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A Word from Grace Street

Reconciliation

September 16, 2009

My Dear People,

With the 24-hour news cycle whipping by, one might have thought that Joe Wilson would be old news by now.  However, with the rebuke by the U. S. House of Representatives, as well as President Jimmy Carter's commentary, the congressman and his remarks have remained front and center in media coverage.  On the whole, I am glad of that, as I think Wilson's conduct and, more to the point, what his conduct symbolizes, is worthy of sustained attention.

While I don't always read Maureen Dowd's columns (finding her sarcasm sometimes tiresome), a few lines of hers from her column Sunday have stayed with me,

Surrounded by middle-aged white guys - a sepia snapshot of the days when such pols ran Washington like their own men's club - Joe Wilson yelled 'You lie!' at a president who didn't.  But, fair or not, what I heard was an unspoken word in the air: You lie, boy!

To spell it out: Would Wilson have done what he did - would he have said what he said - if a white president were standing up there?

We don't know the answer to that.  And we never will.  The real question is: What part does racism - latent or not - play in the opposition that the first black president is facing?  (And by "opposition" I am speaking, not about legitimate disagreements on policy, but about the disrespect and vitriol that he has been shown.)  We must ask ourselves, what work do we Americans still need to do in the name of racial reconciliation?

Yes, of course, we have come a long way.  We have a black president, for heaven's sake!  That said, any suggestion that we have somehow arrived at some "post-racial age," where the important work on racial reconciliation is behind us is, I believe, simply naïve, if not dishonest.

In our Prayer Book - in the Outline of the Faith - the question is asked, "What is the mission of the Church?"  The answer given is, "The mission of the Church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ."  In a word, reconciliation.  That is what we are about.

Wilson's remarks remind us of the work that we still have to do in this country, and in this world of ours - this world of God's, that is.  We carry on the work of Christ the Reconciler, and we are privileged to do so.

Your brother in Christ,

Wallace+

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