Unless you become like a little child

I'm not called to working with kids.  The truth is, adults are a lot more interesting.  Even most 20 somethings, and a lot of 30 somethings, are pretty shallow.  They just don't know it, and I don't mind it, it's part of the process and we all go through it.  It takes a lot of time to realize that you don't know much, and longer to accept that you'll never know most things, and longer still to understand that embracing it sets you free.  Too many opinions easily translate to close-mindedness.  Embracing general ignorance--the normal undeniable fact that you don't know most things and that for the ones you think you know, you are often wrong--lets you approach everything with the wonder and joy of a child but with so much more depth.  Save me from the man filled with certainty.  I like to think that conservative Republicans are the ones I mean, but really ideologues come in all shapes and flavors.  Just because the willfully blind man agrees with me, doesn't make him any deeper.  I think that the idea of being opened to the world by embracing your ignorance is what the scripture (from Mark 10) means:

And people were bringing children to him that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them.  When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them, "Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.  Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it."

I just think it's important to move teen's natural passion toward important things like caring about justice and understanding that justice applies to all--you don't get it if the undocumented Mexican worker, or the Gazan imprisoned in their own land, or the worker in a diamond mine, or the homeless guy you hurry to walk past, or the worker trapped in poverty doesn't get it.  To me, as a Catholic, this is a natural result of the second great commandment, and as an American (and proud of it), the phrase, "with liberty and justice for all", means something.

Justice is not just for people you like.  Everyone is redeemable.  People in prison still count as people.  We incarcerate at a higher rate now than any country on earth--I know Americans aren't the worst people on earth.  People complain about high recidivism rates, and want to get ever tougher on criminals, but the truth is that the highest recidivism rates they complain about are less that half.  Most people in prison will never return to prison.  They'll spend the rest of their life around us.  Most of them would never have gone to prison except for some failing of love in their life.  And it doesn't take that much love to be transformative.  So we should welcome them into our society with peace and love and justice, (and work), and if some of them aren't healed or can't heal and they do bad things again, the answer isn't hate, but more love.  (Though like children, sometimes you do have to keep them separate until they learn to behave better--it's just that we do nothing to love and help those incarcerated learn these lessons--just the opposite.)  We can protect others better by transforming the damaged members of our society.

There's also no justice if you ruin the earth for people less advantaged, or for generations to come.  To me, love and justice doesn't stop with human beings, it applies to animals and plants and to the whole earth and beyond.  Kids need to learn that love isn't JUST passion but is often hard work in boring conditions--it's sacrifice--and it's love that makes it so damn rewarding, and so damn frustrating.


Just love.

Thanks,


Patrick