hand of God’s mercy, and/or the grind of social and political recalculation and turmoil, we must resiliently somehow learn to live in peace and justice, to re-frame, and to sustain the fullness of life on our beautiful planet.

Peace,
Tom Ewell