The North Rim sits approximately 2,000 feet above the South
Rim of the Grand Canyon, so the ecosystem and climate on each side of the chasm
differ drastically. While chaperoning a Geology field expedition out west,
which explored this wonder of the world, I certainly noticed the difference in
weather on the two rims. In late May the South Rim was pleasant with highs in
the low 70s; however, on the North Rim the temperatures were down right
freezing with heavy snow falling affecting everything from setting up tents to seeing
across the canyon. On the last day of this frozen camping failure our fearless leader
Dr. Bran Potter, a man who has forgotten more about the earth’s formation than
I will ever know, despite the chilly conditions lost his cool.
The students on the trip were packing up their belongings and
placing them in the storage trailer, which not only contained all the tents,
duffels, and sleeping bags, but also all the cooking equipment and food for the
next few days. Diligently some students, Dr. Potter, and I packed up the
supplies, as the conditions had already put us behind schedule for our next
stop in Southern Utah. Then, a few out-of-touch numbskulls got a not-so-bright
idea. They began so innocently tossing snowballs at one another, but pretty
quickly their target shifted from those engaging in a snowball fight to those
packing up the trailer. When Dr. Potter attempted to back up his van to attach the
now-filled-trailer to the tow hitch a snowball narrowly missed his head and exploded
off the side view mirror. Now, some people possess such an overwhelming sense
of calm about them that when they show any emotion it is so captivating and
memorable that one never forgets the encounter, Dr. Potter is one such
individual.
As the snowball whizzed past his head he stopped his actions
and seemingly everything else around him in the campground did as well. Even
though the van was still running it seemed to grow silent and the only thing
audible was the near silent noise of snow falling on already accumulating snow.
The words that he spoke—not yelled, but firmly articulated toward the culprit
with a snowball still in his hand—I will never forget. “You have no concept.” I
have often returned to these words, not as an insult, although it is a good
one—how can someone come back from being told he has no concept? “Oh yes, I
do!” does little to prove that one indeed does have a grasp of the idea at hand—I
have returned to Dr. Potter’s words as a humble reminder that I do not know, a lowly
mantra for navigating the difficult times and the unanswerable questions.
I have no concept. Perhaps this is not reassuring to hear
from your priest. I naively thought that this country was only a little bit
divided, but now it seems we are as far apart as the North Rim and the South
Rim of the Grand Canyon. Since the election fear has bubbled up from beneath
the surface, as over 400 hate crimes have been reported, even including racist
epithets on the sides of stores, schools, and Episcopal churches. Protestors
who claim love and unity as the virtue that guides them have turned hateful and
even violent. All my certainty and naivety hide me from the truth that I have
no concept of the painful, divisive reality that exists right here. The great
thing though about saying I have no concept allows me to step out of a place of
knowing the way forward, and perhaps it opens up to me a new opportunity to
practice being faithful.
“For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and
through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on
earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.” These are
the words that ended our reading from the Letter to the Colossians. We also
heard within that letter, “He himself is before all things, and in him all
things hold together.” Paul meant in writing this that Christ tied, ties, and
will tie together all things. However, as the Rev. Gay Jennings, the President
of the House of Deputies, wrote this week reconciliation may be out of reach
and pastorally inappropriate for some people at the moment. When people are
scared or angry because of who they are, who they love, where they are from,
what religion they practice, or whether or not they went to school we cannot
expect that Christ will magically draw us back together in an instant.
Quite often we make a mistake in thinking that the way to
unity is through victory over another, but reconciliation comes through the
blood of his cross. Jesus was betrayed by his friends and followers, mocked and
verbally abused by his religion, tortured by the Roman Empire, made to carry
his own instrument of death, crucified, and surrounded by criminals, soldiers,
and a hate-filled mob while he died. On the third day he rose from the dead,
but somehow we as followers of Jesus do not wear an empty tomb, a sign of
victory, around our necks. Instead we revere the cross, the image of defeat! In
the darkest moment of his life, Jesus’ words were “Father, forgive them; for
they do not know what they are doing.” While I say I have no concept of how we
will heal the divisions in this country, what truly baffles me is how Jesus
said this in response to all that had happened.
Simone Weil the 20th Century French mystic
described that the world is made up of gravity and grace. Gravity are those
laws that govern the world; yes, physics, but also an eye for an eye, you
scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours, hate for hate, and love for love. Grace
though, is different. Grace is non-complimentary behavior: love for hate, pardon
for offense, another cheek, a second mile, and prayers for our enemy. Grace is
the moment when in the face of an irreconcilable difference we choose the hard
road that Jesus walked instead of the easy way of isolation. Grace is the Black
Lives Matter protestors and Blue Lives Matter protestors crossing the street to
embrace one another and jointly protest the loss of lives. Grace is the
congregation that continues to speak love and forgiveness even though the KKK
spray painted swastikas and “whites only” on their building. Grace is Jesus
reaching out his arms of love on the hard wood of the cross so that everyone
might come within the reach of his saving embrace (Book of Common Prayer, 101).
We are people of grace. Yes, we live in a world of gravity.
Yes, drop an apple and it falls. And yes, give to Caesar what is Caesar’s. But,
we are not people of gravity, we are people of grace! I may not fully
comprehend grace, I have a hard time understanding how Jesus said, “Father,
forgive them.” But I do know that the King I will always follow is Christ who
even in the face of betrayal, division, and even death wanted nothing more than
to draw people together, forgive sinners, and even welcome a criminal into his
Kingdom! I may have no concept, but thankfully God does. And, I take great hope
in following Christ as my King! I may not have a concept, but I have a King,
Christ who reigns now and for ever.
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