e360  Nov.7, 2008     “A Pastoral Message”      by Bishop Swenson     

This week I have been with the Council of Bishops for our fall meeting in St. Simons, Georgia. What a rich and meaningful community to be with to experience the highs and lows of this remarkable week in the life of our nation. When I return, I look forward to sharing some of the insights I have heard here, but first let me offer a few of my own thoughts.

First I want to join in the celebration of the election of the first African-American to the U.S. presidency. Ideally, Senator Obama was not elected because of, or in spite of this race. And whatever hopes or cautions anyone might have, should be about his intended policies and objectives in the context of profoundly serious national and international challenges. 

But his race and our national history of racism and slavery is what makes this election historic. As I have shared previously, I was born and raised in Mississippi, and one of the crucial reasons I moved away from home was that, as a young Anglo woman, I could not find a satisfactory way to engage racism from inside such a distinctly racist culture.

So for me to witness this election fills me with nearly unspeakable joy; the surge of hope and renewal is overwhelming. When I reflect upon the fact that an African-American man will take the oath of the highest office on the steps of our nation’s Capitol, steps of stone laid by black slaves, I am moved to awe, wonder and tears.

In my role as Episcopal leader, I am also struck by this truth: the change revealed in this election is not an observable, tangible change—yet. It is not something that we can put our hands on, and what we see in this new President will at first be only symbolic. Instead, the tangible result of the balloting is evidence of what is first an internal change: it is the same kind of change that Jesus tried to tell Nicodemus about, a change that is born from within. It is a change of the heart and mind, a change of paradigms, of how we view the world. It is this kind of fundamental change that inevitably changes everything that follows; what was once only a dream is now a reality that will shape the future.

But there is another change of world-view that is yet to come. The passage of Proposition 8, which narrowly defines marriage in the State of California as valid only between one man and one woman, is at most a short-term detour on the inevitable journey to full justice and inclusive compassion. And while there is a diversity of opinion about this both inside and outside of the Christian community, I trust that all Christians reject being lumped together as either for or against this or any issue.

Instead, it is our diversity, which is actually God’s creativity, that is our gift, our strength, our challenge, and our vital future. That is precisely why we must learn to embrace, cherish and embolden our differences, for it is in these differences that we find opportunities for compassion, and the chance to receive the giftedness of others. That is what makes us whole as a community, and complete as the Body of Christ. So during this time of grief for some and satisfaction for others, I encourage all of us to offer empathy and hospitality rooted in Christ’s own compassion.  Let us be the community that manifests reconciliation, because it has experienced Christ’s reconciliation.

God is good, and with leaps and stumbles, we are moving on toward perfection: come, Holy Spirit, come!

Bishop Mary Ann Swenson