One of my seminary professor would regularly remind us of his story that began, "You all know the response Jesus gave to the disciples, 'Whenever 2 or 3 are gathered together ...'" The correct answer was, "There you have politics." He was, of course, our Church History professor and his name was William Petersen. Of course there are numerous jokes related to that phrase (echoing the New Testament: Matthew 18:20 "For where two or three are gathered together ijn my name, there am I in the midst of them."
His point, of course, stands in a direct line with Aristotle before him, observing that for human beings to live with one another we engage in all the behavior that falls under the category politics. The communities we live in, the communities we run from, the communities we fail, the communities we long for, they all run according to the basic principles of politics. Human affairs are negotiated and navigated according to the principles of politics.
This is both good news and bad news. I laugh when I hear a politician criticize his or her opponent saying, "(So and so) is acting according to politics not according to (whatever principle or value is being evoked)". It's all politics. The politics of love, the politics of war, the politics of failure, the politics of abandonment, etc. are all of them "just" politics. They're just human.
The people of the United States have been so focused on individual freedom, individuality, personal space, etc. that we have often lost a sense of the priority that community has in what it means to be a human being. A dear priest friend of mine used to extole the virtues of Wyoming -- he wasn't from there and I'm not sure how he fell in love with the state. He would say that you could tell when you crossed the state line between Colorado and Wyoming by the fact that the passing drivers would wave at you when you crossed into Wyoming. I'm not sure if that's still true. An even more insightful story was told about folks from Wyoming in the following way.
People in Wyoming, as we all know are fiercely individualistic and guarded from any government telling them what to do or not do. On the other hand, in a place where one's nearest neighbor may be 27 miles away, everyone knows that with one shift of the wind, downturn of the weather or temperature, in a moment, my life may depend on the help of my neighbor.
The place in my life that has come nearest to bringing together the fullness of what it means to be human is Hawai'i. It is a place where the beautiful diversity of the human being is wonderfully on display, from the food that is eaten to the languages spoken. At the same time there is a natural and graceful understanding of our common bond to one another. We are a part of a web of connectedness and my brothers and my sisters are all around me. Thanks be to God.
His point, of course, stands in a direct line with Aristotle before him, observing that for human beings to live with one another we engage in all the behavior that falls under the category politics. The communities we live in, the communities we run from, the communities we fail, the communities we long for, they all run according to the basic principles of politics. Human affairs are negotiated and navigated according to the principles of politics.
This is both good news and bad news. I laugh when I hear a politician criticize his or her opponent saying, "(So and so) is acting according to politics not according to (whatever principle or value is being evoked)". It's all politics. The politics of love, the politics of war, the politics of failure, the politics of abandonment, etc. are all of them "just" politics. They're just human.
The people of the United States have been so focused on individual freedom, individuality, personal space, etc. that we have often lost a sense of the priority that community has in what it means to be a human being. A dear priest friend of mine used to extole the virtues of Wyoming -- he wasn't from there and I'm not sure how he fell in love with the state. He would say that you could tell when you crossed the state line between Colorado and Wyoming by the fact that the passing drivers would wave at you when you crossed into Wyoming. I'm not sure if that's still true. An even more insightful story was told about folks from Wyoming in the following way.
People in Wyoming, as we all know are fiercely individualistic and guarded from any government telling them what to do or not do. On the other hand, in a place where one's nearest neighbor may be 27 miles away, everyone knows that with one shift of the wind, downturn of the weather or temperature, in a moment, my life may depend on the help of my neighbor.
The place in my life that has come nearest to bringing together the fullness of what it means to be human is Hawai'i. It is a place where the beautiful diversity of the human being is wonderfully on display, from the food that is eaten to the languages spoken. At the same time there is a natural and graceful understanding of our common bond to one another. We are a part of a web of connectedness and my brothers and my sisters are all around me. Thanks be to God.