“A strong nation, like a strong person, can afford to be gentle, firm, thoughtful and restrained. It, [they] can afford to extend a helping hand to others.  It’s a weak nation, like a weak person, that must behave with bluster and boasting and rashness and other kinds of insecurity.”

The above words come from our 39^th president, Jimmy Carter and by the picture that accompanies them on Face Book, these are words that he perhaps said many years ago when he was, in fact, president. They are interesting words to consider on this Sunday that uplifts the “kingship” of Jesus, our brother and model for human living.

It is good to consider in this light whether Jesus ever claimed this title for himself and the answer is, “No!”  The title of “king” is something from the earliest days after Jesus’ death, which we, his followers claimed for him.  Even during his earthly life time, his followers had the wrong idea about the meaning of his coming.  They wanted a “Messiah” who would best their enemy, the Romans and because of that notion, they often missed his words and actions which were more about love and turning the other cheek.

Former President Carter’s words reflect a leader who understands that to lead, truly lead, is a multi-faceted task and that strength is shown with a combination of gentleness, firmness, thoughtfulness and restraint.  This, my friends, is wisdom.  I believe we could say that Jesus’ leadership was about all of these traits too with the addition of mercy, kindness, justice, and of course, love.

So why then, the Church hierarchical’s insistence on “kingship” for Jesus, our brother? The source of this feast is fairly new in the time frame of our lives, dating back to only, 1925, when Pope Pius XI established it, declaring that, “People had thrust Jesus and his holy law out of their lives.”  His contention was that Jesus’ laws for life should play a role in public affairs and politics and unless they did, we could never hope for, “peace among nations.”

Now this in itself might be a good reason to establish such a feast day when many “in the known and accepted world” of the time were considered Christian and other faiths, while there, were not given the importance that they are today.

Today, with a much broader view of what constitutes faith and religious practice, celebrating a feast that speaks of “kingship” in a world that does not deal with kings per se, except perhaps, “wannabes” in certain places, seems, out of place.

Would we not do better to uplift the traits that Jesus actually modeled in his own life among us on this day, as we bring to a close one Church Year and move into the next, than to give him titles that he never claimed nor wanted for himself?

But in all fairness to those kings who ruled well over their people in past times, we might say, that a true king was one who cared about the people and knew that “service” was the true mission of a good king.

I can only imagine that Jesus didn’t choose “kingship” for himself because he realized the tendency among humans to misconstrue the true meaning of king as servant, for power, and power over, and he simply was never about that.

In the first reading today from Samuel, the prophet reminds David that his role as ruler of Israel is “to shepherd” his people and David, beginning his life as a shepherd, would understand the meaning.  Jesus, in his earthly life among us was crucified primarily because he tried “to shepherd” all the people—those in high positions, but more so, those in low positions, calling all to justice, to being their best selves.

When you are a person in power, with power over others, there is always the possibility of abusing that power.  Those in power when Jesus lived physically upon the earth didn’t want to be told by an itinerant preacher that their leadership was a gift from God to serve their people rather than themselves.  And the same phenomenon seems to be going on in Washington these days as far as “leadership” goes—serving the rule of party—self, rather than the rule of law, what is just and right.

Probably a truer statement was never made concerning the true meaning of leadership and what this call is all about than Jesus’ action on the cross recounted in today’s gospel.  We read that the crowds were tormenting him, “You saved others, why can’t you save yourself, if you are the Messiah?”  The position of being called to serve others, as messiah, as priest, as president is never, ever about how it can help those people as individuals, but about a larger calling of service for others and Jesus knew this.

Again, this is interesting to consider as we remembered this last week the assassination 56 years ago of our 35^th president, John F. Kennedy. While not a perfect president or individual, as president he never sold out his country for personal gain.

So, with all of this in mind, friends, I come back to my premise in the early paragraphs of this homily—that we dispense with a title Jesus never claimed for himself giving him instead one that speaks more clearly of the impact that he had upon his world, that of brother, that of friend, of one who knew the life we lead as human beings and chose to journey with us as “friend” showing us as succinctly as possible how much we are loved by God. Amen? Amen!

 

Friends, those of you who have seen my recent Facebook postings know that Robert and I attended the funeral of Jim Fitzpatrick this past week. Jim, a priest in the diocese of Winona, served actively in that capacity for 10 years after his ordination in the early ‘60’s and ‘70’s.

He left active ministry, or as his wife, of 45 years, Karen, said at the funeral luncheon, “he was shown the door!” after he went to the then bishop, Loras Watters to report his knowledge of priests sexually abusing children and the bishop refused to do anything about it except to persecute the prophet.

Throughout the next 45 years of their life together, (she was a Rochester Franciscan Sister for a time) Jim and Karen kept up the advocacy for those downtrodden, in the footsteps of our brother, Jesus.  Someone said at the memorial Mass, to get one of them, was to get them both, and they advocated together for the rest of their married life.

Jim and Karen were very supportive of women being ordained and Robert and I shared friendship with them as a result since the time of my first seeking to be ordained, as both were fixtures at many women’s ordinations that I attended.

But my personal relationship with Jim Fitzpatrick goes back to my freshman year at Cotter High School in Winona when Fr. Fitzpatrick taught our freshman class, Old Testament.  I loved him for his “fire”—the way he grabbed onto life and attempted to fire-up his students as well.  One of my classmates joined my reminiscing on Facebook quoting Jim’s frequent comment to us in class, “Come on, catch fire!” when we were less than enthused in class.

Jim also had a great sense of humor and love for life.  He always had a free question on our exams, “What should be done with minor seminaries?”  The answer was: “Bomb them!”—which in itself should tell you a good bit about the character of this man!

The homilist at Jim’s funeral liturgy, Sr. Catherine Bertrand, School Sister of Notre Dame, also a former high school student of his, shared why the gospel for the Mass was that of the Transfiguration of Jesus.  You will recall that after Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James and John; Peter, always the impulsive one, wanted to set up tents to house Moses and Elijah, present there with Jesus. Sister Catherine, thinking that Jim wanted to have her say something about “transfiguration” in our lives, asked him in one of their meetings as they prepared for his funeral, why he chose this gospel and was told, because it is the only place in Scripture where it says, “It is good for us to be here.”  This again tells us a great deal about Jim.

Jim began all his prayers with, “Good and Generous God, Sr. Catherine shared.  She said that the Delta Airline logo was one that described Jim very well—“The ones who truly change the world are the ones who can’t wait to get out into it!”

Someone who would pace back and forth in class, urging his students to “catch fire,” was one who truly believed and acted upon the idea that, “it is good for us to be here,” and to do all that we can to make our world better, for ourselves, but for all, because when all are included, have a share, life truly is better for us as well.

The readings for today’s liturgy call us to that constant theme of the Sundays in [Extra] Ordinary Time, a not “ordinary” time at all, that is, to be our best selves.  Malachi, David in Psalm 98, Paul and Jesus call us to justice in our lives—for ourselves and for others—that is truly being our best selves!

I spent the greater part of this homily sharing about a friend and mentor, Jim Fitzpatrick, because he, in so many ways depicted in his adult life attributes that reflect the life of Jesus—what, in fact, today’s readings, call us to.  And as with so much of Jesus’ message to us in his earthly life; I believe that we can all agree—it’s all about love, that’s it, plain and simple—LOVE!

But in effect, we realize that it isn’t simple, but very profound to make, “love” be the beginning and end of all that we are about in our lives.  And if, at the end of our time here, we can be “ convicted” of having walked faithfully, while maybe not perfectly, as I believe Jim Fitzpatrick did, in Jesus’ footsteps, that would be great for us and for everyone.

Sr. Catherine capitalized on this point as she concluded her remarks about Jim Fitzpatrick and his affect and effect on his world quoting the words of Teilhard de Chardin:  “Someday, after we have mastered the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love.  Then, for the second time in the history of the world, we will have discovered, fire.”

My friends, I am grateful for this good man, Jim Fitzpatrick who showed me and so many others what love is truly all about—“catching fire,” getting out into the world” and being anxious to do that, sharing Jesus’ best gift—love!  Amen? Amen!

My friends, you all know that Robert and I were away for nearly three weeks seeing the southeastern part of our country in our pickup camper.  This was an epic journey in many ways as we had decided before setting out that this would be our last, such camping trip, so it was mixed with the bitter-sweet that such journeys hold.  It was an ending to this kind of adventure, but a beginning and an opportunity for different kinds of trips.

It became clear to us early on and throughout our journey that we don’t have the stamina for this kind of travel anymore.  So it made many things more sweet, realizing we were seeing some places, and doing some things, for the last time.  Now that having been said; we also experienced a sense of relief in knowing that we had made a good decision.

Today’s readings for the 32^nd Sunday in [Extra] Ordinary Time are full of the same type of life-changing decisions, or at least, the opportunity for them.  The reading from Maccabees is a very violent one documenting the lengths that people will go for a belief, both from the standpoint of an oppressor and that of the position of those being oppressed.

The Greeks served in this reading as the oppressors and the Maccabees as those oppressed. These young Maccabeeian men and their mother believed so strongly in being faithful to their God that they were willing to suffer horrible torture and ultimately, death, rather than renounce their God and while the Greeks didn’t hold these same beliefs, they admired what they witnessed in these young men and their mother.  We might ask ourselves whether we would have such resolve.

Paul’s simple prayer is that in whatever comes, he will be strengthened to better spread the word of Jesus, which we know is, love—love for all.

Jesus clarifies this basic message, giving direction as to how that should be done—not looking one-dimensionally at the world, but in many dimensions—“outside the box” we might say—as God does.  The Sadducees, spoken of in today’s gospel, were one of three Jewish political and religious movements in Jesus’ time whom he regularly had to contend with—in their very conservative thinking, accepting nothing but the Law of Moses. The Sadducees want Jesus’ opinion on who will be married to who in the next life and Jesus is basically saying—think broader, wider, higher.

As I think back to our trip, reflecting on what we saw and did—the places we visited, it seemed the Spirit directed our traveling to many sites that spoke of injustices suffered by many in this great country of ours over the years.  And even though we didn’t actually plan on going to all these places at the outset—it was more like, “Oh, this is along the route, or this site isn’t far off our general journey.”

The places I am speaking of included, The Peace and Justice National Monument in Montgomery, AL, documenting lynching of blacks in this country through the 1950’s, the Edmund Pettus bridge in Selma, witness to Martin Luther King Jr and company’s 40 mile march from Montgomery, pleading for equality for all people, a tour through the extensive battlefield of Vicksburg, MS,

a turning point for the Union at a time that this nation took sides against each other over the right to hold slaves and finally, a tour of Andersonville, the Confederate-run prison camp in Georgia, ill-equipped and irresponsibly led where in the course of a year, 13,000 Union prisoners died in squalor and neglect.  All these places caused us to think deeply about what makes a nation great.

Amid those places that we didn’t actually plan to visit, a couple of places were in fact on our radar.  Our trip’s furthest destination was to Titusville, FL, the home of the Space Center and we spent a full day marveling over the courage and determination of so many to stretch beyond our beloved planet to see, what is out there yet to be discovered! And of course, we had to get to the Atlantic Ocean and stick our toes in, at least, I did!

The highlight of this last camping trip was, we both agreed, a visit to Plains, GA and participation in our 39^th president, Jimmy Carter’s Sunday school class!  We had made a reservation to attend several weeks ahead of time, which didn’t guarantee that you would get a spot in the sanctuary, but only to let the people at Maranatha Baptist church know how many to expect.

We chose wisely to go on November 3^rd as the previous week; President Carter wasn’t there due to a fall the week before, fracturing his pelvis.  Even up until a few days before; we weren’t sure that he would make our Sunday, but we had decided to go and pray with the Maranatha community regardless. The president was determined though, not to miss two Sundays in a row, so we weren’t disappointed! And here, we talk about greatness!

The event was quite a drama, complete with Secret Service presence and checks as is protocol for all present and former presidents and their families.  We began lining up at 745 A.M. for the 10 o’clock class on a cold morning, 35 degrees, and even being there ourselves before 6 A.M. to get a number, to stand in line, we were in an over-flow section of the church and watched the class on a television screen. Hindsight dictated that those with the best seats spent the night in the church yard!  But all of it was worth it to be in the near presence of a man who truly lives his faith and by example challenges the rest of us, to do the same.  You may or may not be aware of the fact that about a decade or so back, Jimmy Carter left his life-long Baptist community church because they would not admit blacks to worship. And today at Maranatha Baptist, the community has a black pastor!  And again, we think of the Maccabees and what a person might be willing to do because of a belief!

Of Jimmy Carter’s much fine wisdom of 95 years; I will share just one of his challenges to his hearers the day we attended and more perhaps, in weeks to come.  With all that he has personally experienced in his long life; first-hand racism in the deep south in his growing-up years, which he reflected on deeply in the ensuing years, the military during his years in the navy, the presidency, his experience in Ghana post- presidency fighting health issues, and his own bout with cancer;  he puts out there the challenge, that if our lives aren’t, for the most part, full of joy, thanksgiving and peace, it’s our own fault!

He went on to explain:  “We may not have the highest I.Q., or the most money, or all the comforts in life,  but we can deal with that and decide how we are going to live our life.  If we are not satisfied, who can change that, he asked?”  The answer of course is, “us!”  “This is the kind of person I decide to be! We can make that decision,” he concluded.  I think, we can see that this notion is about something bigger than our position in life, what we have materially, and so on.

“We have the God-given gift of freedom, he said, and God will never interfere with that!”  The hopeful piece that I took away was his assurance that we can go to God with anything, (and I think his 95 years have proven that to him)—that whatever life challenges us with, we will do it, “in the presence of God!”  So while God will not interfere in our freedom to choose the life we will live, that same God, sees it all, and will support us, no matter what! 

   So my friends, just as Jimmy Carter is a man of the Scriptures, and calls us to the same, today’s Scriptures call us to our own greatness—to decide what it is perhaps, like the Maccabees, like Paul, that we are willing to stake our lives upon and then go out there and live it!

This living will no doubt call us as did Jesus with the Sadducees to think in a bigger, broader way about life as we experience it, always being open to where justice isn’t in our world and then doing our part to bring it about.

And when we speak about “joy” in life; I think it behooves each of us to share all the joy we can!  In that light; I could hardly end this homily without sharing with you a fact we weren’t aware of ahead of time in attending Jimmy Carter’s Sunday school class. Part of the experience is the gift of a photo op with the former president and first lady!  They have a fine-tuned “operation” for moving each family group through for a picture, on your own device in about 5 seconds or so, a piece. And on November 3^rd, we stimated that there were 250-300 people in attendance, but in about 30 minutes, all the pictures were captured!  Instructions were to not talk with them or touch them, simply hand your camera off to the waiting picture taker and go and stand near the couple, one on either side.  We were flanked by Secret Service folks and it was all quite awesome! When we walked up, President Carter said, “welcome” as we moved to our place. With his “breaking” of the rules, we “broke” them too and thanked them!

So, to conclude my friends, it is great to be back with you and to share a bit of our journey.  My challenge to you, as Robert and I were challenged by Jimmy Carter, is to attempt in our own meager ways, to always strive to be our best selves, realizing that we do, each, have the power to make it so!  Amen? Amen!

 

Dear Friends, 

Here is Pastor Dick’s second homily in my absence–thank you Dick!–Pastor Kathy

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Reflecting on Jesus’ words in Mathew’s Gospel, namely, “Every disciple of the kingdom is like a householder who draws out from his storage room, things both old and new,” Father Richard Rohr offered the following perspective in his daily meditation last Wednesday:

 “Christianity isn’t done growing and changing. Jesus himself invites us to take things out of our faith-filled “storage room” and discern what is essential. We don’t want the church or the Christian tradition to become an antique shop just preserving old things. We want to build on old things and allow them to be useful in different ages, vocabularies, and cultures. We want our faith to be ever new, so that it can speak to souls alive and in need right now! Otherwise, the faith we cherish so much stops working and it can’t do its job of turning our hearts to God and to one another.”

What Father Rohr said about Christian tradition was also true of Jewish tradition. In the Hebrew Scriptures we see how Israel’s understanding of our God evolved from a powerful but frightening force in their lives to a just but loving, merciful and caring presence.

Today’s first reading from the Book of Wisdom was written only about 50 years before Jesus. Listen again to its beautiful description of our God: “Indeed, before you the whole universe is like a grain in a balance, or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth. But you have mercy on all because you can do all things; and you overlook sins for the sake of repentance. For you love all things that are and loathe nothing that you have made; for you would not fashion what you hate….

But you spare all things because they are yours, O Ruler and Lover of souls, for your imperishable spirit is in all things.”

Let’s now consider how this view of God blends with today’s passage from Luke’s Gospel. 

First, Jesus seems not even to have intended to stop in Jericho on his way through the town to Jerusalem, but somehow word got spread around that he was going to come that way and people started gathering to see him. One of them was Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector and a wealthy man. He was wanting to see the man he had heard so much about. However, since he was a short man and couldn’t see over a crowd, he climbed a tree along the route. He literally went “out on a limb” without recognizing the symbolism of what he was doing.

His curiosity about Jesus and maybe some unrecognized hope deep within him, led him to take this awkward and isolated position, similar to the tax collector in last week’s Gospel who stood far apart from the Pharisee and simply begged for the mercy that he knew he didn’t deserve.

 Zacchaeus surely didn’t expect Jesus to look up just as he passed under his perch, just as Jesus had not planned to stop there. How did the shifty onlooker become the honored host? Perhaps, when Jesus saw Zacchaeus in the tree, his heart went out to him. As Jim Hanzel pointed out in our Bible discussion on Wednesday, Jesus simply loved Zacchaeus–just as he was and clearly before Zacchaeus did anything to earn that love. 

Why did Luke (and, surprisingly, only Luke) tell this story? As Sister Mary McGlone, a Sister of St, Joseph, wrote her commentary about this Gospel in NCR last week, “Among the evangelists, Luke holds the prize for highlighting the poor with their blessedness in God’s eyes and for underlining the moral indictment their poverty brings against society.” Why then did Luke tell this story about Zacchaeus, a wealthy man? 

Maybe Luke wanted us to realize that there are many ways to be poor. Although Zacchaeus was wealthy man, as the chief tax collector, for all the reasons I described last week he was despised and viewed as a sinner.

As when Jesus saw the precarious position Zacchaeus had put himself in just to get a glimpse of Jesus, Jesus invited him to take the next step. In receiving Jesus into his home, Zacchaeus accepted this outreach of love. Luke quotes Zacchaeus’ conversation with Jesus to show the impact of love (grace) on this man: Zacchaeus said, ‘I give half of my belongings to the poor. If I have short-changed anyone, I will repay him four-fold.” Although wealthy, Zacchaeus was willing to part with his wealth, to share it with the poor and to make up for his former unjust behavior. 

“What does this have to do with those of us who don’t expect Jesus to be walking down our streets anytime soon? Perhaps it means he may come in the form of a stranger. Perhaps it might be a homeless person whose outward appearance reflects his condition. It might be a distraught mother yelling at a non-compliant child. Maybe an overworked father worrying how to get enough money to meet his family’s needs. Maybe a troubled teenager feeling inadequate to cope with life’s demands on her. In fact, he is present to us in all of them–if we are aware and go out on a limb through faith to recognize him.

Whether rich or poor, Jesus loves us. But we must not let our possessions be more important than he is. They must not be a barrier to responding to the needs of the poor.

The reading from the Book of Wisdom calls God, “Lover of souls” whose “imperishable spirit is in all things.” May we go out on a limb through faith and be aware of his presence in our lives—and as with Zacchaeus, Jesus’ love for us, just as we are right now, is what overlooks our shortcomings and makes us worthy. His Spirit alive in us enables us to respond with surprised joy and gratitude to fulfill the Father’s will in our lives.

Again, as with Zacchaeus, Jesus invites each of us to come eat with him, right now in this meal. Yes, Jesus is eating with sinners, with us. But remember, Luke ends this story with Jesus’ words, “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost” which explains what he is doing here.

Dear Friends, 

In my absence the past two weeks, Pastor Dick Dahl has been standing in for me and has given us two wonderful homilies to reflect upon. Look for them here in two separate postings. Thanks so much Dick–my gratitude! –Pastor Kathy

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Thanks to an invitation from Jim Hanzel several months ago, I now meet with a small group of men every Wednesday morning to read and discuss the scripture readings for the coming weekend Mass. This past Wednesday when we talked about the implications of today’s Gospel, one of the men said, this is an interpretation you will not hear preached in any of the Catholic churches in town this Sunday. I said, well it will be preached in one of them—at All Are One.

So let’s consider this reading from today’s Gospel according to Luke. First of all, it only appears in Luke’s Gospel. Why did he think it so important to include it when Matthew and Mark did not? We may get a clue in the first verse. Until it was pointed out to me in our discussion Wednesday, I had not noticed that this passage does not begin with the words of Jesus, but rather with the words of Luke, namely, “He (Jesus) addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else.” After this the words of Jesus begin as indicated by quotation marks.

We must ask ourselves, “How do I fit in here?” We are given two people to compare ourselves to. The Pharisee was a religious man. He was educated and well versed in the Scriptures, including the words of Ben Sira which were read to us in today’s first reading. The Pharisee followed the advice of Ben Sira to keep the commandments. As he proudly professed to God, ‘I am not like others who are greedy, dishonest, adulterous.’  In fact, he went on to say not just what he did not do but what he did do. He fasted twice a week, paid tithes on all his income. In other words he even went beyond what the Law required. 

The other person was a tax collector. He did not collect taxes for the Jewish temple, but for the Roman government that was occupying Israel. Many people  despised him because he could be viewed as a traitor, one who made a living off helping the enemy. Furthermore, many tax collectors put their thumb on the scale as it were and took an extra share to pad their own pockets. 

This man, however, “stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast and prayed, “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.”

Once again, where do we fit in? Some Catholics may think, “I oppose abortion and homosexuality, therefore I am pleasing to God.” Or some may think, “I avoid serious sins, I go to Mass every Sunday, and I contribute to the church and other charities. Thank God I am not like those who rarely come to Mass and especially those who don’t even believe in God.” Others yet may think, “There are a lot of bad people in the world. God, I thank you that I am not like them.”

Now, however, we hear Jesus’ words about the two men: “ I tell you the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

What may have seemed clear upon first hearing this story may now seem less clear upon reflection. Why did Jesus not praise the Pharisee for his good works? Why exalt the tax collector whose behavior may indeed have left much to be desired?

I suggest that there are two lessons for us to chew over from this reading. First of all is out attitude toward ourselves.  Jesus is speaking to us about our attitudes, not our actions. His words reflect the perspective that we express in the prayer we say before Communion, “Lord, you make us worthy to receive you, and by your word, we are healed.”

In other words, avoiding sin, doing good works, participating in Mass and prayer all make sense when these acts are a response, a response of deep gratitude for the love and mercy God has first shown to us. But it isn’t what makes us worthy. God’s unconditional mercy and love, which we call Grace, does that. As important as our actions are, Jesus and Luke his evangelist are stressing the importance of our attitude. 

The second lesson this story calls us to consider is our attitude toward others. Despite all the good works the Pharisee did, he despised others and judged them to be inferior to himself. When put that bluntly, I think that most of us would recoil at the thought of doing so. However, when we step back and search our own actual attitudes, we may discover a similar tendency in ourselves. Just as the Pharisee had reasons to criticize the behavior of the tax collector, we find ourselves having good reasons to be critical of the attitudes and actions of those we don’t agree with—especially in politics today, but perhaps in other areas of life as well.

Like Ben Sira, Jesus again and again calls for justice and mercy in the treatment of the poor and less powerful people in our lives. But even when we do our best to follow his words, he warns us not to think we are any better than those we serve, but to view ourselves as blessed to be able to do what we can.

I end with a somewhat lengthy quote from a meditation Father Richard Rohr posted a week ago in which he shared the following story by Tim Shriver, a Chair of Special Olympics. Special Olympics, as you know,  works with many people whom our culture excludes or disregards. Through their eyes Tim has come to see God’s presence in every human being. As you hear Tim’s words, reflect if you stand in solidarity with any who exist “on the edge,” folks who have been excluded, and if you see those individuals through God’s eyes. 

Tim writes, “You cannot believe in or practice unitive consciousness as long as you exclude and marginalize others—whether it is women or people of different sexual orientations or people of religious or ethnic minorities or, in my experience, people with intellectual disabilities. My work,’ he says, “ is largely with and in support of people who have significant vulnerabilities because of intellectual disability. In many cultures these people are excluded and oppressed, though often unconsciously, even more so than other marginalized groups. . . . They are thought to be hopeless. Mostly they are ignored and forgotten.

Tim goes on, “For twenty years I have been mentored by these same people. Some might not be the best-spoken, the most articulate writers, the most celebrated thinkers, the fastest runners. And yet, despite all of that, I have met person after person who emanates a kind of radiant light. After a while, even the densest of us may have our eyes opened to that something which transcends all superficial distractions of disability: the unimaginable beauty of every person. That beauty is ours for the seeing if only we have the eyes to see, if only we pay attention.

Tim goes on, “I try to maintain those eyes as I engage in this work. At times I will pull myself out of whatever I’m doing and try to remember that I’m united with all that is. I give myself license to step away and reconnect. I fail mostly, but once in a while I succeed, and when I do, I feel like I am touching a “sweet spot” of wonder and peace. It enables me to be present to people in a way that I can communicate to them that I love them unconditionally. There are no conditions to our unity, to our oneness.

Finally, he concludes, “Many times I’ve watched, for instance, as a person with Down syndrome stands with a gold medal around her neck, arms raised high to a cheering crowd. I can’t look at that child, at that human being, without slipping out of dualistic thinking. Those moments are a kind of sacrament of unitive consciousness. They are “both-and” moments where shadow and light coexist in the same experience. . . . Divine energy shoots vertically through me like a force, and says, ‘See! Look! Pay attention to what is right in front of you! That is all you need to know!’”

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