I have spoken of the need to sometimes pray the news.
Two days ago was the Feast Day of the Epiphany in the Christian calendar, epiphany meaning appearance, manifestation or showing. In Washington D.C., it turned out to be quite a showing and manifestation indeed, revealing the very deep shadow in America's soul hatred and hypocrisy have been visible for years fanned by unbridled media and hypocritical politicians.
Live on our television sets yesterday, was a presidential speech repeating lies about an election he lost and urging a mob to march to the capitol building to interfere with the counting of election results. the mob eagerly followed his instructions, many of them well prepared with gas masks, pipe bombs, guns, confederate flags and unbridled anger.
The traditional Epiphany story has two elements to it: One is about foreign wise men traveling from afar to celebrate the birth of a holy child, Emmanuel or God-with-us. But the second part of the story is about a wicked king, an agent of the Roman Empire named Herod who like lots of politicians then and today, traffics in lies and hypocrisy. On hearing of the goal of the wise men to visit a new kind of prince, he tells them to be sure to return in order to tell him where he can be found so that he too can "worship this new born king." All the while he has in mind to kill this rival to his throne and, frustrated by the fact that the magi detoured from returning his way, he goes crazy angry and instead orders the killing of all new-born male babies.
Back in Washington, we are appalled by the scene of this crowd of angry white men(mostly men), some with confederate flags in tow, invading the capitol building, desecrating the spaces of Congress people, taking their thuggery to the Senate chambers themselves, terrorizing elected representatives. Meanwhile, still more than 140 Republican Congress people carry on the charade of "bogus election," carrying on the lies behind the coup attempt.
Amazingly, the capitol appears to be in large part unguarded even though everyone in the country knew that a "wild day" (the president's language) was forthcoming with so many "proud boys"and other white supremacists and domestic terrorists coming to town.
There is a reason why Satan is called "the father of lies." Falsehoods banish truth. When lies get preached over and over again by a person holding power (Hitler comes to mind), very bad things happen.
Thomas Aquinas taught that truth and justice are companions. You can't have one without the other. In other words, injustice builds on lies. All kinds of evil follows. Hatred is enflamed by lies. And hatred was very much in the headlines of yesterday's events--as well as of the story of Herod, ambassador of the Roman Empire (whose leader Herod, ambassador of the Roman Empire (whose leader was worshipped as a filius dei or "son of God" in the first century).
When John Lewis left us his Farewell Letter last year, he urged the young to study truth from the past; truth does not diminish with age.
Two big truths come through in the epiphany story, one of them being to be wary of polititians who lie and practice hypocrisy.
Yesterday, the chickens came home to roost.
Speaking of John Lewis, there was another manifestation on Epiphany Day yesterday--his spirit won two elections in his home state of Georgia, both of the new senators representing a hopeful shift to more justice and peace in the American body politic on the horizon with a new administration soon to be inaugurated.
There was some good news amidst the dark news of the day. Like the first Epiphany.
See Matthew Fox, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society, p. 321 (on lies and hypocrisy); 186, 287-289, 293-296, 300, 311, 362, 294 (on hatred); 389-398 (on Hitler as a religious figure).
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