It
is hard to imagine a candidate in the upcoming German election campaigning on
the slogan, “Let’s make Germany great again!” But, in a year that has seen
votes in the UK and the US seemingly triggered by isolationist emotions, the
decision of the German Chancellor half way through the year to welcome a large
number of hard-pressed migrants was generous and great. At a time that sees the
noble calling of politics often become increasingly squalid, her example shines
like a rare beacon.
There
is a numbing predictability about politics, such that one almost always knows
how leaders will react to a crisis: more security, more controls, more
screening, more walls. It is rare that someone will stand back and say, “Why
are we doing all this?” “What is the reason why people are posing these threats
to ‘our way of life’?” “What can we do to respond to the pain behind all this
violence?”
I
was shocked during the week to read an article by Jesuit William Johnston who
sat down to discuss 9/11 with his Japanese friends in 2001. They told him the innocent
looking plane coming out of the skies and heading for the Twin Towers reminded
them of the innocent looking plane that shone in the morning sky before
dropping an atom bomb on Hiroshima. The thinking that led people to order both
destructive acts was predictable; “They’re wrong. We’re right.”
It
is depressing that we live in an age where so few can rise to an imaginative
response to crisis which, though maybe painful for a while, will ultimately
bring benefits to all concerned. It calls for a change in the way we think.
There is an old old word for it: conversion. In the Church’s year Advent is the
time when our lens focuses on conversion.
Matthew
tells us John the Baptist, “appeared in the wilderness of Judea and his message
was, ‘Be converted! For the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.” He announced
to the people there was to be a great shift for the better in human history and
they should be part of it. To emphasize his point he turned on the Pharisees and
Sadducees as a “brood of vipers” because they were intent on preserving a
system which served their own interests but made no change to the lives of
ordinary people.
“The
axe is laid to the tree,” said John. It is a time of decision. We can make
decisions that really change the lives of people or we can strengthen the walls
that divide us. So much of what we see today seems to be divisive. I hope I am
wrong! I hope the silver lining of the clouds that gather shines forth to
negate our worst fears.
4 December 2016 Advent 2 A
Isaiah 11:1-10 Romans 15:4-9 Matthew 3:1-12
