Fr Robert Hendrickson

Dear Friends in Christ,

I’ve been noticing a trend in various places lately.  A rejoicing in suffering.  For example, a friend posted an image of a child sleeping soundly with a snuggly angel and floating on a cloud with the caption, “This is how I sleep knowing that illegal immigrant families are being separated at the border.” Lest you rush to condemn conservatives a liberal friend posted a note about how soy bean farmers in Mississippi “deserved to lose everything” and it “serves them right” because they voted for Donald Trump and are now finding their livelihoods devastated by the trade war with China.

This rejoicing in suffering is just a small step removed from deeper dangers. When we are content or even delighted to see the physical, emotional, financial, or spiritual harm of another person we are just steps away from more profound debasement and violence.  We are reaching a dangerous point in our society in which we are losing sight of the humanity people with whom we disagree and, in the process, trading our own humanity for the dopamine thrill of being right.

This is a temptation that is, frankly, anti-Christian and we must resist it. We must find a way to expand our notion of who our neighbor is to be as wide as Christ’s own vision. Ultimately we will each find ourselves challenged to recall the humanity of someone we fear or disagree with. We must all take a deep breath and dig into the well of compassion into which we have been baptized to see as Christ sees, to love as Christ loves, and to forgive and be set free.

This is an angry age — but every age is.  The thing that is different is how we are responding. 

Robert