Deacon Dan Wright

The Courage to Be Human

"I am going the way of all flesh.
Take courage and be a man.
Keep the mandate of the Lord, your God, following his ways
and observing his statutes, commands, ordinances, and decrees
…that you may succeed in whatever you do…

From 1 Kings 2

Of all the wisdom I learned, or perhaps it might be best said "of the little wisdom I learned," in my study of philosophy something that has always clearly stood out is the saying "To thine own self be true."

When we look at the great heroes and fathers in the faith, when we look at the patriarchs and prophets, indeed when we look at the Lord himself, we clearly see individuals who were true to their hearts. Certainly, in the Lord we see this perfected. It is his being true that stands out most clearly. That is, it is his truth to himself, his truth to who he was and what he valued that made the real difference in his world as he sojourned on earth as a man among us.

If we want to be imitators of Christ, if we want to follow his ways, and if we want to know him as he is, we need to understand that he lived a truth that transcended the truths of first century Palestine. Jesus took the notion of righteousness and showed his contemporaries what it really meant—he radicalized the meaning of faith, forgiveness, healing, disease, disability, justice…in his own person he showed us what it truly means when we speak of God.

Jesus intended for us to know and live with the same clarity of sight, with the same allegiance to the values of truth that he lived. Jesus stood clearly in opposition to the falsehood and hypocrisy of his times. As his followers we must learn to see his path clearly and to walk upon it ourselves. It is a path that demands the destruction of the falsehoods that pass for true faith. It is a path that invites us to walk upon it in a different pair of shoes than what we have become accustomed to wearing.

We should always look from the positive; that is, from what is in order to decide what to do. We may look to those whom Jesus chose to embrace. Might we find a mission among them? Might we find a thread in common with those who cry for mercy, yearn for grace, pray for healing, and long for acceptance? Might we find Christ by looking deep into the eyes of the poor, the sick, the sinner, the convict, the enemy?

To follow the way of Christ is to take the courage to be human. It is to take the courage to be true to yourself, to be true to your calling. In doing so we find real meaning in life, and certainly it is not without its risks to stand with humanity; to stand without the benefit of being veiled by the falsehoods and presuppositions, by the fully accepted half-truths and no truths of our day. The Lord calls us to walk in light and to be who we are. The path begins to unfold slowly…we begin to see what lies ahead.

A Sign that will be Contradicted

"Behold, this child is destined
for the fall and rise of many in Israel,
and to be a sign that will be contradicted
'and you yourself a sword will pierce' 
so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed."

Luke 2:34-35

Today the salvation of God is presented in the temple. He, according to Simeon, is a sign to be contradicted. Christ has entered the world and come to be salvation for all people. Yet it is not without a cost to be paid, not without the pain of the passion, to which today's readings point us. Already in early February we begin moving toward Lent. Already we begin to prepare our hearts for the journey.

I was thinking about the meaning of contradiction in our world today. For me, coming from an Evangelical background, the contradiction, in my interpretation, always had to do with the difference between the world that lives according to the ways of sin—with sin as its master—and the world that lives according to the Spirit. I have noticed this among Catholics too. We tend to draw a line between sin and holiness and this presents a stark contradiction.

However, true as the comparison may be thus far, there is an even deeper contradiction. It is the contradiction of justice and injustice in our world. It has to do with the contradiction between war and peace, between wealth and poverty, between health and disease, between those on the inside and those who are always on the outside.

The topic today is one that I would like to explore more in the days to come. There is yet a deeper contradiction, a deeper sign, in Christ. It is precisely the contradiction that challenges what we hold to be already true. Christ challenges what we believe about holiness, about justice, about faith and religion, about truth. Jesus Christ as a sign that was to be contradicted came into the world to level it and to establish a new foundation by shaking and replacing that which was already.

Considering Christ at his Presentation helps us to begin preparing for Lent, which is just a short time away. It sets our focus and forces us to identify with the life of he who comes into the world to be a sign that will be contradicted.

The Lesson of Meeting Hate With Love: Reflecting on Martin Luther King Jr.

Recently a coworker asked me what I thought the significance is of celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  Too often those of us who get the day off from work—teachers, government employees, students and others—may tend not to think all that much about why we have the day away from our work, but instead we may treat it as just another day off. 

I believe it’s a mistake for us not to reflect upon and consider the significance of this holiday.  In fact, we really ought to find some way to celebrate it actively.  We ought to find some action by which we can incorporate the meaning of the holiday into our lives.  I want to offer a suggestion: we can allow Martin Luther King Jr. Day to be the occasion for a renewed commitment to making peace in our world.  In the name of Martin Luther King Jr., that is, in the name of all the good that he stood for, we can commit to a daily act of peacemaking in order for the world to be a better place for everyone, a place of true freedom and mutual respect; a place of true justice and hope.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is about the dream that he had, and a dream for us to share.  His was a dream of peace; a dream of cooperation and equality.  Dr. King’s dream included all Americans—no, more than that.  His dream is a dream for every man, woman, and child of planet earth.  It is a dream that I find to be in keeping with everything that I’ve been taught about the true significance of living the life in Christ.  It is a dream where I see in the faces of all people my brothers and sisters, my family, and my friends.  Dr. King’s dream is a vision of a world free from oppression and hostility; free from hatred, inequality, injustice, and ignorance.  How could we not make it our own?  How could we not live it today?

The lesson that I take from Dr. King, and that I commit to live, is the lesson of meeting hate with love.  In a conversation with a friend recently I mentioned that Dr. King taught that we must meet hate with love.  I went on to say that to do so is certainly not the “natural” thing to do.  Much to the contrary, it’s natural to meet hate with repulsion, and often with aggression.  My friend told me that meeting hate with love is supernatural, and indeed to do so requires that we tap into God’s reservoir of grace.  Something I want to emphasize here is that it’s far from impossible to meet hate with love.  In fact, meeting hate with love should be the habitual Christian stance.  It’s the real way that each of us will change the world one person at a time.

Take a few moments today to consider the significance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  Incorporate it into your prayer life if you will.  Ask God to make you a vessel of peace.  Consider today the significance of this great Christian leader who asked us to share his dream.  Consider the value of peacemaking and nonviolence as a way of bringing about a transformed world.  Moreover, reflect on the real responsibility that each of us must take to do something to make peace a reality.

Let us go forward together and always meet hate with love.  Love has the power to transform, and all who encounter true love will remain forever changed by it.

Media Reports Avatar Opposed by Church, Political Right

It's only been a couple days since I did my post on "Peace and Ecology."  In it I added my take on the film "Avatar."   Since then I’ve found ample stories on the Vatican and the political right being critical of the film.  I suppose my comments were timely.  It bothers me a little though that the media seems to be trying to portray the Vatican as being narrow-minded.  If anything the pope’s New Year’s address on peacemaking through protecting the environment should prove otherwise.   

Concerning “Avatar” I mentioned briefly in a paragraph what stood out to me in relation to my overall post, and really I'm no film critic but several things appeared clear to me. In my view of the film I mentioned that it seemed to convey a message of opposition to exploitation, though it’s not developed well.  The film also clearly has an underlying philosophy of pantheism and neo-paganism, which are not compatible with Christianity. Add to that the portrayal of the worst militaristic and capitalistic stereotypes imaginable, which are abundant and not easy to find likeable, and you end up with an overall poor view of humanity.  I'll repeat what I actually said, though if you scroll down the page to the January 11 post you can read it in context:

…as a society we tend to listen closely to what film and other media presents.  Undoubtedly "Avatar" expresses a strong theme of respect for nature, but it also has a strong underlying theme of pantheism and neo-paganism based on nature worship.  While I believe the film presents a good message on the importance of being opposed to environmental exploitation, it unfortunately plays too heavily on militaristic stereotypes, demonizes humanity, and is rather pessimistic concerning the future of the human race overall.  In the end it comes off as little more than an epic sci-fi tale of cowboys and Indians.

Now, I must add that I actually enjoyed the movie quite a bit.  In terms of exciting action it had me hanging on the edge of my seat for better than two thirds of the film.  However, I agree with much of what I've read about a lack of depth, though depth is not what gets movie goers out.  We live in a world where depth more often confuses people and they would rather get the simple version.  Frankly, film provides an excellent escape.  It has value often just in its ability to entertain and offer a momentary step back from the events of the week.

So “Avatar” doesn’t disappoint.  It has entertainment value.  It also expresses a simplistic view, one that has roused strong sentiment on both the political left and the right.  I find it interesting that those who can have their political feathers ruffled on either side don't actually need a lot of depth to get them going.  Rather, they seem to thrive on the more shallow expressions of real issues and the accompanying implications.  

I would have personally preferred that the film went into greater depth in making an anti-war message clear.  It could have done better to explore the real need for true environmental activism. It could have better explored the detrimental effects of unchecked capitalism.  It might have even gotten into a deeper exploration of the existential dilemmas of the characters.  However, it only had three hours for all of this and in some ways it did a good job of at least touching on these subjects. 

I found it interesting that the folks at beliefnet.com seem to be not too concerned with the heterodox challenges of pantheism or neo-paganism, rather they seem to feel that the obvious fictions of the science fiction presents a bigger challenge:

But while it's a given that the media outlets of the Catholic Church will, and should, take a particular theological stance on any bit of pop culture that may get reviewed in their pages or on their airwaves, I can't help but think, "Really? Neo-pagan nature worship is a real sticking point here?" What about the fact that human bodies no longer hold special significance, that human consciousness can be transferred into genetically-crafted empty vessels, Na'vi avatars, manufactured through a means of asexual, gene-manipulated reproduction, "matured" on a spacecraft and then decanted? And that's just one example. To worry about pantheism, and that a 3-D movie might inspire a little too much tree-hugging, just seems so antiquated, so very early Church, especially in a world full of poverty, war, and challenging scientific questions.

Actually, when it comes to a world of poverty, war, and challenging scientific questions, I don’t believe the Catholic Church has been silent. Clearly the Church has great concern with such issues and does so in a way that transcends the polemics of political ideology.

On Peace and Ecology

Last week in Thursday’s post I mentioned that I would like to return to comment on certain sections of the pope’s message for the celebration of the World Day of Peace.  Therefore, today I want to begin by taking a closer look at the document.  However, more than just providing my commentary on an already well-expressed message, what I would like to offer is concrete direction on how we might work to make a difference as well as just to reflect on the subject with greater depth.

The first thing I’d like to do is direct you to the website of the Catholic Climate Covenant.  On it you’ll find additional information and ways to promote and be involved in peacemaking through environmental awareness and protection.  In investigating and promoting such efforts we are following through with informing ourselves in “ecological awareness,” which “needs to be helped to develop and mature, and find fitting expression in concrete programs and initiatives.” (See section 3 of the World Day of Peace message)

In order to better understand the need to protect the environment I often turn to my own personal experience and apply it to reason.  It makes good sense to be pro-environment, but we who hold this may have come to it from different backgrounds and for different reasons.  My experience of ecology has long been one that includes the understanding that nature is sacred.  I believe that my realization of this fact first came about at a time in my life when I began to understand and acknowledge the hand of God in all things—it came about through my experience of conversion.

As a young man growing up in east Texas I had ample opportunities to experience the power and awe of nature first hand.  I saw it as the work of God and I understood nature as a way in which God was communicating with me.  There was a connection made that I have never lost.  In the years to come I began better to understand the role of human beings as stewards of the environment.  The link that has always been clear to me is that of our having a shared responsibility for future generations.  This, of course, is what the pope means when he speaks of intergenerational solidarity. (See section 8)

It is my strong conviction that I should live in such a way that respects all living things to the highest degree possible.  I see in all created things a connection and interdependency that demands respect and greater understanding.  Furthermore, I truly do believe that respect for creation is the foundation of bringing peace to the world.

An important point to keep in mind, which is expressed in the pope’s message, is that being concerned with protecting creation, and thus bringing about peace through it, does not mean putting the environment—ideologically—above the human person.  To be an environmentalist does not necessarily entail a philosophical position of ecocentrism or biocentrism, which would make the claim that nature in itself is the highest good while ignoring the centrality of humanity as God’s creation.  Nor does it mean embracing pantheism, or even a form of neo-paganism which makes a god of nature and refuses to address the issues of planetary ecology from the viewpoint of true reason. 

I reflect on this keeping in mind that I just saw the movie Avatar this weekend, which I immensely enjoyed watching in 3-D.  What Avatar has to do with my reflection today is that as a society we tend to listen closely to what film and other media presents.  Undoubtedly Avatar expresses a strong theme of respect for nature, but it also has a strong underlying theme of pantheism and neo-paganism based on nature worship.  While I believe the film presents a good message on the importance of being opposed to environmental exploitation, it unfortunately plays too heavily on militaristic stereotypes, demonizes humanity, and is rather pessimistic concerning the future of the human race overall.  In the end it comes off as little more than an epic sci-fi tale of cowboys and Indians.

On more than one occasion in the pope’s message on the World Day of Peace he calls for sober lifestyles in response to the need to show greater respect for the environment.  This is something that all of us can consider.  I believe that we must also take on strong convictions that support legislation in favor of both protecting natural resources and making resources such as water and clean energy available to developing nations.  In our ecological sentiment we must move beyond ideas that are merely fantasy, such as those presented in science fiction, or even the unrealistic or seemingly romantic ideals associated with ecological efforts.  In multiple ways the survival of humanity depends on our ability to convince the world to stop destroying the air, water, climate and other resources on which life depends. In other words we have to get real, which I believe also means abandoning any pet political ideologies that are opposed to environmentalism or that deny the real existence of ecological issues such as planetary warming.

The pope goes on to say (in section 11) that concern for the environment calls for a global vision that moves beyond nationalistic interests.  Indeed this is where true peace lies.  We truly move toward obtaining the ideal of world peace when we are able to put the interests and well being of the whole world ahead of nationalistic and self-interested motives.  A global vision is also a vision of a world in which there is a renewed earth and a human society that has learned to protect its greatest gift, a gift that is the handiwork of the Creator, a gift that we were given to be its responsible stewards.

At a later date I’ll be back with more discussion on the World Day of Peace message, until then I want to offer the following suggestions, which are provided by the USCCB website and may be downloaded in pdf format for bulletin inserts:

5 Ways You Can Cultivate Peace by Protecting Creation

 • Learn more about how climate change is related to global poverty at the

Catholics Confront Global Poverty Web site: http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/globalpoverty/ 

• Take the St. Francis Pledge to Care for Creation and the Poor at the Catholic Climate Covenant

Web site: http://catholicclimatecovenant.org/

• Take action to ensure that climate change policies protect poor and vulnerable people, and sign up to receive the most recent legislative updates/action alerts at http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/takeaction.shtml

• Join with family, friends, or fellow parishioners to pray for solutions that care for creation and care for the poor!  Access USCCB prayer resources at http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/ejp/climate/

Friday Freedom Thoughts

It may seem funny, but this week after returning to work following a full two week vacation someone says, "Hey don't we have a three day weekend coming up soon?" Well, yes we do have a three day weekend coming on January 18--just a week from Monday. 

Something I hold strongly is that when we have a school holiday to commemorate something special, it ought not just be an extra day off.  We ought to seriously consider why we have the day off in the first place.  So after asking a few of my students what Martin Luther King Jr. Day is all about, and not getting answers that truly satisfied me, I jumped at the opportunity to do a bit of teaching--even if it's a full week early.  In the world of special education we sometimes need to teach and reteach, so the early start is not out of place.  Perhaps for the rest of us an early start at thinking about "why" for holidays such as MLK day is also in order.

Now, I'll likely say more about Martin Luther King Jr. and nonviolence next week.  For today I feel that a fitting Friday meditation for my blog might be in the form of a video--one that features a favorite singer of mine.  After all, it's been some time since I've featured a video.

Peace Through Environmental Protection

The Church has a responsibility towards creation, and she considers it her duty to exercise that responsibility in public life, in order to protect earth, water and air as gifts of God the Creator meant for everyone, and above all to save mankind from the danger of self-destruction.  From Pope Benedict XVI - Message on the World Day of Peace, January 1, 2010

Last Sunday during my homily I made mention of the Pope's New Year's address on the celebration of the World Day of Peace.  Due to time constraints I was not able to unpack the message other than to make a brief mention of it and connect it to my main point, which had to do with reaching out and making peace during the new year.

However, there is indeed a lot of unpacking and reflection that I would like to do with the Pope's address.  I feel that it is important, and if we are going to make events like the World Day of Peace effective we need to carry them into the entire year with us.  

Just for today I want to make the text available to anyone who reads my blog and invite you to reflect with me as I continue to weigh the issues of peacemaking from time to time this year.  You may read the text of the Pope's address on the World Day of Peace here. 

I found the document to be extraordinarily interesting because of my concern with both the causes of peace and environmental protection.  Also I doubt that it's all that common--at least with talk in the media--to find world peacemaking strongly connected with environmental causes.  Not expecting a discussion of environmental peace I was surprised somewhat when I read the text, but altogether I read it with a sense of great welcome.

In some senses connecting environmental concerns with peace gives us a better concrete idea of what we can do to make peace in the first place given that idea tends to be somewhat broad.  In the coming weeks I hope to explore some concrete examples of things we all can do.  

For now, let's start with the Pope's address.  I will return in the coming days--intermittent among other posts--with specific comments on sections of the address as well as ideas from other resources on how we can make a difference in providing peace and justice through protecting creation.

Words from the Night

 I cry aloud to God,
   aloud to God, that he may hear me. 
In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
   in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;
   my soul refuses to be comforted.    Psalm 77: 1-2

The morning prayer of the Church begins today by calling to mind one who cried aloud to God throughout the night without ceasing.  It serves to remind us that we have a place to turn in the day of distress.  Although appearances and all evidence of the senses may seem to scream out that we are alone, our faith urges us to turn to God.

In all honesty it would be rare for most of us to spend an entire night in prayer crying out.  Usually at the end of my day sleep comes with little effort.  Truly no sane person would want such troubled sleep that he or she felt forced to cry to God for comfort in the soul.  However, we should consider that there are in fact many people whose lives bear such difficulty that sleep does not come easy and perhaps they spend the night calling out for help.

Several years ago I went on a retreat given by an elderly priest who had a knack for storytelling.  One of stories I remember best was his telling about how as a teenage boy, living on a farm in Texas during the bad years of the Great Depression, he was awakened one night by the sound of his father whom he discovered on his knees in the living room praying for his family.

Situations so severe that they have the power to cause a person to spend the night awake are real.  I think such people numerous and all around us. When I consider the places in the world where trouble abounds it tends to be somewhat mind boggling.  Considering the war, violence, disease, hunger, and poverty that exists—often in our own cities—there seems to be plenty to warrant crying aloud to God.

Years ago, before my conversion, I recall that a congregation I attended held an all-night prayer vigil from time to time.  I first remember attending one such gathering when I was just a young boy.  It left me with a strong impression, though the kinds of things that were preached about that evening (there was preaching in addition to prayer) had more to do with saving souls than meeting the corporal needs of humanity.

Occasionally I have known of Catholic parishes that will have a night of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.  Whenever we get an opportunity to spend a significant portion of the evening in prayer, we may find that it carries a blessing.  It’s our opportunity to spend a little time awake with the Lord.  

What should be on our minds and hearts any time we pray or any time that we have occasion to reflect deeply?   In addition to our personal needs and the needs of those closest to us, we should consider the needs of those who suffer most in this world.  Especially we ought to pray for those who yearn for peace.  Peace will bring healing to a multitude of pains, and reaching out to make it happen may just heal us in the process.

However, regardless of what our concern might be, whether we have a concern for the world that all of us share, whether it is our families, our ability to provide for those who depend on us, or any other need-- personal or otherwise, we may bring our concerns to God.  If only we possess a minuscule portion of faith, or even less I think, and in sincerity voice our concern to God, we will see results.  I cry aloud to God that he may hear me, indeed I cry aloud to God. 

Resolve

Each year the Christmas break brings a much needed opportunity for rest.  For me, as a teacher, this seems to be especially true.  The two weeks I have for vacation provide a time of recharge.  So as I return to work this week, I hopefully have found renewed vigor and readiness to face the challenges of the work that lies ahead.

While in years past I really haven’t been much of one to make New Year’s resolutions, I have found it to be helpful to find a sense of resolve for the year that is in front of me.  For some it may help to list their resolutions.  It’s funny, but in my work life I tend practically to live from various kinds of lists, such as “to do” lists and checklists.  However, I’ve never been much of one for New Year’s resolution lists.  Although I made a list last year, I only managed to keep up with one or two of the most important items on it.  No surprise that daily exercise didn’t make it far (unless you count running up the stairs at school a dozen times a day).

The resolve I plan this year is a little harder to define.  It comes from going through a spiritual journey—one that hasn’t yet given me a sense of its having been completed, and perhaps may not since spirituality is a journey that culminates in the final days of one’s life.  The resolve I have comes from a combination of everything that I experienced in the past year.  I suppose if I looked deeply enough at it I might find that it’s a culmination of my whole life up to this point.  In all of it I like to think that the Epiphany light will continue to shine and show the way.

The spiritual message that I feel is being given to me, in an elegantly simple way, is that I am to be a diligent worker—a coworker with God—this year.  At the start of this year I gather from my life, from my past and present, my deep-seated commitment to peacemaking and I feel that God is asking me to explore it more. 

In the past year my blog here only served to be a place to post monthly homilies.  Like so many other bloggers, whom I've seen come and go, I have almost let go of regular posting.  Of course you only need to look at my archives to see that this hasn’t always been the case.  It may be that this year I will make better use of this blog in exploring my spiritual commitments as well as perhaps sharing my struggles.

I know from my stats that I have a readership, though it may be small at times.   Nevertheless, I invite your comments and I invite you to follow whatever posts I put here this year.  I also invite your prayers as I attempt to express spirit and faith, as I attempt to share the difficulties and triumphs that are common to Christians living in the world today.  Perhaps more than anything, I’d like to share with you a better sense of my role as a deacon, that is, as I share my particular diakonia, my service.  Bear with me and pray for me as I resolve to be a coworker with Christ in all things.

Here I am Lord

As I sat down last night to compose what was to be a short blog post for today there were several things that were on my mind.  Certainly I was feeling appreciative to have another day off this weekend, and I considered that too often I take days off for granted. 

Many years ago, before I was married, and before I was a deacon and a teacher, the kinds of jobs I had typically involved physical labor of one kind or another.  It seems that having an extra day to rest had more value then, though don't get me wrong I still value it greatly.  It's just now that it has a different character--this day off gives more of an opportunity to reflect.

Also as I was thinking about today's post I was considering the readings from Sunday.  Perhaps it's the sign of having heard a successful homily when the readings have the power to impress something on us that we can carry through the week.  Undoubtedly I heard a good homily, but the readings by themselves also have the power to do this all on their own when we listen and when we learn to allow what we hear become part of who we are.

As I listened to the priest talk about the importance of hearing the call--and not just for vocations to the priesthood or religious life alone, though that is an important part of it--I thought about the person that Americans and others throughout the world celebrate today.  That is, I thought about Martin Luther King Jr. and the call he heard to address the great injustices of his world.  It's something that we as Catholics should relate to well because our social justice teachings demand that we too stand up for the causes of justice and take the side of those who are least powerful in this world. Surely Martin Luther King Jr. heard such a call, and he acted with determination in its regard.

It becomes more and more apparent with each passing day that the times we live in demand strong action on our part.  Many of the things that Martin Luther King Jr. struggled against still make their presence felt in our world.  In addition we live in times that demand both action and prayer if humanity is to survive, and ironically it is humanity that poses the greatest threat to its own existence.

Hearing the call of the Lord, and answering "Here I am," means that we must put all of our intellect and resources together to effectively address the complex issues we face.  I believe wholeheartedly that the Christian faith still possesses the ability to continue to be a force that shapes the world.  Our faith can still satisfy the souls of the spiritually hungry as well as those who hunger physically.  We still possess the ability to show the love of God to the world.  By no means is our respect for the sacred nature of God's creation and the human person ineffectual, rather it is a necessity.

Indeed we stand on the brink of a new era, which on the eve of President Obama's inauguration we may see more clearly than at other times.  While the Obama presidency symbolizes the fulfillment, at least in part, of King's dream that humanity would stand together without regard to race, this new era is yet to be an era of great challenge, not only in terms of how we regard others but to what lengths we are willing to go to in order to preserve humanity and our world. Indeed the times demand a spirit of cooperation, but for us as Christians they demand that our evangelization must express and precipitate the sheer power of the God who is love to reach into the world and to transform it utterly into something new and full of goodness.

As I take the day off from my work as a teacher I reflect on the call--no simple matter really--and how I might answer it better.  In reflecting on how in my own life I can say "Here I am Lord," I am reflecting also on how I can join with you to bring about a kingdom of peace where we will no longer destroy the handiwork of God.