Final Words to a Graduating Cohort 2
To: The Oklahoma City/Kansas City Cohorts
From: Carla Mae Streeter, OP
You are nearing the end of this formal educational jouney. You have searched into areas of belief and practice that have changed your life. I offer you here just a few thoughts on the state of affairs we find ourselves in…the state of tension between faith and culture, and the state of being torn at times between being an American and being a deeply committed Catholic in these times.
Faith is a kind of knowing that comes from loving. Culture is the collected meanings and values of a group of people. They are not opposed…especially if you are in-love with God, with people, with the world.
I begin by reminding us all that we have two eyes…interesting, isn’t it? We have two eyes in our heads, but we have a singleness of vision. In fact, if we see double, we go to the doctor pronto. This image is helpful as we reflect on religion and culture in today’s world.
There are those who see double. There is the secular world with all its demands: taxes, and trade, food and fashion, economics and entertainment. Then there is the world of faith: the parish and the youth group, worship and RCIA, celebration and counseling, doctrine and devotion. Many keep one eye on one world and one eye on the other.
Then there are those with a singleness of vision. Culture with its daily demands and ethnic richness is the skin of faith, the lantern for the light. Faith and religion shine through the culture or are smothered by it, like the light under a bushel. Here there is no double-eyed vision of two worlds. There is but one world: faith in the midst of culture.
Why do we need to have this wholeness of vision? Because the incarnate Word stands before us, God in human skin, and when we look, we see a marriage, a wholeness, one united reality, integrated and integral. God is in love with the world. God grieves over it like a parent grieving over the brokenness of a child. This is what we have learned in our study.
Those we serve will not all have this integrated view. They will be seeing double, and so they will contribute to the ongoing decline of culture. They will make decisions that will dehumanize themselves and possibly the rest of us. But then there are those who long to be whole and holy. They want to learn and see clearly. They are open to the truth, no matter from where it may come. These folks will hear you. Their very presence and openness will augment the progress of culture, because the human will flourish in their presence.
And so, the progress and decline of culture will ebb and flow with the progress of its very soul: the deepening of faith and religious meaning. You have completed this formal part of your journey. But now the time has come for you to help heal the double vision of others. As you enter your roles as mentors and guides, as teachers and healers, remember to regularly keep company with that One who lays hands on your own eyes saying, “Receive your sight…” It is time now to intentionally wash feet with your new towel. Your degree is your foot-washing towel with a special monogram in the corner. You will foot-wash with your intelligence. You are among your brothers and sisters as one who serves. Blessings!
Carla Mae Streeter, OP