Democracy is Messy!

Democracy is messy! Following the health care debate, waiting patiently for President Obama's decision on Afghanistan and Pakistan, hoping for positive recommendations for job restoration, are an exercise in muddling through, give and take, ebb and flow, excitement and depression, Good Fridays and Easters, stirred with a mix of blah, boredom, and calm. I am reminded of what President Bush once said in a news conference, something like "It would be easier being a dictator, as long as I am the dictator". Democracy is messy.

Ideological rigidity helps create this messiness. It is disappointing to see such unwillingness to consider even some of the merits of the other side, for the sake of the common good. Gracious! Isn't there a maturity factor that says no one gets everything they want? The politics of destruction is alive and well. Too often we see and hear our leadership acting like spoiled children. Democracy is messy.

We have created a system where the corporate wealthy pull most of the strings of power, and exert unbalanced influence on our representatives, to both of their benefits. The rest of us are out there, living day to day, becoming more vulnerable to the whims of the powerful. Elizabeth Warren has caught on to the plight of the middle class in her article on "America Without a Middle Class". Scary stuff. The rich get richer, and then there are the rest of us. Democracy is messy.

Someone once said: "Democracy is the finest form of government around, if you can keep it". Churchill echoed the sentiment. At its best, democracy nurtures debate, openness of mind, engagement of opposites, all towards thoughtful decision making for the greater good, the common good. The rub comes when amidst the debate the heart and mind are closed to listening and learning; when there is no humility, when civility takes a hike, when profit trumps justice, when greed silences compassion, when survival crushes the common good, when blaming negates oneness, when might becomes right, all in the name of democracy. Democracy is messy.

This is where the mission of the Church steps into the fray. The Church is also messy. We, too, are diverse and divisive. Niebuhr reminds us of the power of sin, and our history provides ample examples of how the Church has "fallen short of the glory of God". Yet, there is also confession-forgiveness-repentance which recall our being created in the Image of God. Our core is not ideological, might makes right, profit over compassion, prejudice over oneness. Our core is Christ. Christ the healer, Christ the just, Christ the compassionate, Christ the truth teller, Christ the teacher and preacher, Christ the one who is not from this world, Christ the challenger of the status quo, Christ the transformer of persons, Christ the reconciler, Christ the One who enters our messiness and blends us into a complementary stew for the common good, with no one tastier or less necessary than the other, a stew where each ingredient maintains its taste yet allows itself to influence the other tastes while also being influenced by the other tastes, giving and receiving our common tastes for the fuller taste. In the words of Jim Carrey: "Tasty!"

Democracy is messy. The Church is messy. Democracy needs the messiness of the Church. Christ is the Master Chef who mixes democracy and Church so we can make real a "messy" Reign of God. This gives me hope. This is Advent!

Blessed Advent Hope to all!

Ron