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Mending the Breach
“Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age old foundations: you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.”
Isaiah 58:12
Time and again, I’ve returned to this passage from Isaiah. It’s becoming more clear to me (particularly as I age and observe my adult children) that one of the essential tasks of our time is to heal our deep polarization and mutual derision and suspicion. Obviously, we don’t have to erase our differences or think in lockstep with each other – that’s uniformity, not unity. But if we can’t find some sort of common ground, some shared values or goals, the chasm dividing our culture will continue to widen. The stakes are high.
How then might we begin to repair the breach and to restore the dwellings that our divisiveness has so damaged? How can we make our cracked foundations whole?
Sadly, the Church struggles with divisions in many areas. Yet, at the same time, it has a two millennia history of trying to be the body of Christ and it offers resources. We can take steps along the journey of healing and unity.
Healing divisions between us begins by healing divisions within us. It is, first and foremost, a spiritual process. It means shining the light of prayer on our interior life and allowing God to reveal and heal our sins, fears and shadows so that we don’t simply project them onto the “other side.”
Second, we need to hold fast to the bedrock truth that everything and everyone is interconnected. We are a single species and we share a common fate. Within that reality, one of the ground rules is communion in diversity, from the relationships within the Trinity, to the way the universe has unfolded over time in all its marvelous complexity.
In our daily lives, we can seek out projects and service opportunities that transcend ideological differences. Parish ministries are genius in this regard because when we ladle soup together, knit a prayer shawl, bring Communion to a shut-in or hammer on a Habitat for Humanity house, we are creating a foundation of common ground based on compassion and kindness toward our neighbors.
I imagine that Jesus would rather we look past our fractiousness and our fights in favor of feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, clothing the naked and visiting the sick and imprisoned. That’s the right victory. That’s the work of love. That’s a foundation we can build on.
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