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a good friend of mine and hardworking Dem activist, Alfred Stanley, just had a John Kerry experience. He gave me permission to repost his story here.
Nantucket,, MA June 19, 2005 -- Walking to mass this morning, I spied a jeep on the corner by the church, Our Lady of the Island. On the rear bumper was an obviously Republican sticker: a large W followed by five smaller letters, two digits and a stylized American flag. It said
Winner'04
"Hmph," I said to myself,
"Warmonger'03 is more like it."
"Do you see who's standing there?" My daughter, Rachel, said, snapping me out of my thougts. Across the street, talking to another couple, stood John Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry.
"Perhaps they're heading to mass as well," I told her, and didn't think much more of it. If they were, they would walk right past the bright yellow jeep with the offensive sticker.
Later in the service, I was struck by the first reading, and hoped that the Kerrys were there to hear it; Jeremiah 20:10-13:
Jeremiah said:
"I hear the whisperings of many:
'Terror on every side!
Denounce! let us denounce him!'
All those who were my friends
are on the watch for any misstep of mine.
'Perhaps he will be trapped; then we can prevail,
and take our vengeance on him.'
But the Lord is with me, like a mighty champion:
my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph.
In their failure they will be put to utter shame,
to lasting, unforgettable confusion.
O Lord of hosts, you who test the just,
who probe mind and heart,
let me witness the vengeance you take on them,
for to you I have entrusted my cause.
Sing to the Lord,
praise the Lord,
for he has rescued the life of the poor
from the power of the wicked!"
Indeed the Kerrys were there, two rows behind us.
In nearly thirty years of political life, I've written a lot of words about candidates and causes while taking some pains to avoid mixing faith with politics. But it would have been impossible for me to tell this anecdote without making this an exception, so perhaps you will indulge me a bit further.
As full as I am of doubts and uncertainties and even skepticism, I have learned much that I value on the journey which led me to become a Roman Catholic twenty-one years ago.
In the world of scripture, the self-righteous are never righteous, and those who succeed in worldly ways usually wind up missing the boat (Joseph of Arimethea being a notable exception). On the other hand, to fail, to be rejected, even to die shamefully is to triumph.
Jesus boiled down the Law and the Prophets to: love God and love one another; and probably out of concern that that was way too general to stick, gave us some specifics: love your enemies, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit prisoners.
He gave us a short list of the "blessed": the poor, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, the persecuted.
Nowhere in the presidency of George W. Bush do I see the slightest hint of anything resembling the values of Christianity as I have come to understand them. I see a man who stole an election, lied to start a war, permitted torture, bankrupted a nation, laid burdens on the poor while lavishing wealth upon his cronies, and even mocked a woman whom he had executed, all the while proclaiming himself a "follower" of Jesus.
Which brings us back to the today's reading on this Twelfth Sunday of Ordinary Time. May this poor world indeed be rescued from the power of the
Wicked.
Thank you, John Kerry, for running the race and fighting the good fight. And happy Father's Day to all.
Alfred Stanley
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