Marathon Spirit

In the spring of 1996, I was finishing up my freshman year at Boston College. It was also the 100th running of the Boston Marathon that year. I made my way down to the finish to see it, and I can tell you, it was quite an event. 

Usually someone has to qualify to participate in the Boston Marathon, but for the 100th running, they let more runners in, if they raised a certain amount of sponsorship. These additional people weren’t all in the same condition that Boston Marathon runners may more typically exhibit. In other words, not everyone finished in under four hours. Or five. Or six, and I think some were still out there at seven and eight hours. 

I saw the first runners come into Copley Square, those elite bodies, practically jogging down Boylston street as if they’d just started a mile ago. We all cheered for them, and were so impressed with their accomplishment. I watched for a little while and then walked back around through the Boston Common to take in some of the sights. A few hours later, I had circled back to the finish line again - to see the folks coming in several hours after the winners.

I remember their facial expressions and body language being very different from what I had seen just a few hours ago. Far from relaxed and nonchalant, these folks were in pain. They looked utterly depleted. I imagine many of them headed straight for the medical tent after crossing that beautiful blue and yellow, 4’ wide finish line that was painted across Boylston St.; but in addition to the pain they must’ve felt, they also showed incredible relief, pride, and joy at just having completed the Boston Marathon, regardless of their time. 

Yesterday as I watched the scenes after the bombings in Boston, I had a lot of thoughts going through my head. Some of my earliest thoughts were for the runners - for those I knew had trained months, if not years for the chance to cross that line, and how many of them didn't get the chance to do that yesterday.

Of course my love and prayers go to everyone who was affected, and their families, along with the whole city of Boston. But I think it’s important that we especially remember the runners.

To be honest, I think it’s a very strange desire to want to run 26.2 miles. But these men and women push the human body to its limits, and they remind us of just how much we can accomplish if we just work hard and pour ourselves into something. Marathon runners remind us of the rewards of long-term commitment, sticking through something for the long haul, not just instant gratification. I don’t know if I could ever run a marathon, but marathon runners will always inspire me with their irrepressible spirit. 

May all of us, in the wake of this tragedy, be inspired by that marathon spirit, and may we persevere against hatred, resist vengeance, and remember that the struggle against fear and intolerance is a marathon - it’s going to take a while. It might be painful and exhausting. But no matter what our time is in the end, imagine the incredible relief, pride, and joy at just having completed the effort. 

Wailing, Lamentation, Weeping

"A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more." -Matthew 2:18

Every night, when I tuck my five year old into bed, she wraps her arms around my neck and gives me kisses. Every night, she doesn't want to let go, and I have to pull away, as it's really a bit of a stall tactic. Tonight, I held on to her as long as I could. She has no idea about what happened today in Connecticut. So I didn't hold onto her for her benefit, it was totally for me. 

Tonight, I didn't care that my 7-month-old spit up on my clothes, I just watched him chew on his Taggies toy that was also drenched in spit-up and drool, and loved watching him figure out how to move his hands around. 

I read an annoying princess book to my three-year-old, hardly paying attention to the words, as I wondered about what stories will help her handle such terrible events when she grows up. 

And as I came downstairs to my wife, a school psychologist in an elementary school, I could not help but be overwhelmed for Newtown, CT; for the parents who will never again get to read to their son or daughter, never again feel those arms around their neck or those slobbery kisses on their cheek. I could not but think of the families of Sandy Hook's school psychologist, the principal, and the other adults who dedicated their lives to building children into healthy young people, and who are no longer with us.

I am sick over this. Utterly sick. And furious. 

If anyone thinks for one second that I give a damn about someone's hobby, or that the second amendment is more important to this country than the sweet children who were lambs to the slaughter this morning, you are sorely mistaken. 

To the National Rifle Association and your cronies - you are a demonic force in our society. 

If you care more about your passtime than the precious lives of our children, you are sick. If you think this is some kind of protection against an out-of-control government, you are paranoid and delusional. 

If you start to tell me that people kill people, not guns, look into the faces of the parents who lost their babies today and tell them that. If you want to tell me it's too early to talk about gun control in the wake of this shooting, you could not be more wrong. For the students, staff, and families of Sandy Hook, it literally cannot be soon enough.

When I look into the eyes of my kindergartener, and I think about what might happen if someone walked into her classroom with one of these weapons, I am completely terrified. If we cannot have an honest, frank, sincere conversation in this country about sensible protections for the sake of our children, then we do not deserve the freedoms our Constitution provides. 

US Catholic Bishops Wrong on "Fortnight for Freedom"

I have a deep and abiding respect for the rich tradition and faith of my Roman Catholic sisters and brothers. I also hold a degree from a Jesuit institution. But the current project of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the so-called “Fortnight for Freedom”, is just plain hypocrisy. 

The genesis of this project is the Health and Human Services Administration’s policy, ensuring free contraception for women from their health insurance providers. The Roman Catholic Church’s position on contraception is not new. But in the United States, a few religious authorities do not have any right to assume authority over citizens who do not share their confessional faith. Thus, the White House and HHS are actually defending religious freedom by protecting those workers who do not agree with Catholic doctrine, even if they're employed by a Catholic institution. 

I understand the opposition to contraception. However, an employee of a Catholic hospital or school should not have fewer rights than others simply because of their employer. A Jewish nurse or Protestant English teacher should be able to access birth control for free, as the same employee might at another workplace. And the Church has no right to prevent her from doing so, nor do they have a right to expect the State to enforce their objection.

In conversations about this topic, the problem tends to come from the money. Folks don’t want to have to pay for something they don’t support. I understand this. But first, it’s neither taxpayer money, nor institutional money being used, it’s the insurance company paying for it. Second, if money spent against one's wishes is problematic, where is the bishops' outrage in Catholics having to pay taxes that pay for wars? Taxes that pay to execute prisoners? Taxes that escalate violence and inhibit peace and justice? 

My hope and prayer is that the US Conference of Catholic Bishops can open their eyes to the many injustices around us - hunger, poverty, mass-incarceration, continuing inequality for people of color, for women, for immigrants, and for many other minorities. Jesus was a lot more concerned about these issues than he was about birth control.

Trayvon Martin: We've Got Work To Do

Over the past several days, I have been deeply touched by the death of 17 year old Trayvon Martin outside Orlando, Florida. I wasn’t there. I don’t know exactly what happened. I do know that the shooter, George Zimmerman, was told by the 911 operator not to follow Trayvon, but Zimmerman followed him anyway, and Trayvon ended up dead.  

President Obama reminded the nation last week that if he had a son, he would look like Trayvon. This touches me deeply, both as a father, and as an American. I know there may be differences of opinion about politics, but no American can deny the magnitude of that statement. For a very long time in this country, the stereotypes of young people of color, particularly African American boys, have been overwhelmingly negative. Now, with the presence of an African American President, a snap judgment about a teenager in a hoodie being up to no good, could be a judgment against our First Family. 

Again, I wasn’t there. And I’m not in Zimmerman’s head. I don’t know how he concluded what he concluded about Trayvon Martin. Was it because Martin was black? I suspect so, but I don’t know for sure. Was it because he was a teenager wearing a hoodie? I don’t know. I do know that Martin isn’t the first one to be baselessly suspected of ill intent, and Zimmerman isn’t the first to get angry over nothing, angry to the point of violence. 

We have a lot in our society to unpack - assumptions about teenagers, assumptions about people wearing a hoodie, and assumptions about race. I strongly believe that we Christians are called to think twice about our assumptions based on surface details. We are called to see beyond our own anxieties and prejudices, to see the human being, the one created in God’s image, that lies on the other side of our own snap judgments. We all feel anxiety from time to time, but if we fail to acknowledge the person of the other, about whom we are anxious, and if we fail to be critical about our anxiety and whether or not it is justified, we may well end up taking the life, or at least denying the humanity of one of God’s beautiful children. 

GOP Greed Breaking Fifth Commandment

Exodus 20:12, the fifth of the Ten Commandments, reads, "Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you." (NRSV) Scholars tell us the honoring of one's father and mother is not actually about young children cleaning their rooms when their parents tell them to, the point is rather for adult children to take care of their aging parents. And if this happens, their "days may be long", because someone following this commandment is taking care of them.


So how would cutting Social Security and Medicare, two programs that directly help aging parents and differently-abled people unable to physically support themselves, fit with the fifth commandment?


It appears that Speaker Boehner and other House GOP leaders would rather cut aid to sick people and the elderly than dare to ask corporations and the wealthy to pay their fair share. This is sinful. The GOP has lectured the country on moral values for a while now, but this stance shows their true colors - they have sold their moral integrity to the highest contributor. The would rather create public policy that rewards selfishness and greed, than balance the country's books and show some financial responsibility.


The GOP claims to want fiscal responsibility, but when they have an opportunity to make an impact on the deficit by ending the Bush tax cuts, they are too cowardly to do it. 


They claim to want fiscal responsibility, but when handed a surplus by the Clinton administration, the Republican White House and Congress turned it into a substantial deficit. 


I'm not so naive as to expect politicians to always tell the truth, especially when the truth contradicts their chosen narrative. But I do expect people who claim to be public servants to at least once in a while actually serve the public, and not throw our grandparents under the bus to save their contributors a few dollars. 


If we honor our fathers and mothers, we too will live long in this land we've been given. If not, well, here comes oligarchy. 

Why the GOP is Wrong for America

Reality is our friend folks. Especially if you are a public servant, charged with instituting public policy on behalf of the voters, reality is our friend.


But here's the hard part for Republicans - there are actually multiple realities going on concurrently in America.


The GOP would be fine governing a small state, where everyone is upper middle class, educated enough to support themselves, heterosexual, conservative Christian and supportive of patriarchy. Oh, and your ancestors had to have immigrated here between 1620 and, roughly, 1920. I'm happy to acknowledge that this world-view is reality for some Americans.


The GOP wants us all to believe that what I just described is not actually just one segment of America, but is the sum total of who we are. I hate to break it to the Republican leaders, but there are gay people in our country, who might want the freedom to get married one day. There are people of color in our country for whom the traditional system hasn't worked so well, and we might need to fix some things to give these folks a shot at the freedom you're so fond of. There are women in this country who would like the freedom to exercise their own moral agency. There are poor people who want desperately to do better for their family, but might need a little help to get there. There is an enormous budget deficit in our country, and there are many Americans who can easily afford to help us out with it.


So to the GOP, I ask, why do you only complain about the Executive overreaching when the President wants to help working Americans, but not when women's rights are being infringed? Where're your Tea Party libertarians when the government tells us who we can or cannot marry? And where's your rhetoric on freedom in relation to the immigration conversation?


To my Republican friends, we tried your short-sighted, wealth-centered economic policy before. You sold it to a lot of people, and convinced them to vote against their own economic interest using moral issues that have divided our country. Reagan created an economic disaster in the '80s (where Mr. Cheney learned that "deficits don't matter") that Clinton cleaned up in the '90s. W. Bush created the mess we're in now, that Obama will get us out of in the '10s. Over the last several decades, Democratic economic policies have been far and above more successful. Look at the facts folks, they speak for themselves. 


I get that there are Conservative people in this country, and we need you to be a part of the conversation. But if you could stop lying about how your policies are better for the economy, or how you want a smaller government, I'd really appreciate it.

Bring on a Liberal Media

When presented with facts that make your world view untenable, do you criticize the source as biased? Or do you take the opportunity to reexamine your world view? It seems that Conservatives' obsession with accusing the mainstream media with a 'liberal' bias has scared the media away from reporting actual facts that contradict the conservative narrative of the world.

Fox News is legendary for its misinformation and ridiculously opinionated coverage. But when CNN completely abandons actual news, it's rather sad. Using viewer Tweets as 'news'? I'm sorry, but watching CNN while Tweeting does not mean you are qualified to comment on the news.

In a democracy, whoever controls the information controls the people. Democracy is only possible with a liberal media. To be 'liberal' means that one is open to various points of view and many sources of information. When the media is not liberal, it's not doing its job. To complain about this as 'bias' is much more likely a stubborn unwillingness to admit we might have been wrong about something. 

When Jesus was presented with facts that contradicted his world view, he was, yes, liberal enough, to change his position (Mark 7:25-30). We'd all be wise to follow his example.