Truth and Love Always Win: A Brief Reflection

It doesn’t take much to have despair and hopelessness break into my heart like the proverbial thief in the night. All I have to do is open Social Media, look at the news (especially the clickbait headlines), or see the sick tragedy that is politics in this nation. Looking for hope and a way forward, I have been doing some reading, research, and reflection.

I am currently reading Philip Berrigan’s autobiography, Fighting the Lamb’s War: Skirmishes with the American Empire. Berrigan reminds me that sadly, there is nothing new under the sun. The issues he protested against (racism, war, and poverty to name a few) are still very much alive today and just as malevolent as they were when he was writing and protesting. In the essay/chapter God and Ordinary People, Berrigan reflects on his seminary training and what changes he would insist on in that training today (1996).

Looking back, I marvel at how little we learned in the seminary. Would I study for the priesthood again? Yes, but only under certain conditions… We would learn in our classrooms and through interaction with people, about the Gospel as it applies to the world. Most importantly, we would be encouraged to enter into an active, experiential dialogue concerning justice. I would insist on experience with the peace movement, with the poor, with African-Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans. (p. 37, The Lamb’s War)

I was fortunate enough to go to a seminary where such experiences were encouraged and supported. Was I an activist? Not in an obvious way. However, in my interactions with people who were being oppressed (LGBTQ personnel in the military, women who had been raped by fellow airmen and then raped again by the military “justice” system, etc.) I tried to make a difference. I also tried to make a difference in my ministry after I retired from the military and went back into parish ministry.

Now that I am fully retired from both the military chaplaincy and active parish ministry, I find myself in a period of discernment. How can I use my own experiences and ministry skills to serve those who are being oppressed by the church, government, and society? Can I even make a difference? Spiritual mentors like Philip and Daniel Berrigan along with Thomas Merton are busy encouraging me while also challenging me at the same time to make that difference, one relationship at a time.

I have been reading and reflecting today while Denise (my wife and partner in life, love, and ministry) has been working on the sermon that she will preach tomorrow at her home church in Mobile, Alabama. My reading and reflecting has been both frustrating and incredibly positive and hopeful. While Philip Berrigan has been reminding me that there is nothing new under the sun, he has also been encouraging me to find a way to do the work of the Gospel in a real and tangible way in this new stage of life.

One of the spiritual mentors of both Berrigan brothers and Thomas Merton has also reached out to me with words of hope during these challenging times. Mohandas Gandhi once said: When I despair, I remember that all through history, the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible. But in the end, they always fall. Think of it — always.

Dear reader, as we seek to make a difference in this chaotic world, may we be encouraged to continue this work with Gandhi’s words etched upon our hearts. The ways of truth and love have always won — always!