Hello –
I’m now two weeks into my Lenten discipline of fasting from contempt. I’ve just gone back to the article that inspired me, a column in the New York Times by philosopher Karen Stohr, and I am only more convinced by both the timeliness and the difficulty of this discipline.
I commend the article to you. I’ve read it quite a few times now, and each time, take something slightly different away from it. (Here’s the link.)
This time, reading it reminded me of one of the five vows made at Baptisms. It is that, as Baptized Christians, we are asked “Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.” Every time we baptize anyone, we all reaffirm this vow by saying “I will, with God’s help.”
Although I am utterly supportive of the intent behind the vow, I have always felt that it was mis-written. It ought to have asked us to respect the dignity of “each” human being. The vow to respect “each” is both more humble and more difficult, because it means that we treat with dignity each individual person whom we encounter, not just generic humanity. It is easy and meaningless to love everyone. It is much harder to love that particular someone who drives us nuts or whose motives we don’t trust. Yet that is our vow.
Every Sunday, I have had discussions with many of you about this practice of fasting from contempt. This was particularly true last week, when the title of my sermon was “Fast from Contempt.” (You can hear it here if you like.)
I am so grateful to be struggling with this particular fast with so many of you. Let us keep supporting one another. A community without contempt, in our current culture, would shine like a beacon in the darkness.
Blessings,
Christopher
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