Who's Beyond the Pale?

PROPERS:         PROPER 19, YEAR C  

TEXT:                 LUKE 15:1-10

PREACHED AT HOLY TRINITY, PENSACOLA, ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2019.

ONE SENTENCE:        The gospel – and the love of God – is for everyone.

                                    

            The Parable of the Lost Sheep and the Parable of the Lost Coin are familiar stories.  So is the resentment of those religious authorities who were scandalized by Jesus’ dining with “tax collectors and sinners.”

            It is easy for us to feel such righteous indignation.  And it feels sogood.  The current political environment provides ready opportunities for such feelings – from every direction.

            Let me tell you about someone who challenged such simple solutions.

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            Will D. Campbell grew up in Amite County, Mississippi. His early days there proved to be a prolific time for that rural, poor, sparsely-populated county. Comedian Jerry Clower and writer Rose Budd Stevens were born just down the road.

            Will was reared in the Southern Baptist Church – but he was anything but typical.  He accepted a call to the ministry and, after a two-year stint in a small congregation, he became Baptist Chaplain at Ole Miss.

            But it didn’t last long.  Will was an outspoken proponent of the young civil rights movement.  The tension created by his activities led to other pastures.  He became a leader of the movement and became a close associate of many of the key leaders – including Martin Luther King, Jr.

            In fact, he was present at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis the night Dr. King was assassinated.  Not fearing for his own life – which was frequently threatened – he went on with his advocacy for equal rights.

            But his iconoclastic theology – deeply imprinted in his life – would take a veryinteresting turn.

            Will described his theology in these words – which I have cleaned-up a bit: “We are all scoundrels, but God loves us any way.”

            He became a chaplain to the Ku Klux Klan.  It gave his supporters whiplash. How could he do such a thing?  What is he thinking?

            I would assume that Will assumed that people first had to hear about God, and he did that by his ministry of presencein the midst of the conflict. Will was adamant about the universal love of God: "Anyone who is not as concerned with the immortal soul of the dispossessor as he is with the suffering of the dispossessed is being something less than Christian."

            Let that sink in.

            In the 1990s, Nora and I had the father of a good friend commit some terrible acts.  We theorize that he experienced a dramatic personality change, resulting from the accidental death of a teenage daughter some years earlier.  He was accused of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Baptist college and using those funds to finance a secret and scandalous life.  He was convicted and sentenced to federal prison.

            Will Campbell had known this man in his years at Ole Miss. They were fellow Baptists. He was scandalized by the denomination’s and community’s reactions to the man’s actions. He penned a letter to The Clarion Ledger, the Jackson newspaper, and asked why there was greater concern about what he called filthy lucrethan there was about the life and soul of this man who had gone astray.

            That was vintage Will Campbell, who, incidentally, was the inspiration behind cartoonist Doug Marlette’s Will B. Dunn in the cartoon strip Kudzu.

            Will wrote what I consider to be the best book I have ever read – Brother to a Dragonfly.  It is a profoundly thoughtful book, and one which will have the reader laughing. uproariously one moment, and crying the next.

            He also wrote a book about his good friend and my ordaining bishop – And Also with You: Duncan Gray and the American Dilemma.

            Will was a deeply spiritual man with a theology that was both very simple and very complex:  We are all scoundrels, but God loves us anyway.

            Everyone.  Not some.  Everyone.

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            It is easy to feel pious, self-satisfied, and superior.  It is easy to look down on others. Likewise, it is easy to feel unworthy, unloved, and not-up-to-standards.

            Sadly, what is known as the human condition makes it even easier.

            On the one hand, it is tempting to take the view of the Pharisees:  To be prideful; To cast off or to ignore those who seem to be “less than”, or to criticize those who obstruct the way to the right thing.

            On the other hand, we find it easy to see ourselves as excluded, beyond the reach of God’s love, and seeing ourselves as outside the covenant community.  We know our innermost hearts and we know well the unbaptized corners of our souls.

            The Pharisees knew one experience; the tax collectors, prostitutes and notorious sinners knew the other.  Both sides were wrong. Each side was yearning for God, but they were at loggerheads.

            It is the scandal of the gospel.  The church has wrestled with that divine tension for most of its history.  Who does not qualify for inclusion?  Who is beyond the pale of redemption?

            Will Campbell lived in that tension.  He embodied the breadth of the gospel.  We cannot be good enough to earn, and we cannot be bad enough to escape the divine embrace. Everyone is welcomed at God’s table. Anyone who comes is welcome.

            It is hard for us to wrap our minds around this idea. God loves the hater as much as he loves the hated.  God loves the despiser as much has he loves the despised. He is open to both. His arms are extended broadly.

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            I’ve got to admit:  I have felt very self-righteous in the current political environment.  I make assumptions about other’s journeys. But that is wrong and not-grounded in a healthy theology.

            And I must also admit my discomfort with the idea of a God who does not base acceptance on the life the person has lived.  There are many people that I would, personally, consider not worthyof God’s love. I’m sure you have your own list.  

            I am uncomfortable with the concept that God would love Alton Wayne Roberts, who once threatened me, in the same way as he loved one of the men Alton Wayne Roberts murdered, civil rights worker Mickey Schwerner.

            But that is the scandal of God’s grace. Jesus’ example is as clear as it is difficult: He sits with the oppressor and oppressed. He challenges the norms of the culture that says one is more worthy than the other. As Will Campbell said, "Mr. Jesus died for the bigots as well". Will, seeking to live the generosity of the gospel, sat down with both Martin Luther King and later with James Earl Ray.

            All who seek God… everyone who yearns for him… will find a welcome embrace – just like the Prodigal Son.

            We are all lost sheep, on some level.  We are all lost coins, in some way.  The Good News is for us.  And for us to share with all people.

Standing on One Foot

PROPERS:         PROPER 18, YEAR C  

TEXT:                 JEREMIAH 18:1-11

PREACHED AT HOLY TRINITY, PENSACOLA, ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2019

ONE SENTENCE:        God seeks to transform our lives, even in the midst of                                           loss, and our task is to be open to such transformation.     

                                    

            In the years just before Jesus’ ministry, there was a prominent and well-respected teacher among the Jewish people.

            Rabbi Hillel had been born many years earlier in Babylonia – modern-day Iraq – and had come to Jerusalem to study the Law.  He became a most astute teacher.  That respect led to his being named president of the Sanhedrin – an important governing body in the Jewish faith.

            Hillel was descended from the Tribe of Benjamin on his father’s side, and from King David on his mother’s side. His teachings are studied to this day.

            He was known for his counterpoint to a more conservative rabbi – Shammai. Shammai’s teachings and interpretations of the Law would typically be more strict and legalistic.  Hillel’s would be more generous and compassionate. In most of their disputes, Hillel’s opinions would prevail.

            A much-repeated story illustrates this tension.

            A young man – not of the Jewish faith – wanted to become Jewish – a process which involved in-depth study of the Law and teachings.  There was a unique twist to his quest: He wanted to have the Law summarized by the rabbi while he, the student, stood on one foot.

            He first went to Shammai with this request.  Shammai threw him out of the house.

            So, he went Hillel, and posed the same question.  Hillel had an answer for this young man.  The essence of the Law is this, Hillel told him: "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation of this—go and study it!"

            Hillel practiced what he taught – and it influenced his family.  His grandson, Gamaliel, was the Pharisee who argued for gentle treatment of the Christian disciples in Acts 5.

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            I sometimes wonder about summarizing the Christian faith – in simple, understandable terms.  I am reminded that Bishop Henry Parsley of Alabama would ask prospective clergy, “What is your sermon?”  The theory behind that question was that we allhave one sermon – and all of our sermons branch off for that essential message.

            The lesson from Jeremiah today illustrates my essentialsermon.  It is Jeremiah’s story of the Potter’s House.  Jeremiah is invited by God to visit the potter, who is in the process of forming a clay pot on the potter’s wheel.

            But the pot has spoiled.  It is poorly formed.  It is not fit for its purpose. The passage continues:

Then the word of the Lord came to me: Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the Lord. Just like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. At one moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, but if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will change my mind about the disaster that I intended to bring on it. And at another moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, but if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will change my mind about the good that I had intended to do to it. Now, therefore, say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus says the Lord: Look, I am a potter shaping evil against you and devising a plan against you. Turn now, all of you from your evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.

          God is sending a message to the people of Israel: If you do not meet my purposes, I will re-form you into a more fitting vessel for my work in the world.

          That was the message of Jeremiah in this portion of his prophecy.  It was a proclamation to the nation.

          I believe the same message is appropriate for us as individuals.

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          There is much to be discovered in the sacred stories that are found in the scriptures and sacred writings of the church.  But, if you look at the meta narrative… the over-arching theme, you will find a remarkably simple message.

          I cannot do justice to that theme in the few minutes I have here today, but I can share with you what I consider the distilled essenceof the gospel story – while standing on one foot,if you will.

          It is my belief in existential redemption:  That God is seeking to bring about new life even in the most desperate circumstances. Our task is not to obstruct his work.

          It is God’s work of transformation.  It is seen in the simple bread and wine becoming the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. It is exemplified in the cross being transformed from a cruel instrument of death to a sign of hope and victory. It is as vivid as the silence of the tomb being converted to the hope for life.

          On one level, that truth is very personal.  We can allow our lives to go down a pathway of brokenness, disrepute, or alienation.  We are aware of our separation from God, others, and even ourselves.

          But we do nothaveto stay on that path.  God can transform our lives into something new – something which is more sacred, constructive, and healthy.  It can happen.  But we have to be open to it, and we cannot stand in the way.

          And there is another application of this existential redemption – the overcoming of severe loss.

          Yes, we face bitter losses.  There is death – random and sudden.  There are broken relationships.  We lose jobs.  We have financial and personal disasters.  We betray others and others betray us.  We make poor decisions which have short and long term effects.

          But allof these are subject to the redeeming work of God.  No, I am not suggesting some sort of Pollyanna-ish approach to our losses.  I am saying that God can bring new lifeto any situation.  It will likely be a different life, but it can be a life of grace and hope.

          It is all summarized so well in the burial liturgy. As we commend a soul to the resting place, we pray these words: All of us go down to the dust, yet even at the grave we make our song Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

          If God can transform the grave as a sign of hope – as a sign of eternal life – can God not transform the losses and disappointments of this life, as well?

          Our task is to not stand in the way.  To be a re-formed vessel of hope instead of a pot which is spoiled on the potter’s wheel.

The Foundation of True Humility

PROPERS:         PROPER 17, YEAR C  

TEXT:                 LUKE 14:1, 7-14

PREACHED AT HOLY TRINITY, PENSACOLA, ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2019.

ONE SENTENCE:        True humility, grounded in an awareness of being                                               beloved, is a great Christian virtue.     

                                    

            It has been said that sincerity is the hardest virtue to fake.

            That may well be true, but humilityis certainly not far behind.

            My Old Testament professor at Sewanee was a big bear of a man.  He had fierce red, blood-shot eyes, and his voice occasionally thundered like an Old Testament prophet.  We knew the times when we would should just put our pens down and cease our note-taking.  He had gone from teaching to preaching. And what he said was a gift.

            He focused an entire semester on the Book of Genesis.  It was a tour de forceof that book and an experience of teaching for which I continue to be grateful.

            But, one day he ceased his lecture on Genesis and took the class through a tour of what he called the purple passagesof the Hebrew Scriptures.  Those were the most significant and beautiful passages in the Old Testament.

            One of those purple passageswas from one of the Minor Prophets – Micah; the sixth chapter, verse 8:

He has told you, O Mortal, what is good;

And what does the Lord require of you

But to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God?

            Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God.  A pretty good recipe for a well-lived and faithful life.

            The Old Testament professor, William Augustine Griffin, wanted us to internalize that passage.

            Sadly, it is a passage that is lost among many professing Christian leaders.

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            Jesus gets that point across in the lesson today.

            He has been invited to a dinner at the home of a prominent Pharisee.  The Pharisees were, of course, one of the prominent religious groups in Judaism of that time.  Pharisees were leaders in the covenant community.

            Jesus was apparently very observant.  He watched as the various guests took their seats at the dinner – some taking seats of honor, close to the host.

            It was at that moment, after watching the seating ritual, that Jesus spoke, telling the people a parable:

"When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, `Give this person your place,' and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, `Friend, move up higher'; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."

          Jesus, like the prophet Micah hundreds of years before him, was emphasizing the importance of humility.

          It is a Christian virtue well-worth developing.

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          But… but…

          There is humility, and there is humility.

          There is genuine humility, and there is inappropriate humility.  And by inappropriate, I do not mean that which masks – though, thinly – a deep and profound arrogance.  That characteristic is artificial humility and beyond the pale. False and intentionally misleading. It is something I am not addressing with this comparison.

          The inappropriate humility, about which I am speaking, is different. It is grounded in a deficit of self-worth.  One is humble because that person does not feel worthy to be anything but humble.  It is a self-negation based on lack of feeling valued or loved as a human being.

          The person which has such an inappropriate humbleness goes through the motions of true humility – in this parable, taking a lower seat at a banquet. That same sense can lead one to not share an opinion, not speak-up, not express doubt or objection, because the person does not feel worthyto do so.

          Such a sense of inappropriate humility may come from any number of sources – being berated as a child; the indirect effects of chemical dependence in a family; or being abused or mistreated as a spouse.  There are countless sources, and a therapist can describe each scenario. The therapist has probably encountered them all.

          At the root of that humility is a tragic deficit of Christian understanding: That as a child of God, you are loved and treasured exactly as you are. The person actshumble because he or she does not knowthat Christian fact – has not heard it, does not know it, and has not internalized it.  Sure,that person thinks, that’s true for other folks, but not for me.

          But it is.

          True Christian humility springs not from a deficit of love, but from an overflowing spirit that recognizes and accepts that God’s love – despite any human experiences – is abundant, copious, and never-ceasing.  A truly humble person is able to step back from the seat of honor because that person knows his or her true worthis not dependent on a seat of honor.  That sense of worth is guaranteed and is a part of his or her foundation.

          You have heard me tell the story of the great theologian Paul Tillich’s sermon, You are accepted.  It is perhaps the most powerful sermon I have ever read.

          Dr. Tillich reaches his sermon’s climax when he talks about the fruitless and frustrating striving of the Christian seeking to prove his or her self-worth.  It is continuing, ongoing, without end. It is a tortuous struggle, and one that can only lead to frustration.

          He goes on to say:

Sometimes at that moment a wave of light breaks into our darkness, and it is as though a voice were saying: "You are accepted. You are accepted, accepted by that which is greater than you, and the name of which you do not know. Do not ask for the name now; perhaps you will find it later. Do not try to do anything now; perhaps later you will do much. Do not seek for anything; do not perform anything; do not intend anything. Simply accept the fact that you are accepted!"       

          And when you are able to do that, you will have found the foundation for true humility.

A Different Understanding

PROPERS:         PROPER 16, YEAR C  

TEXT:                 LUKE 13:10-17

PREACHED AT HOLY TRINITY, PENSACOLA, ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 25, 2019.

ONE SENTENCE:        The Law was offered as a gift from God for the ordering                                      of culture; as culture evolves, our understanding of  the                                        needs of culture change.

                                    

            I have a memory of a quiet, soft-spoken, diminutive man preaching a very courageous sermon.

            The preacher was a United Methodist minister.  His name was John Cook, and he probably influenced my preaching more than any other person.

            His sermon was during the mid-1960s.  It was a particularly volatile time in Mississippi.  The presenting issue in this sermon was the blue lawsin Mississippi.  Those laws, of course, required that all commercial establishments were to be closed on Sundays.

            The Mississippi Legislature was considering repealing those laws – thereby opening Sundays to greater freedom for the public, but also unleashing the commercial energy of business.

            It was a particularly controversial issue in the conservative, evangelical state. There was a swirling debate around the potential legislative action.

            Preachers from the conservative traditions were pressured to oppose the legislative action.  It was assumed the voices from conservative pulpits would carry the day – and the effort to repeal the laws would fail.

            The political speculators had misjudged John Cook.  And they misjudged his understanding of scripture… and Jesus’ own words.

            The text Brother Cook chose for his sermon was much like our passage today. The precise passage was Luke 6:1-5 – but the tension was identical with today’s gospel passage.  The tension was associated with the Fourth Commandment to Remember the Sabbath, and keep it holy.

            In his sermon, the issue was the disciples plucking grain as they walked through a wheat field.  This apparently flew in the face of legalistic interpretations of the Law. Jesus and his disciples were confronted about this illicit behavior by the Pharisees.

            Brother Cook cited Jesus’ words in resolving the conflict: “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”

            His point was this:  The Sabbath was created for the good of humanity; not the other way around.

            Jesus makes that same point, though more indirectly, today.

            A poor woman had been handicapped and in misery for 18 years – her back bent and twisted, leading her to be stooped over.  Jesus released her from that infirmity.

            But a leader of the synagogue – likely with a very strict understanding of what God required – confronted him.  “Why do you heal on the Sabbath?” he asked in so many words. “There are six other days of the week in which healing can take place.”

            Jesus responded tersely, with his own comparison and teaching.

            It is something we should contemplate today.  It is not God who changes over time; it is our understandingof God’s ways which change over time. God continues to reveal himself in our lives.  And, bit-by-bit, we grow in our insight of what is right today.

            Does anyone here think that the exceptions to the prescribed will of God ended with the close of the New Testament?  Does anyone think that the expansiveness of God’s love was limited to bringing Gentiles into the community of faith?

            A couple of examples…

            For many, many years, the sacramental act of confirmation was theadmission into Holy Communion. Confirmation was understood to completethe sacrament of baptism.  Many of you probably remember those days; I know I do.

            But in 1971, the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church issued the Pocono Statement.  That statement by the Bishops redefined admission to communion. They endorsed what is now the teaching of the Church: Holy Baptism is the full initiation by water and the Holy Spirit into Christ’s Body, the Church.

            From that point on – in a new understanding – baptism alone was sufficient for admission to communion.

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            Likewise, the Church struggled mightily with the issue of divorce. Jesus had been unequivocal in his condemnation of divorce – allowing one exception in one passage.

            Over the years, the Episcopal Church had banned divorcees from communion – in some cases, for a limited time.  And remarriage was not an option within the Church.

            But the Church reflected and prayed on the pastoral implications associated with that prohibition.  And recognizing the spiritual toll of such a practice, the Church was prompted to change.

            Because of a different understanding, people whose lives have been marked by the pain of a shattered relationship can now come to the Church for healing and renewal. It is not the practice of the Church to act like nothing happened, but to walk with those who have experienced such a loss and to help them find the path forward.

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            The Church will – until the end of time – seek to understand God’s will. Our discernment is like the peeling of an onion – the deeper we go, the different layers we encounter.

            This, of course, does not mean that anything goes.  But it does mean that the Church is to pray, study, reflect, discuss and seek the mind of the Spirit.  We do this in our own hearts and in the councils of the Church – from the local Vestry all the way up to the great world-wide conferences of the Church. Our Nicene Creed emerged from such a Council.

            In it all, we seek to reflect God’s will, recognizing that we are not perfect. But our failures are in the hands of a loving God.

Facets of Division

PROPERS:         PROPER 15, YEAR C  

TEXT:                 LUKE 12:49-56

PREACHED AT HOLY TRINITY, PENSACOLA. ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 18, 2019.

ONE SENTENCE:        Division is a natural result of truth and falseness;                                               between good and evil; between one pathway and                                                  another.      

                                    

            Nora and I recently had the opportunity to walk on some very sacred soil – a place I had longed to visit.  That sacred land was beaches of Normandy – where divisions could not have been more stark or appropriate.

            Specifically, we visited the beaches on which American troops landed on June 6, 1944 – Utah and Omaha beaches, and Pont do Hoc. British and Canadian troops landed further to the east, on Sword, Juno and Gold beaches.

            Under stormy skies, with rough seas, and facing the withering fire of the enemy from the dune gun placements, the brave men came ashore – 75 years ago.

            The scenes are very placid now, but one can envision the drama of D-Day. One-hundred fifty-six thousand troops landed there that day. The scene had a certain moral clarity to it.  It was the line of demarcation between good and evil.

            The division was clear.  And there was reason for it. Good reason.

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            When I was in my first year of seminary, one of the few courses we took during the entire year was New Testament.

            The professor was British, with a dry, droll sense of understatement.

            We had to do a paper explaining – through various technical means – the points of a particular teaching by Jesus.  It was much like our gospel lesson today – subject to interpretation.

            In writing my paper, I had the temerity to say, “What Jesus was meaning to say…”. After those words, the professor wrote in bright red pen, “Oh, really?”

            His point was made.

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            Today’s gospel lesson prompts some speculation on our part.  What was Jesus saying when he said he came to bring division? What did the fire he was bringing mean? Why would family members be pitted against one another?

            This seems to be so at-odds with our concept of a tender and mildJesus; one who is soft and undemanding. We squirm a bit with the images of a divisive, fire-brand savior.

            But perhaps… just perhaps, he was talking about the natural result of his message and his ministry.  Not that such division and separation would be good – though in certain circumstances the clarity between good and evil would be very helpful.

            Keep in mind that Jesus’ message was very-much counter to the prevailing culture of the day.  His words were much like the prophets which preceded him in the previous six centuries. He was calling the people to find and live the essenceof the Law – which he summarized in the words I read following the Collect for Purity of Heart: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  This is the first and great commandment and the second is like unto it:  Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself.  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.

            The teaching which he offered, and the manner in which he ministered, flew in the face of prevailing norms in his culture.  He invited people to decide for themselves – not in a violent, militaristic sense – which pathway they would travel.

            Some would follow, some would not.  Hence, there would be division.

            The division grew, for good or ill, as the young Jesus movement began to be separated from its native Jewish roots.  The division during the early centuries of the Christian era led to mass persecutions and martyrdoms at the hands of the powerful Roman empire.

            And, likewise, there was unhelpful division in the days of new definitionsof Christianity – with the Roman Church, and some governments, persecuting those who had different visions of the church. Henry VIII and Bloody Mary come to mind.

            All that was part of the Reformation, that crucible period which the church endured beginning in the 16^thcentury. The movement to reform the church raged across Europe. Rulers rose and fell as a consequence.

            But, it had both its positive and negative effects.  Yes, it brought division between groups – and in some cases with violent, tragic consequences – but it also brought about more clarity within the Jesus movement.

            Fast forward to the modern era.  That movement to reform the church has led, I think, to greater division – not all of which is bad.  I am one of the dissenting voices who sees the hundreds of denominations and movements not as a tragedy, but as a means by which many may find connection with a savior that can touch many lives from a variety of directions.

            The division continues today.  It is as fresh as the headlines and as new as the politics.  Once the division was unleashed so many years ago, there is no way to guess where it will go.  We are constantly defining our faith.

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            And let’s put it on a personal level.  If we are truly honest with ourselves, the truth and power of Jesus’ words cause division deep inside our spirits.

            As the author of the Letter to the Hebrews wrote, ^“Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

            It is that internal division – a portion of which we may call our conscience– which creates a healthy, holy division within us.  It can guide us through some rough spots of life, and also convict us when we decide we move away from the waywe are called to travel.

            That division creates holy space within us and is helpful to us.

            Division, then, is not something that is necessarily destructive.  It is a natural byproduct of the truth we hear in Jesus words.

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            Oh, yes, go back to the Normandy beaches again.  Despite the huge toll of death and bloodshed those beaches witnessed, we can be ever grateful for the clear division which prompted that action.  It was division that was as clear as night and day, as good and evil, as life and death.

            Some divisions – internal, external, global or particular, as with a surgeon’s knife – are ultimately healing.