Spiritual lessons from political disasters...
... inspiring words from gentle saints of the past
I did my grieving in November for the old and the ill who will in future feel obliged to commit suicide thanks to the outrage that is Labour’s “assisted dying” euthanasia bill, voted for yesterday. I feel sad but the real shock came in November, that a political party that claims to be a compassionate warrior for social justice could so callously ignore the clear and logical warnings from so many advocates for the vulnerable.
I could rant on and on, but would that help? It certainly wouldn’t help my soul. Instead, perhaps it would be helpful to reflect and try to learn from the sorry state of our country. I spend a lot of time asking myself “where did it all go wrong?” and the more that I look back into history, the more I learn.
One lesson is the danger of compromise. Witness the Church of England, which for the past 150 years has been on a steady journey of trying to meet the wishes of society - from contraception, to abortion, to divorce, to women priests, and so on. (It could of course be argued that its very establishment was a compromise, and a morally dubious one at that.) Now there are a significant number of vicars who would not be recognised as “Christians” by any follower of the faith prior to the 20th Century.
Faithful believers in the UK, faced with an increasingly hostile culture, have mostly taken one of two options. One is to get angry, to speak out loudly and forcefully about the evils of our society, and certainly not to compromise. The other is to adopt a tolerant, non-judgemental stance, prioritising “kindness” and working without opposition for the common good in our society.
To modern eyes and ears, the latter can seem the more “Christian” option. However, it often involves steps that may be dangerous. For example, those who believe the answer to abortion is to just make it easier to have children through social justice, and so have failed to support explicitly pro life campaigns. Supporting a phone line that only listens to women in a crisis pregnancy rather than explicitly seeking to persuade them towards life, leaving them unaware of the potential consequences and implications. Wearing a rainbow lanyard because, well, God loves everyone after all, leading many to believe that the only compassionate option is to adopt the mantras of the sexual revolution without comment. Or sending our children to “church” schools with few practising Christians, believing it’s best that they are exposed to the world rather than be protected via homeschooling or more Christian private education.
These are all well-meaning attempts to live faithfully in a hostile secular society, but I observe negative consequences, not least a widespread lack of awareness of Christian ethics and the obvious decline in belief. It seems if we allow grey moral areas, they quickly turn black, and that only clear moral distinctions allow the light to shine in the darkness.
Such compromises are more palatable to our hostile secular culture, and less likely to cause offence to others and therefore trouble for those who choose them. But if observed through history, these kinds of compromise have done nothing to stop the steep decline in our culture. Perhaps they have even caused it or at least contributed to it.
Am I saying the only choice is to separate ourselves from the world entirely and adopt a harsh, critical stance towards it? No. I probably have adopted both extremes of quiet compromise and separatist harsh criticism at various points in my Christian life, and I don’t believe either have proved particularly fruitful.
Pondering on this today, I happened to read a passage from the letters of St Jane Frances Chantal - a friend of the lovely St Francis de Sales:
Should I see wrong I shall certainly speak of it, but with all possible gentleness and humility, and having done so, if it is not put right I shall hold my tongue until the superior’s visit, then I shall simply represent the matter without exaggeration to him.
I love reading the words of these two 17th Century French saints. They demonstrate a beautiful balance of gentleness and kindness along with strict standards for morals and behaviour, and an inspiring devotion to Christ. There is no compromise, but there is no harshness either. I heartily recommend reading their work. In this particular quote, I see a way forward. I need to be more willing to speak out against evil and take action, while at the same time pursuing a spiritual life that leads to holiness and accompanying loving goodness and gentleness towards those we challenge. We need to learn to respond with kindness to those who mock and attack the church - but be willing to speak the truth, too.
The levels of holiness of St Jane and St Francis are so far beyond the norms of today that perhaps they seem unattainable. But the more we immerse ourselves in their words and their ways, the more they might rub off on us, and fuel our prayers for closer union with Christ.
I find it helpful to read any writings of Christians before the 20th Century, because it often awakens me to the reality that what is called Christianity in modern times often bears little relation to the past. How horrified they would be to discover what has happened to Christian civilisation. Perhaps we need to study our ancestors if we want to restore what was good about their culture and prevent further atrocities like the introduction of euthanasia to this country.
Beautiful and helpful in dealing with the anger many of us feel after the happenings in the political sphere this past week.🙏🏻Thank you.