This morning in Mass one of the readings was from 1 Kings 21. Jezebel was a raging beauty and an evil soul. Her husband, the king, wanted a vineyard, but the owner of the vineyard said he couldn’t sell it because it was his family legacy. It was a big Jewish custom to pass land down in the family. So Jezebel took her husband’s seal and wrote letters to have the vineyard owner cursed and killed by stoning. Then she told her husband he could go ahead and have the land. Hearing about this and other evil actions make us cringe with disgust. How dare she have a man killed because he defended his family land? How disgusting the times when we take what we want if we are more powerful. Times haven’t changed much have they? Psalm 5 weeps, "Lord, listen to my groaning." … We beg for change. We read the saints for they somehow seemed to "see" the issues clearly. They saw good and evil and saw the roots are in our hearts. What is it that makes us react with distain and disgust to evil actions? What makes us turn back towards the person who hit us from the rear and we retaliate? We detest and disdain our enemy and feel nothing but disgust. And our hearts hurt. Old Testament writers dealt furiously with Jezebel. She fell out of her window, and dogs lapped up her blood. (just as the prophet had predicted).
The line separating good and evil passes right through our hearts; not through politics or economics, but through our hearts. So how do we find peace from this heart ache? Remember when Christ yelled at the money changers in the Temple? We call that righteous indignation. He did not do that very often. Instead, Christ’s teachings, tough as they are in "what we must do" were gentle. His low voice constantly calls us to learn humility. If a man hits us from behind with words or deeds? Give him the other cheek… God gives us the grace and strength. He pours out grace like a giant pitcher of grace pouring out. We are covered, only many of us don’t know it.
My friends talk about violence, law, police, abortion (etc) and always there’s mention of what Biden/Obama or Trump won’t do or does, what’s conservative or liberal or democrat or republican, voices start to rise with agitation and I start to get quiet. Mentally I take a step back and take a deep breath. My feet aren’t moving, but my mind is… If I can get a word in it’s , "talk about the issues; talk about what humanity needs to be human, to be dignified. Talk about ‘what if we could solve this problem’ … what would we do?" All of us, working together, could come up with some ideas. In love. In Christ. Call Christ into the circle! Who actually is in charge? Our God and Creator knows what we need. He is the one who fills us with that grace poured out. Take a deep breath and pray for peace that starts in our hearts. God bless us. Angels with us.