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Weekly Reflection:
30,000 Pounds
By the Rev. Nathan Empsall, priest-in-charge
I often think that the most basic (yet most important) test of one's faith is one simple question:
How is my life different because I am a Christian?
(Or, how would my life be different if I were not a Christian?)
There is no single right answer. From London to Nairobi, different experiences and lived realities mean that the Christian faith takes many different shapes and sizes. There are 31,102 verses in the Bible, and at least 100 times that many different perspectives on what it means to be a Christian.
There is, however, a wrong answer, which is to have no answer at all. If we genuinely believe that God created everything and is in everything, then any serious faith in God will shape and reshape who we are from the ground up, over and over again.
It's a question I've been reflecting on for the past few months, and especially this past week, as my own answer has developed a new layer.
My initial answer is an obvious one: As an Episcopal priest, without my Christian faith, I'd be in an entirely different line of work! Yet this week, I'm also realizing that it's not just our faith but the specific shape of our faith that can change our answer.
For as long as I have felt the call to become a priest -- going to back to my senior year in high school -- I have also thought about becoming a military chaplain. Sometimes that tug is stronger than others, but when discerning one's path, anything that persists for 20+ years likely has a "there" there.
Last summer, as I began to feel a call to leave my job leading Faithful America for St. PJ's, I thought that probably meant that the chances of becoming a chaplain in the Reserve or Guard were also increasing. As my new role with you is technically half-time, the two would pair well together, even while my child is still small.
But just as faith means being open to God's call, it also means being open to the latest shape of that call changing as the world around us changes. And all chances of me joining the military at any point in the next four years -- even the part-time Guard or Reserve -- evaporated on November 5.
That already-ironclad decision was affirmed once more last Friday when the United States violently, immorally, deceitfully, and sinfully bombed Iran without provocation.
Patriotism takes many forms, and it can ebb and flow within oneself. I'll talk more about that next weekend, when our nation observes the Fourth of July. But one thing is for sure: The military should be beyond partisanship. And I would certainly serve under a conservative Commander-in-Chief with whom I disagreed on most things -- but that does not mean serving a would-be-Fuhrer who orders military parades for his personal amusement before pre-emptively dropping 30,000-pound bombs without Congressional approval.
Our founding framers would be shocked that such a bomb exists. And they would be appalled and furious that the executive they sought to keep in check can drop such a bomb without consulting Congress.
Our country has become so obsessed with waging war that we have, over the past 75 years, thrown our Constitution right out the window. This has been true of presidents and Congresses from both parties, and it has come with grave consequences for American democracy, for America's standing in the world, and above all for human life.
And if the framers fume, then Jesus weeps.
Those who live by the 30,000 lbs. bomb die by the 30,000 lbs. bomb. Or as Pope Leo said,
"War does not solve problems, but rather it amplifies them and produces deep wounds in the history of people that take generations to heal. No armed victory can compensate for the pain of mothers, the fear of children, the stolen future."
To be clear, Iran, as a giant state sponsor of terror, is a bad actor. So is Benjamin Netanyahu, who responded to the absolute and undeniable horror of 251 Israelis being taken hostage by dipping his hands in the blood of 17,000 Gaza children. And so is Donald Trump, who cares for nothing but stamping his own image on all that he sees rather than honoring the divine image that is already there.
There are no good actors in this story. Once again, while the rich bicker and bomb over who will have the most power and the most toys, it is the power and vulnerable -- especially the children -- who suffer and die.
None of these governments respect God's people, a powerful reminder that our permanent home is not in our earthly nation, but in heaven. We are but guests here. And to be clear, just like when we visit the home of a far-flung family member, we should strive to be good guests who leave this place better than we found it -- but we should also not mistake any man-made political nation for a place that demands our deepest loyalties.
As Christians, only God demands our loyalty. We are to follow only Jesus, the Prince of Peace, who tells us to love our neighbors -- which clearly means not bombing them during the middle of negotiations.
These juxtapositions between God and would-be-King brings me right back to where I started: How is your life in this world -- how are the actions you take in the face of a corrupt government and a violent nation -- changed by your Christian faith?
I may not see you this Sunday, I certainly hope to see you at the next protest for peace.
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