Along with millions of other Americans, I feel sorely distressed over the brutalities occurring in Minneapolis. Much is being written through the media and personal blogs about this tragic situation. My intent here is to encourage hope for peace and justice to prevail. Various resources and experiences lead me to believe this is possible. A friend recently introduced me to a song based on a line from the story of the Magi who chose to go home by another way after visiting the Christ-Child. They intuited that the despot Herod would hunt and kill the child whom he considered an enemy to his kingship. I’ve long been drawn to the line “so they left for their own country by another road.” (Matthew2:12)
Here is the refrain from the song “Take Us Home By Another Way,” Christopher Grundy.
Spirit, take us home/ take us home by another way/ take us long way ‘round the tyrants/and their schemes./ Give us strength to walk/ Show us dreams of a better day/ and we’ll pave the way with justice/going home by another way.
Our country and our people cannot continue to be drenched in animosity, hatred, and the denial of respect for human beings. There has to be another way home to peace and justice. A Herod-like atmosphere cannot be allowed to destroy our nation’s spirit of hospitality and good will for all. One of the reflections keeping my heart rooted in hope is a photo of many galaxies filled with future stars, strands of radiant light seen with the James Webb space telescope. Astrophysicists describe this light traveling billions of year ago as a “web of chaos,” filled with gasses and dust before the stars developed.
Our Earth, too, was once a chaotic mess of gasses and dust before becoming the beautiful planet we live on. Out of chaos something unimaginable evolved. I believe and trust this when I consider our nation’s history: the country’s turmoil before gaining independence, the hostilities women suffragists suffered before establishing their right to vote, the Civil Rights movement enduring countless beatings and deaths before the tide turned, and the brutality thrusted on demonstrators before the U.S. ended the Vietnam War. People believed in going home another way and never gave up. Let us believe beyond the chaos. Let us dream and work “for a better day,” for peace and respect for every human being.
In the powerful film, Hamnet, the final scene portrays a tremendous compassion. The faces of the crowd gathered at Shakespeare’s Stratford on Avon theater show intense sorrow as they join in union with parents grieving their son’s death. Their faces reveal a common denominator of empathy, one that threads through the spirit of humanity. Compassion supports and consoles people who suffer. By embracing this virtue in ourselves we also strengthen the possibility of its presence beyond us. Staunch compassion can remind those causing suffering to allow this innate quality to emerge from within themselves.
I return often to a prayer created five years ago by Benedictine Macrina Wiederkehr.
O wise and peaceful God, all across the globe people are fearful. Unrest and violence, division and angst, sadden our hearts. Yet, somewhere in the depths of our hearts lives your wisdom. Unite us. Lead us to the truth that love is more powerful than fear.
Abundant peace as we find another way to go home,
Joyce Rupp
