From the Rector

Dear Friends in Christ,

This week, in the middle of the national craziness, my son wrote the best letter “y” he has written. We’re in the middle of a long stretch of writing and he has to write a short story about something of his choice each day this week. To say it has been easy would be a rather dramatic stretch of the word easy!

We had a two-hour skirmish over writing two sentences last night which resulted in a desultory detente in which all sides retreated to figure out how to make their best arguments — me for the value of writing and him for the value of playing with a blue monster truck instead.

So, it was to my surprise, that when I walked into the kitchen, I found him sitting on the kitchen counter. Actually finding him up in odd places is not so unusual. But he was sitting up on the counter, pencil in hand, concentrating as hard as he could, writing his last sentences — the ones we had been arguing over! On top of it, he wrote the best “y” he’s written — it’s a letter with which he’s been struggling.

This comes to mind as I read about impeachments and vaccines and more, because each of us has some small role in making this country a better place, however we can. So, if I can teach our kids to argue without it becoming warfare, to persevere when things are hard to do, to concentrate on doing what we need to do before we just get what we want — on our responsibilities before our rights or rewards — then I will have done some small thing to make this a better nation.

Most of us have heard the old advice about not discussing religion or politics in polite company. Sadly, I think this is the wrong advice. It has just taught us to avoid hard things until we find ourselves unable to discuss them civilly and unwilling to see other points of view. Moreover, we’ve so isolated ourselves and so insulated our environments that we rarely encounter a genuinely held opposing view that is rooted in a shared view of reality and facts.

It’s a huge dilemma and I certainly don’t have all the answers, so I am focusing on what I can do. I’m working on raising kids who know how to argue, who know how to fight for what they believe in, and who also know how to back down and do the work required to make family and community work. They might not end up being the most polite kids, they may sit on counters and talk about uncomfortable subjects, but my hope is that this prepares them to engage the world, not run from it — and prepares them to both know what is right and to cultivate the relationships to help others see it too.

We each get to find the small ways we hope will make the world better, to leave a small legacy, and to nurture a future together. Now I have to go and persuade mine that it is time to get to a morning language arts class online!

Yours in Christ,

Fr Robert