The Common Good

To each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 1 Corinthians 12:7 (NIV)

We are all used to hearing complaining about the political system in the United States. We are all used to complaining about it. We all decry the rabid partisanship that deadlocks action and poisons relationships.

And yet, the next time we read an article about "our candidate" or talk with a friend about how terrible the "other side" is, we eat it up...reveling in how RIGHT we are and how WRONG they are. It's like a Pavlovian response...just as the famous scientist had trained his dogs so that they salivated at the very sound of the bell, so we have been trained. It's hard for us to admit that we are part of the partisan problem.

But make no mistake; any time we identify an "other," lumping diverse individuals into a group we think we can speak with authority about, we are becoming part of the problem...because that tendency of ours (and we ALL share this) actually destroys any sense of what the "common good" even is. It changes the question from, "what would be good for all of us?" to "what would be good for MY group?"

Michael Sandel, a political philosopher and professor at Harvard University, makes an interesting argument that part of what has allowed for the deepening divisions and partisanship in the United States is that we lack what he calls "shared spaces." He defines these as public spaces where we would regularly come in contact with people outside our echo chamber...people who are different from us economically, socially, racially, etc.

Professor Sandel explains that years ago, there were more spaces to interact with those who were very different from us. Public transportation would find elected officials sitting next to blue-collar workers, sitting next to business owners. Ballparks, like the iconic Wrigley Field, would find this same kind of mixed crowd.

Those shared spaces are disappearing. In many cities, public transportation is only taken by those who can't afford a "better" way. Ballparks have skyboxes. We simply don't have as many places where we regularly interact with those who are in a very different life situation than we are. This means, as we discuss important policy issues and proposals, it is easier to turn "them" into a caricature rather than seeing "them" as fellow human beings. This means we speak about whole groups with an authority we don't have, because we just don't know very many of "them."

Back in 2011, Jessica and I heard Professor Sandel speak at the Chautauqua Institute in New York. His topic: The role of the church in finding a sense of the common good. He argued that our Sunday morning gatherings have the potential to be one of the last shared spaces left in the culture...a place where we regularly gather with people who are different from us, and speak of each other WITHOUT the easy caricatures.

This is my prayer today, as we head to the polls. By tonight, we'll have a President-elect. But the challenges aren't over. Sure, the political ads will mostly stop. But we still have to live together. We still have to figure out how to discuss a common good instead of simply what's good for me and my group.

The passage above is reminding us that this isn't just a civic duty; it is a spiritual duty...a task given to us at our baptism. We have been given gifts, "the manifestation of the Spirit," and those gifts are for one thing: THE COMMON GOOD.

So today, let's start with step one: let's pray for the people with whom we most strongly disagree. Just as you have good reasons for believing what you do, so do they. Just as you love your family and want what's best for them, so do they. It's a lazy move to turn others into a caricature or write off a whole group. Let's do the hard work of seeing each other as equally valuable, even if we disagree.

Prayer is a good way to start toward the path of the common good. Today, pray. Pray for the most irritating person in your life. Pray that they be happy, healthy, and blessed. God will begin to soften our hearts...and in that soft soil, seeds of the "common good" are grown.

PRAYER:
God, our hearts are hardened against our neighbors. Soften them. Our minds are closed to the arguments with which we disagree. Open them. Our eyes are closed to ignore the suffering of those who are different from us. Open them, too. Give us the humility and grace to want what's best for all...and the courage to fight for it. Amen.