Dear Friends,
I recently came across this quote by the American Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr from his book, The Irony of American History.
“Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime;
therefore, we must be saved by hope.
Nothing true or beautiful or good makes sense in any immediate context of history;
therefore, we must be saved by faith.
Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone;
therefore, we must be saved by love.
No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint.
Therefore, we must be saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness.”
As we approach the 2024 elections here in the United States, I find it helpful to be reminded that we, as Christians, do not depend upon any particular candidate’s election as the basis for our hope. I know you already know that… and I know that… but I thought I would write it down anyway. Whoever wins this U.S. presidential election, according to most polls, will only enjoy roughly half of our nation’s support.
We may desperately want our candidate to win. We may fear what will happen if the other candidate wins. But our hope, our faith and our love and, yes, even our forgiveness, to paraphrase Niebuhr, are precious gifts which originate in the Eternal God. Our church will stand through this moment in history as it has through every previous calamity and test. We will continue to proclaim, as Presiding Bishop Michael Curry likes to say, “the loving, liberating, and life-giving spirit of God.” No matter who wins.
Like almost everyone I know, I can be anxious as I look ahead to November 5th. The rhetoric employed by some candidates and their surrogates is as vitriolic as any I can remember. There are threats of violence, implied and overt. It is good to be reminded that the United States has had some very bumpy elections with angry language and ugly threats in our history and we not only endured, to borrow from Faulkner, but we prevailed.
We will be disappointed by elections.
Political processes are destined to fail us.
Material possessions will always be insufficient.
We will become disenchanted by worldly status and glory.
These are not where our hope finds its source.
This Sunday we will celebrate All Saint’s Day and we will welcome, as our guest preacher and Forum presenter, the Right Reverend Mark D. W. Edington. Bishop Edington serves as Bishop in Charge of the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe and offers a unique perspective on world events. Our alarm clocks will blessedly give each of us another precious hour of sleep on Sunday morning, the New York City Marathon will be run, and we will continue to invite members and friends of the parish to make generous contributions to the 2025 St. Bart’s Stewardship campaign.
There is much to pray about in this moment… and much for which to give thanks.
Faithfully,
The Right Reverend Dean E. Wolfe
Rector