God's righteousness, common good, and the relationship to pilgrimage

I am already discovering through preparation that the Camino is a physical and spiritual journey. I am also learning that these two aspects can reduce the Camino to a sport or to an individualistic tour and vacation. As I ponder my own reasons for going I have pondered if the Camino is at all an escape, meaning Nineveh was calling but the Camino seemed a better second destination. Because 500 miles of walking is better than obedience to God’s calling.

I have wrestled with the "why" of the Camino. Just yesterday someone asked, "Now why would you walk 500 miles? My friend did the Camino in four days - isn’t that enough why does it take you 34 days?” I laughed at his question, even more at his comment. Why does it take me 34 days to do what his friend did in 4? Can't I get the pilgrimage experience more quickly? Can't spiritual journey be more efficient?

An emerging question over the past months

One of the questions in my non-published writings continues to emerge in my daily mind meanderings, “How does the Camino relate to participation in God’s righteousness and our common good?” This question has become haunting over the past few weeks.

I have withdrawn from writing or speaking on broader societal questions, ills, and hopes over the past year or so. When I was a pastor, I was more engaged in societal questions and social action regarding common good and God’s righteousness. I longed to publicly and prophetically participate in God’s redemptive work in the world through thinking, speaking, and acting (to borrow’s Ignatian categories). The laity of our congregation shared in our vision and most sought hope-filled understanding for what is happening in the world. 

I left the local church In 2013, and some of my prophetic gifts were been left behind, also. Some may say (including my own self-talk) that my withdrawal is an act of maturity, for prophetic acts are often accomplished by young and eager followers of Christ. Others wonder (again, including my own self-talk) if withdrawal is cowardice or vanity. I’m not so sure of either. Why do we choose to engage or withdraw? Why do we choose to speak up or remain silent? And what is good, true, and beautiful engagement?

Withdrawing

I remember the moment of my withdrawal. Two good Christian friends came to me during the 2016 election. They knew I was frustratingly undecided. Both friends are faithful followers of Christ. Both are evangelicals. Both desire good in our nation and for the world. Both speak of the flourishing for humanity. Each lobbied for different candidates. Then they left my office.

Election Day came, and I felt sick walking into the voting booth. I knew that regardless of who won, our country would face serious division. People were suffering, and liberation for many marginalized groups was seemingly further off than it was a decade or so ago. Neither candidate held to a concrete and convincing plan for human flourishing, yet this is essential for the pursuit of common good and participation in God’s redemptive work in the world. I felt beleaguered. 

Lindsay says I am antagonistic to political parties, which is utterly true. The issues that one party adopted were then absent from the other. Wisdom doesn’t divide the world in two. We do. This is the irony of King Solomon’s wisdom. And the national scene seemed clearly divided in two with little nuance to consider. Social media is making it all the worse.

The results of the last election have further divided the nation into two. There is no way to say anything without being labeled as a sheep or a goat; an angel or a devil, a liberal or a conservative. And the labels switch feverishly depending on the company. Instead of risking judgment and leaning into the important socio-theological questions of the day (including questions of poverty, race, immigration (people movements), class, and gender), I went quiet in November 2016. 

One student noticed this late last academic year. She said to me, “When I first came to this school, you were a champion for God’s justice. What you teach in the classroom, you now seem hesitant to do.” I have a need for integrity, and this statement was painful to receive but true to my own self-assessment.

Rarely does a day go by that I do not wonder how to offer a prophetic yet curious word to my Christian community. 

Engaging

This concern is growing as I prepare for the Camino. I am in Boston this week and in Philly next week. The history of the founding of the US is around every corner. Yesterday, Micah and I walked the Freedom Trail in downtown Boston. We took a side trip through the Holocaust Memorial, which is adjacent to the Freedom Trail. There I encountered Martin Niemoller’s famous quote:

First, they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—

Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out— 

Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— 

Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Then today on Twitter, Andrew Padilla posted Desmond Tutu’s quote: "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality." -Desmond Tutu

The Second Vatican Council, CELAM, and Popes John Paul and Francis are right, God has a preferential option for the poor. God, the Savior of the Universe, was himself made low in society through Jesus Christ. We have an obligation to see and join in overcoming poverty, whether poor in spirit or poor in resources. Tutu’s, Niemoller’s, and CELAM's words are stirring a question in me I often avoid. What is faithful participation or engagement when it comes to speaking and acting for God’s justice? 

The Camino is a spiritual journey and a long walk. It’s contemplative and introspective, yet I have a firm belief that the deeper we go into silence, the clearer we may be in our connection to God’s justice. I am curious as to what will happen to me as I go deeper in silence over the next days and weeks.

Silence and justice. 

Contemplation and action. 

These are friends discovered by way of one another. 

May it be so on the Camino.