Then, do something!!!!!! I am disgusted with all of you and you have done nothing to help. Absolute nothing. No pastoral support. nothing. And I will go on sending them.
She wants war, I will give her war.
Not really consistent with today's Beatitude.
Dichosos los que trabajan por la paz, porque serán llamados los hijos de Dios.
or
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.
Now, in the Spanish, we are not called peace makers, but those who work for peace. And there is a difference, A peacemaker is of course going to be perceived as someone who tries to reconcile, to get warring and conflicting sides to come to at the very least a truce, at the very best, a prolonged Kumbaya moment.
I tend to suck at being a peacemaker. It isn't that I enjoy conflict. I actually hate conflict. But I hate lies and lying even more. So, I really see my role, partly, as that of speaking, and writing the truth, and of speaking truth unto power. That is the role of the prophet, and every single person who seeks to trust and faithfully follow Jesus Christ is also going to live the life of a prophet. It's in the contract.
So then it could be that a significant part or phase in working for peace, will involve fielding conflict and disaccord, and for the simple reason that without truth, there will be no authentic peace, just a tepid, milk and water agreement to agree to disagree so that we can all get on with our lovely illusions.
If I am to work for peace, based on my experiences in Colombia, then I also have to recognize and address social, political, economic and structural inequality. This is a particular scourge in Colombia, and in many Latin American societies, and it has become an increasing problem here in Utopian Canada. the Anglican Church is particularly problematic in that it is a hierarchy that has its roots in Medieval England, when the Church was the purview of the King and the aristocracy. The Anglican Church still carries those vestiges. It could even be argued that in order for the Anglican Church to become authentically New Testament, authentically Christian, authentically equal, then they would actually have to cease to exist. I do not see that as a problem, by the way.
I want peace. And I want truth. And I want things to be addressed transparently, with a goal towards authentic reconciliation, where all lives are meaningfully touched, affected and transformed.
When we have been faced by our poverty of spirit, when we have mourned over our brokenness, when we have truly hungered and thirsted for justice, when we have become humble, compassionate, and pure of heart, then we begin working for peace. But that can also get messy, because not everyone is going to be equally willing or ready to face their part in the problem, nor be sufficiently introspective as to want to arrive at a place of repentance. This I believe could be why the Archbishop now is trying to stonewall me. Rather than addressing and engaging with me the concerns I am raising she just wants to plug her ears and turn away. Well, how else can I interpret this?
I still have no idea whether or not I am going to continue with the Anglican Church. If I decide to stay, if it becomes clearly God's will that I stay, then I will likely go on being a pain in the ass to the power hierarchy there until they really begin to listen, to engage, and to prayerfully reach with me a place of repentance and reconciliation. In the meantime, they are just going to have to cope with some of the unpleasant things that I am going to be telling them.
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