Journal of Sr. Carla Mae Streeter, O.P.

Bush says we’re it. If the world doesn’t see it that way, tough. We’ve been made righteous. We really know what freedom is all about. It’s time the rest of the world should shape up. It’s time the rest of the world looks like us.

But a lot of us - I for one, and perhaps you, too - don’t see it that way. Maybe we can grab hands and like Alice, go through the looking glass. Our looking glass is faith. Like the pupil of the eye, it opens up our seeing. Without the pupil, our iris could flex all day trying to let in the light, but to no avail. God tells Catherine our reason is opened up by faith. The eye itself sees fully only when the pupil is healthy.

What will we see through the looking glass of faith? What really is the base of the “New” Community? Can we catch glimpses of it already here, or is it some far distant dream that comes only in the deep night of our sleep to haunt us? What is distorted about the point of view of the president of our nation?

Righteousness is easy to claim. It is easy to claim you are “saved” – you’ve made your decision for Jesus, and your salvation insurance is paid. Your word to the world is “Pay up, the rest of you out there – become righteous as we are righteous.” But what if your life says something else? What if who you are and what you do betrays what you claim?

Preaching the New Community does not begin with claims. Our lives speak. Our presence proclaims. The fruit of our living is either sound or rotten. We are worded women, worded men, before we open our mouths to say anything. It is here, in people, that we find glimpses of the New Community.

What we see first in the looking glass is people. Oh, yes, there are problems, but first there are people – people who might have problems. When we begin with the problems we tend to get stuck in them and miss the people. This is the base of the New Community, people who are bonded by a common humanity, and held in a Love none of us understands if we are truly honest.

Open your eyes. It is all around you, this new community. You will glimpse it in the hospital ward, where sick children of all races are being played with by volunteers; it is there in the Altzheimer’s unit where dedicated nurses make sure the patients are at peace and secure; it is in the military hospital where a team is tenderly fitting a soldier with a prosthesis; it is in the inner city classroom where the kids are putting on Shakespeare before a wrapt audience of parents; it is in the field where a group of farmers have decided to go organic because they are concerned about polluting the water table with pesticides; it is offering a job to a black applicant because she simply is better qualified.

Righteousness is not something we claim. Righteousness claims us, and we manifest it in the way we deal with people. As a nation, we have a very checkered record as seen through this looking glass. Could that be why others resent us so?

True righteousness can be easily spotted. Look for Love’s discretion. Another name for it is prudence. It means making sure you know all the facts – as best you can – before making a snap judgment - about anyone, about anything. In the meantime, you are respectful, tolerant, and open. Look for Love’s fairness. We call it justice. It tends to what others need. It spreads resources around. Keep your eyes open for Love’s courage. We call if fortitude. Don’t miss the little people. They have it in an amazing degree from their daily struggles. Look for Love’s moderation. Not too much, not too little. We call it temperance. To make it really simple, just keep your eyes open for the most courteous among us. Courtesy is a blend of discretion, fairness, courage, and moderation.

So, Mr. President, would you want to re-think this righteousness claim? When what I spot in our people starts to appear in our government as we relate to others around the world, then you will have my ear. Until then, I for one, offer our world neighbors a sincere apology for our arrogance, for so often not walking the talk. And I will rejoice when it is clear for all to see that we do walk the talk. That’s what I see through the looking glass.