What turning the other cheek really means...

When I was a young lad, my parents made us read alot.  And I mean ALOT.  One of the things we had to read was a series of books on influential people of our modern world: Louis Pasteur, Helen Keller...people like that.

The book/person I remember the most was Jackie Robinson.

His story stood out to me partly because he was a Brooklyn Dodger (and I was a fan of the West Coast version of that team), partly because he was a talented baseball player, and partly because he went to a high school not too far from mine.

But what really touched me was that he was asked to make sacrifices for a greater good and truth.  

Branch Rickey, the general manager of the Dodgers at the time, knew that signing the first African-American major league baseball player would be scandalous to the establishment.  And he knew that Jackie would have to endure much hardship, not only for his acceptance in the league, but so that other African-American players would someday have the same chance to play.

The book chronicled Branch Rickey counseling Jackie to turn the other cheek at all the slurs, physical violence on the field and lack of support from teammates that would most certainly be directed at him.  

And, of course, history has proven that his choice to not repay evil with evil changed the hearts of a professional baseball league, its players and an entire country.

Why do I remember this now?

The greater good and THE Truth is bigger than the candidates that will be elected tomorrow and the laws that will be passed or defeated.  And what is good and true always and in every case prefers giving life and sanctifying the family unit.

Some of you reading this (Christian and non-Christian alike) do not agree with Christianity's stance on many of the issues on the ballot, particularly her support of California's Proposition 8 and Senator McCain's candidacy for the Office of the President.  Your reasons for disagreeing are understandable given today's cultural definition of love and your outspokenness is a beauty of our democracy.  To you, my prayer is that your passion can be directed towards moments (however big or small) of serious contemplation, where you can discover the fullness of your search for THE Truth, not just the small portion of it that we absorb from our culture.  In this contemplative journey, you may discover that THE Truth is in the very nature of our humanness - our true identities as male and female and the deepest longings of our souls.  And maybe, just maybe, in this journey you will understand why the pro-life, pro-family value system is so important to all humanity.

Some of you reading this are already committed to the Gospel message of Truth and desire that Truth to be borne out in our nation's government and policies.  Those that live the Christian life are called by God to make sacrifices to stand for a greater good and Truth. However, we cannot confuse what the greater good is here. It is bringing about the mercy and forgiveness of the Lord, not winning an election. We must choose to not repay evil that will be done to us because of our faith with evil.  We must choose unwavering charity to all people regardless of their political stance, whether or not the pro-life, pro-family values reflected on the ballot receives the most votes.  We must choose to take up our crosses, which may very well take the form of enduring personal attacks or violence, lack of support from our own families and brothers and sisters in faith, and/or loss of civil liberties. In choosing all these, we will cooperate with Christ in changing the hearts of our families, churches and our whole country.  And the victory will not belong to a political party or ideology, but to Christ, the way, THE Truth, and the life.

And, so now, we pray, that turning the other cheek will bring about peace and life...