Tuesday, January 25, 2005

Check out this story from the NCR

Writer's Desk: January 25, 2005

On first face this appears to be a very interesting project that is respectful of our democracy, maintains a tradition of opposition, and in a very real, but perhaps unintentional way speaks to the heart of the Catholic Imagination.

Mr. Sinker refuses to be marginalized by the recent elections. No one should accept marginalization. His project of writing a daily email post to the president is a brilliant, eloquent, and poignant act of participative Democracy and exhibits a deep belief in the worth of individual existence/experience.

I mention the Catholic Imagination because I believe that his project is firmly rooted in the Mystery of the Incarnation, which among other terribly important things also teaches us that there is no room in God's Universe for marginalization. All are welcome to the Feast of Heaven. All are welcome to join the conversation. In Jesus' Incarnation, God reveals the universal opportunity for communication, communion, reconcilliation. In light of this, it stands to reason that any and all efforts at marginalization should be resisited.

The Little chapter from Compline tonight (1 Peter 5:8-9) admonishes the faithful to:
Stay sober and alert. Your opponent the devil is prowling around the world like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him steadfast in your faith.
Mr. Sinker's project seems a very steadfast, quiet, even contemplative form of resistence. But also respectful of the realities. Mr. Sinker's committment to communication, to the telling of the truth of his existence, may not be well recieved at the White House. For you and me it may reveal a form of grace, a small cooperation with the Spirit; something that might bring us closer to an answer to Jesus' prayer that all be one.