As a non-believer born Jewish and converted to Quakerism, I never thought I would be mourning the early message of the Christian faith – to do good and care for the needy – and be eager to support its resurrection in some form.
I don’t write this as a Christian or as a believer, but as someone who is coming to see that People Of Heart have to take on the long struggle for a country that is gentle, empathetic, and that loves the poor, as we have been told for thousands of years that Jesus wanted his followers to do.
I realize I will not live to see the end of this work. It won’t be resolved in November, as many people think. Our freedom is at stake, we are told, and our democracy is at risk. Fear, like anger, proves nothing and changes nothing. I need more than that.
No single political campaign will do the work. No glorious speech will awaken the cold and the sleep. No single law will undo so many years of cruelty and hatred.
It will, says one Christian scholar, take a million lives heaped on top of one another to burst the bonds of arrogance and superiority that made God into a male and has abandoned the very message of Christ in the search for money and power. Money and power do correct; look at the news. And the Money Changers are back in the Temples.
Since millions of so-called Christians seem to have abandoned the meaning of Christ, it falls to keepers of the faith and ascetics with a heart to pick up the fading message and see that spirituality is based on a commitment to personal authenticity. This makes me twitch. Does this apply to people like me? I seek to be a person of Heart and Soul; this is how I would love to end my life.
I’m not looking for a fight or argument, just for a fulfilling and kind life.
But there are, I believe, some divine cravings in life – the liberation of the poor, the equality of women, the humanity of the entire human race – that is worth striving for, living for, dying for, finished or unfinished, for as long as it takes to achieve them. These are goals I can embrace and relate to. That’s a new movement I want to support.
Millions of Americans are awakening to the dismantling of the culture of love, truth, and charity. It was a great idea then; it’s a great idea now. I believe this is what people genuinely want. The Army of Good kicked off the idea for me. We have done so much good. I know it can be done; I know how many good people are out there, sick of argument and grievance, on fire to help those who need it. I see it almost every day.
“There is always the need to be true to oneself,” writes Henri Nouwen. “When a person of prayer, a person of vision, begins to work on behalf of the poor, it is impossible to do otherwise. When a person of heart and soul begins to contest the forces of patriarchy, it is impossible to do otherwise; when a person of hope and faith starts down the long path of prophetic action, good and truth prevail.”
We are a culture of little patience and unrealistic expectations. One election will not save or save us; we can only do that ourselves. I won’t spend the year fearing one president or another or being labeled by others. The Christian, Jewish, and Muslim ideas were to help the vulnerable and the needy and love them. That idea of faith is shambles at the moment.
Since loving the poor was the core idea behind Christ and the early Christian Church, I wonder how it might be possible to bring that love and compassion back. I’m one of those who believes we are at the birth of a spiritual renewal in our country. I find it a stirring idea as the American Revolution is another stirring miracle many people have forgotten.
“It is not your obligation to complete your work,” says the Talmud, “but you are not at liberty to quit it.”
This is not just a struggle for Christians unfolding but for people of heart who have long been inspired to help the needy and the vulnerable as well as themselves.
People like me always look for the bold and dramatic step that brings us to a kindler and gentler world. Just one more election, just one genuinely charismatic leader, just one leap forward for the economy. I’m coming to understand it’s much deeper than that and is the beginning of a test of humanity that will go on a long time past me.
In the meantime, I think the idea of doing good – small acts of great kindness – is the next great thing for me and the world.
