Comments for Jim Other sermons.           

Mother’s Day is when we remember with appreciation our mothers and celebrate the kind of love we associate with motherhood: unconditional love and acceptance. Our mothers embody a love that links us directly with the very source of life itself – a love that dependably shines forth to us no matter what we have done. Such love is an expression of God’s abiding grace. It has a kind of cosmic quality and power.

But I would say that there is also another kind of mother love - call it "tough mother love." Yes, I knew I could depend on my Mom’s proud support of me, no matter what. In her eyes, I was the greatest. But I also knew that Mom could cut through to the truth like nobody else. If I had done something wrong and was trying to deny it, slide around it, or cover it up – watch out! Even though she was a genuinely kind and gentle soul, she had laser vision. She would look me in the eye and say, in the parlance of her Ohio farm upbringing, "Jim, are you storying to me?" That is usually all it took. She could read my response in ways a big city DA would envy. Years before there was a word for what I was doing ("spin"), she could firmly brush the bull aside and pin me to the wall like a Monarch butterfly. I don’t think I need to give any examples, because I’ll bet you know exactly what I am talking about. Am I right? And, despite my exquisitely wrought excuses, the last word was always hers. She would say, "Well. I think that’s wrong, and I think you know it."

Speaking for myself, I think we live in a time in which our national leadership, from top to bottom, needs a good dose of tough mother love. The recent Pentagon report found "numerous incidents of sadistic, blatant, and wanton criminal abuses" inflicted on detainees in Iraq. Is it a few rotten apples? I guess we will be finding out. I hope we will be finding out. But it is all wrong. I know it. And you know it. Now everybody knows it. The front page of the Washington Post on Thursday featured that ghastly picture of a member of the National Guard from Maryland holding a leash on the end of which was a naked Iraqi groveling on the floor at Abu Ghraib prison. When the soldier called her mother, she said, "Mom, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

There is another dimension to tough mother love. In addition to insisting that we own up to what we have done wrong, tough mother love demands that we look at the frame of mind that made those wrong deeds possible. You had to be pretty careful around Mom (and that whole farm clan) about acting like you were better than everybody else. She could deflate pretense, arrogance, attitude, snobbishness. Ever had your mother put you in your place? Our policies too often reflect attitudes of arrogance and superiority. We expect everyone to want to be like us. We feel entitled to dominate others and are shocked and amazed that people in an occupied nation feel humiliated.

I began by saying that a mother’s unconditional love and acceptance forms a kind of cosmic connection with God’s unconditional love – God’s grace. But, at the same time, a tough mother love, cutting to the heart of the wrongs we commit, and forcing us to look at our attitude of superiority, this tough love comes from God as well. Even as God’s grace is never-ending and dependable, so is God’s justice fierce and uncompromising. God does not protect us from the consequences of our actions. It is sobering to me to hear spokespersons for our government admit privately that the damage done by these revelations of abuse simply cannot be undone, no matter what "strategies" are adopted or sincere apologies offered. Who’s to blame ultimately? Well, if we believe what we so confidently say about democracy to the rest of the world – the superiority of our system and our beliefs, then we must admit that, in a democracy, we are all responsible. That’s what I was taught in school. The people rule. You get the government you deserve. And I think it is no good to take reassurance that what has happened is not as bad as what the jihadists and insurrectionists have done – mass killings and suicide bombers, or even what Saddam Hussein did with his prisoners. Even the conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer says:

The American offenders should surely be judged by our standards, not by others’. By our standards, these were egregious violations of human rights and human dignity. They must be punished seriously.

What will happen in all this? Who knows? But I do sense a kind of sickening shift of consciousness going on here. Something tells me that in this whole ugly chapter in our relationship with the rest of the world, we are being forced into a new humility. Maybe that is good. What can we do now? I suppose assign blame and punish. But what is more important to me is that Jesus said he came to set the prisoners free. I think what we should do is bull-doze Abu Ghraib prison to the ground and set the prisoners free. We should empty the prison at Bagram base in Afghanistan. We should shut down Guantanamo detention center and set the prisoners free. Apologies are necessary, but we should, as John the Baptist said, "Bear fruit that befits repentance."

I don’t for a minute believe these pictures accurately depict who the vast majority of our soldiers are; certainly not those I know and respect and pray for each Sunday. But I fear that these images capture something unfortunate that is true about America.

I would like to close by reading an email I received last week from Peter Lohman, currently stationed in Iraq.

Jim - I wanted to send a quick note of thanks to you and the whole congregation. Before I left I received several letters from children in Sunday school and they were great. My favorite was one that said, "Thank you for being a US soldier. I hope you get stationed in Iraq." Priceless! I posted it on my wall at work for everyone to see. I know that everyone has been keeping me in their prayers and I am very grateful for that. Through some of the tough times here, it means a lot to all of us to know that we are supported back at home.

I'd ask that you keep the Iraqi people in your prayers as well. There are many of them who want to build a peaceful and stable democracy. Unfortunately, their efforts are often thwarted by the few who don't. But every day, Americans and Iraqis work together to build schools, roads, water filtration plants, and all the other basic components of infrastructure that we in America often take for granted. With a lot of hard work, I am confident that the Iraqis will one day be able to take real control of their country.

Until then, we will keep at it. Please give everyone my best and also thank them for taking care of my Mom. She does tend to worry sometimes. That's what mothers do. Take care.

Peter

AMEN.

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