Always the Right Time to Do What Is Right

by Rev. Dr. George Mason

“Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care?” The brass pop band Chicago asked those questions 55 years ago, but they are on my mind in these post-election days.

This time is morning in America for some and a time of mourning in America for others. How can it be both at the same time? It depends. It depends on where in America you are.

If all goes as promised, the election of Donald Trump to be the 47th President of the United States will bring dramatic changes to our experience of life in America. The rich will get exponentially richer, while the poor will hope to creep upward incrementally. Those who already were free to make choices unencumbered by law or culture will be freer still to say or do what they please, whether it pleases others or not. And those whose freedom has been legally limited or threatened—whether control over their own bodies or their professional judgment or their right to protest—will find it harder to exercise their autonomy without consequence.

In other words, whether this is a good time or bad depends. It depends altogether too much on whether you are male or female or transgender, white or black or brown, straight or gay, legal citizen or immigrant residing in the country without permanent status. It may even depend whether you are a conservative Christian—Evangelical or Catholic—or a Jew, a Muslim, a Sikh or an atheist. It depends altogether too much on these things, and the result is that we are not all together.

In his Second Inaugural Address, President Abraham Lincoln articulated the perplexing reality of Americans on opposite sides of the Civil War: “Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other.” We seem to be there again. This time the Christian nationalists have won the day, whether all who cast a winning ballot subscribe to that label or not. People of progressive faith now find themselves seeking spiritual solace and resources for resistance.

The Book of Isaiah is traditionally divided into two parts: the time of judgment in which the people of God are led into captivity in Babylon, and the time of deliverance back to the Land of Promise. In part two, Isaiah speaks of God exchanging our ashes for glory, a garland of joy in place of mourning, a mantle of praise for a feeble spirit (60:3). So, should we be sitting in ashes or leaping for joy?

When we read Scripture, how do we know what time it is? Some of us read this present time as a period that feels like captivity in a country we don’t recognize, as if we find ourselves in Babylon wondering how to sing the Lord’s song in a strange land. But others who live next door to us—and maybe worship in a pew right beside us—read this time as a moment of liberation, as a sign of God’s deliverance. Who is right?

We have no way of knowing if we are right and others wrong. Lincoln soberly warned against claiming such knowledge when he concluded, “The Almighty has His own purposes.” In other words, we should be cautious when assuming God is on our side.

And yet, with all due humility, we have to live as though we do know. We should strive to be on God’s side, as best we understand the ways of God. Time and again our religious traditions remind us that the presence and passion of God is with those who are brokenhearted and crushed in spirit, those whose humanity is denied or dignity diminished, those who sit in darkness and despair.

Our lives are deeply connected to the lives of our neighbors. Our welfare and theirs is not a competitive contest but a common quest. 

Some who belong to communities of difference are feeling especially vulnerable right now. We can share their sorrow and bear their burdens. We can work for their protection and prosperity. And as for those who are celebrating victory in this election, we must not demonize them. Even if we strongly disagree with them and think them misguided, we have to recognize that many of them are also seeking the favor of God. We can and must oppose their efforts when we believe they harm others, but we cannot treat them as enemies. They are our neighbors, too.

At Faith Commons, we consistently say that true religion is rooted in loving our neighbors, without exception. Our values haven’t changed. We may have to give more and take less. We will surely have to serve more and be served less. This way of life is never easy but it is always good. It’s always the right time to do what is right. The rewards for those who do bring unanticipated joy and comfort, rewards without measure. 

The title of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s last book is “Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?” We live in a world house, he said. We can’t afford to think in terms of us versus them. There is no such thing as an other, only another. We are one human family, living in one world house. It’s time we realized that truth, so that we can realize that dream together.