Remember Those Lighthouses....

So much news, so little that’s newsworthy. For example, in the realm of ridiculous social networking, the FBI announced that they are going on Youtube, Facebook,and my personal favorite, Twitter, What could they possibly have to say, I thought. So I went to Facebook and l searched for the FBI. Sure enough, there they are. I mean it’s not like looking for Joan Evans or Peggy Smith, (there are hundreds of those). There are a few FBI’s but the one we’re talking about is obvious. There’s a big fat FBI symbol and it’s incredibly friendly. Then I looked to see who their friends are. Jane Dough is there and a few other people who want info, want to make statements and are apparently curious. It’s such a big disappointment I didn’t even bother to Tweet them. (Just flash your badge here.)

Then, just when you think you will not have to listen to anymore political crap about who did what to whom or when did they know it and how did they get the information, you have to face the fact that there are some things that are never going to go away. Who do you think I’m talking about? Almost any female public figure I guess. Elizabeth Edwards is still yapping about what John did to her and how she’s going to live with it. Nancy Pelosi never knew that the CIA gave her information because someone on her staff forgot to tell her… OK, it doesn’t pass the laugh test. Or maybe her staff is incompetent and she needs to rethink who gets paid with hard earned taxpayer money. Or her “pants are on fire”. Maybe it’s Jennifer Aniston. Just when we all thought that Brad and the big A were living happily ever after in Paris or Africa or somewhere exotic we find that Brad may be back in Jen’s life. Oh why doesn’t her let her live her life in peace… Didn’t Gandhi say that, or was it “It is possible to live in peace.” He didn’t know Brad, or Jen or Ang or Rush Limbaugh, for that matter.

And why do I mention Rush. Probably because I am offended by his emerging (without any election) as the voice of the Republican Party. It is amazing that more Republicans have not denounced his politics and rhetoric as abhorrent. I could be wrong, (which hardly ever happens), but his voice is not the one that reasonable Republicans want to hear. Additionally, he is not the person to lead the Republican party back to victory. Were they listening to what the American people wanted? A change to a government and elected officials who would be able to work together to build a kinder more prosperous nation. With the exception of Limbaugh, (who makes gigantic sums of money by bashing anyone who disagrees with him), there is hardly a person in this country who does not want the President to succeed. It’s simply mean, short sighted and incredibly dumb.

Speaking of the President, he remains clear headed, reasonable, funny and popular. The right wing sent protesters to Notre Dame to disrupt the graduation ceremonies, but everyone knew that those people were not students or faculty. They were, what my new friends in the FBI call “outside agitators.” (Just one Facebook encounter and I’m already conversant in FBI speak.) People want things to be better so they are investing their confidence in the fact that it appears he is doing something to make their lives better. And thank the Lord, perception is reality.

And speaking of the Lord and the President, he, or both of them were at Notre Dame today. I thought I might share a little of that with you because it was another opportunity for the President to confront controversy and emerge as quite a classy fellow. What follows are some of my favorite parts… you can pick your own.

“We must decide how to save God’s creation from a changing climate that threatens to destroy it. We must seek peace at a time when there are those who will stop at nothing to do us harm, and when weapons in the hands of a few can destroy the many. And we must find a way to reconcile our ever-shrinking world with its ever-growing diversity – diversity of thought, of culture, and of belief.

In short, we must find a way to live together as one human family.
Unfortunately, finding that common ground – recognizing that our fates are tied up, as Dr. King said, in a “single garment of destiny” – is not easy. Part of the problem, of course, lies in the imperfections of man – our selfishness, our pride, our stubbornness, our acquisitiveness, our insecurities, our egos; all the cruelties large and small that those of us in the Christian tradition understand to be rooted in original sin. We too often seek advantage over others. We cling to outworn prejudice and fear those who are unfamiliar. Too many of us view life only through the lens of immediate self-interest and crass materialism; in which the world is necessarily a zero-sum game. The strong too often dominate the weak, and too many of those with wealth and with power find all manner of justification for their own privilege in the face of poverty and injustice. And so, for all our technology and scientific advances, we see around the globe violence and want and strife that would seem sadly familiar to those in ancient times.

In this world of competing claims about what is right and what is true, have confidence in the values with which you’ve been raised and educated. Be unafraid to speak your mind when those values are at stake. Hold firm to your faith and allow it to guide you on your journey. Stand as a lighthouse.

But remember too that the ultimate irony of faith is that it necessarily admits doubt. It is the belief in things not seen. It is beyond our capacity as human beings to know with certainty what God has planned for us or what He asks of us, and those of us who believe must trust that His wisdom is greater than our own.

We’re just sayin’.... Iris