Stormy Weather

The irony of Billy Graham winding up his visit to New York City just as the president Bush is set to address the nation in an attempt to garner support for war is pulchritudinous.

The Reverend Billy Graham is the most apolitical evangelical minister I can think of. One can only presume that he is in sync with the message of rendering onto Caesar what is Caesar's. His work of bringing people to Jesus Christ is not filled with direction or missions; he leaves each follower to follow their own heart with the guidance of Jesus as they come to know him. He tells people up front what to expect from their commitment. He stands in higher esteem than all of the other notable evangelicals, some of whom seem to have been corrupted by money, fame or power by contrast.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matt.5:1-12).

Thus begins The Sermon of the Mount, which distilled The Ten Commandments into two. Instead of learning what not to do the people were given the knowledge of what to do and the power of love was forever unleashed to the multitude.

This is true because within each of us is some element of good. We come to it from a wealth of experiences but we arrive at the same place--serving goodness. Love is a drawing of the soul toward something, much as hatred is a drawing away. To these I would add another force--confusion--a reticence to either love or hate but to maintain a controlled, if not somewhat confused, state. Within each of us these three forces co-exist to some degree; we are all repulsed, enticed by, or attempting to control something at sometime. Only one of them, however, is good, the one that draws us to learn, to grow, to nurture to expand our horizons, to ease suffering.

Perhaps it is easier to think about this notion on a societal level rather than searching our own souls for the truth. Society is, after all, our reflection. There are trends in our society that indicate direction; we often refer to these trends as modernization. There are events, both notable and notorious which indicate our capacity to do both good and evil. There are the systems by which we try to control our direction--law, economics, education, religion and so forth.

The trends indicate that we have made significant progress in our ability to alleviate suffering; scientific and technological breakthroughs are occurring almost daily. They also indicate that there is more suffering than ever before by virtue of a rising population, steadily declining resources and a lack of will by people who have become desensitized by the magnitude of the problem.

The current events on a sociological scale are more promising but still reveal an eagerness to destroy in the name of power. The horror of war, of starvation, of senseless slaughter remains a secret between the witnesses and the dead--unspeakable but real all the same. At the same time there is an unprecedented consolidation of power and wealth.


Each of our systems is stressed by virtue of an innate conflict on how to proceed with the mounting difficulty of feeding, educating, ministering and governing so many people. The innate conflict generally concerns central versus local and personal control of the immediate tasks before us. It seems clear to me that in this day of information sharing local control should be supported, not controlled by, a central organization that can share information, shift resources make note of problems and suggest alternative courses of action. By settling the conflict between the virtues of a central vs. a local authority and consciously allowing each to thrive, we can devote our energies to more urgent needs and to greater effect. Such an arrangement, however, requires a defining of roles--a contract or agreement of constitutional proportion. The likelihood of this occurring in the short term is remote. This leaves us with only one alternative--to act as if there were an agreement by demanding support rather than control at the centralized levels of authority. There is an exception that must be adhered to by all: The good of the many outweighs the good of the few. This proviso is open to abuse and should always be open to public debate, especially in times of war. (Karl Rove}

Looked at in these terms our inability to improve the quality of life on this planet is largely systemic (the deck is stacked). We are driven by the status quo rather than ideals. We seem to be enticed by little and repulsed by much, like individuals adrift in a stormy sea. There is an alternative: as individuals we must ask ourselves where are we drawn by love and how can we go there? "All men will be sailors then until the sea shall free them." Leonard Cohen

Meanwhile the president Bush will use the soldiers at Fort Bragg as a backdrop {no irony there) for his message which will be the most oblivious and obvious obfuscation of his miserable little career.