May 2005

As the world came together to celebrate the life and repose of John Paul II, we are reminded of Scripture that tells us We Are One Body In Christ. We viewed old and young, rich and poor, firm and infirm, Christian and non-Christian, high profile and no profile peoples from a multitude of ethnicities, cultures and countries as they paid their respects and worshiped together. How astounding that one man could command such unity of admiration and affection. We are together one body, though broken and in pain.

A little eight year old Hispanic girl from a recently divorced family said, "I don't get it! I just don't get it. They didn't even ask me. My mama took us to live with my Tia. I can't see my papa. I don't get it!" Little Juana was devastated. "It feels like someone ripped my heart out, tore it in pieces and threw it in the garbage", she cried.

Raymond a handsome seven year old boy born in the middle east worried about his father because, "he left me and I miss him." "When I am old enough to drive, I will go to find him," Raymond whispered. "My heart feels broken," he said as he drew this picture.

Five year old Alita whose family is African American is trying to understand why her mother and father keep fighting. She feels afraid when they fight. "They fight about where I am going to live," she confides with tears rimming her big brown eyes. She feels pressure to choose between her mommy and daddy...at five years old.

An Anglo boy named Eddie is only eleven. There was domestic violence in his house. His mother was killed by his father and then his father committed suicide. He was little when it happened, but he remembers that night. He couldn't stop it from happening. Eddie misses his family. He is angry. He is sad. He is broken.

Monica who is from an Asian family wonders why she has to live with her grandmother. She has just had her sixth birthday and they did not send her a present. Monica's mother and father are both living lives that do not include children. Dad has a new girlfriend and deals drugs. Mom is in a rehab facility. Monica has lived with her grandmother since she was two. She feels sad when her class makes cards for Mother's day.

Fourteen year old Maria is the last of eight siblings. A church going God fearing family that is second generation Hispanic has a youngster that is bulimic. She has a best friend who is also fourteen. Her name is Emily and her family is Black. Emily is anorexic. They have another friend who used to be both anorexic and bulimic but now she cuts herself. This friend is Allison. Allison has a family whose roots are in Ireland. Three girls headed for self destruction.

Patrick just found out that his girlfriend Anna is pregnant. He is the sixteen year old son of a very prominent family. His girlfriend is only fifteen. She wants to give the baby up for adoption. He wants to do the "right thing"; whatever that is. His parents want to run and hide. Her parents want her to have an abortion. Everyone is angry and fighting. Someone just offered Jose a "joint". He didn't take it this time, but he is afraid he will lose his friends if he just says no. "Everybody else does it and I don't want to be left out," he says. "My dad smokes pot, but only on the weekends," he confides. He lives in a culture where drugs are the norm. Being stoned is what people do on weekends.

"How many kids live in a neighborhood where they hear gunshots?" the teacher asked of an inner city school class of third, fourth, fifth and sixth graders. Hands shot up all over the classrooms. Fully three-quarters of the students live with gunshots echoing on a regular basis in one of our "Finest Cities". Children in school still have fire drills but they also have "lock down" drills. These are in the event that there is an intruder or a violent episode in or on the school grounds. We expect that no child will be left behind even when sleep and peace are displaced by tension and gunshots.

Moms and dads are divorcing at an alarming rate, those that bother to marry. Many others are not ready to make that commitment while making preparations to baptize baby one, two or three. Marriage is, after all, a real commitment. Having a baby isn't? Those who do marry and stay together are, for the most part, stressed to the limit from lack. There is a lack of money, a lack of time, a lack of patience, a lack of peace, a lack of hope, a lack of energy, a lack of common sense, and any other lack that you can think of.

Our seniors are fearful of the future. Will there be enough money? Will there be medical care? Will my family want me, love me, and spend time with me? What's going to happen to me? Everything is hurried. Nothing is normal. Terrorism is from without and within.

We Are the Body of Christ. We are young. We are old. We are firm. We are infirm. We are from many different ethnicities, cultures, cities, states, countries. We Are the Body of Christ and we are broken.

As a Christian, what must my response be to this broken, painful world? Scripture says that if one part of the body is hurt, all of the body hurts. When these few vignettes are read, what do you feel? God and good psychology tells us that there are answers for the brokenness. Let me proffer some.

We need to return to the values and virtues that our Church represents. We need to hold our Church accountable to what God teaches us through his Word. We, each of us, needs to allow the Holy Spirit to ignite our faith and our works. If our faith does not inform our being in the world, then the faith is fallow. It is imperative that each of us continues to grow in our faith. It is not a nice thing to do, it is essential. Learning does not stop with 12th grade or any other grade. We must continue to learn and grow.

We must seek the face of God in each other, in our children, in all children. We must, each in our own way with our own personality, discover what our purpose is for the kingdom. Living, life is not a free ride. It is not about me, me, me, and me. It is about what the Lord wants me to be and to do. This is a battle we are in. Read those vignettes again. The battle is for what is right and what is just and how you are living it out.

Take a look at your life. Take a look inward. Do you cheat on your taxes....on your wife....on your job? Do you turn a deaf ear to dirty jokes.....gossip.....lies? Do you blind yourself to pornography.....irresponsible media.....thong bathing suits on the beach? Do you excuse the lyrics of obscene music.....suggestive office talk.....political doubletalk? Do you not want to get involved with the sick agenda of extreme liberalism or the radical right? What do you think about when no one is around? Where do you spend your time, your money, your energy? What do you stand for? What does integrity mean to you? Will what you believe and live be honored by God at the judgment? If relationships are a problem, learn to communicate, forgive, set boundaries, and become assertive. If selfish lifestyles are the case, change the behaviors that are causing trouble. Read books, take classes, go to therapy. Do what you have to do to grow and become all that you are meant to be. Growth and change are an integral part of life. We can choose the direction of such growth. My spiritual life is not separate from my material life. Values and worship do not exist in the vacuum of Sunday morning. God and good are for all time. Life giving thoughts, words and behaviors are a choice that a person makes. And, when one makes a negative choice, it can be redone, relearned, reviewed and revised.

All it takes for evil to prevail is for one good person to do nothing. Someone said that in a much more eloquent way, but however it is said, the message is that we cannot be bystanders. We must be involved in life and to the extent that we do nothing we are responsible for the world that is being created. Not many have the power or influence that John Paul II had. Each of us has influence in at least one life, our own. Make it stand for something, someone, Christ Jesus. Then think about how your action or inaction will impact those around you.

The family of Juana did not think about her heart when it was ripped out, torn and thrown in the garbage. They were thinking of themselves rather than each trying to work together to resolve problems. Maria (bulimic), Emily (anorexic), and Allison (cutter) were on self destruct because they were in some way living without hope. Patrick and Anna were looking for love in all the wrong places. Jose sees despair in his neighborhood, in his family. Living with gunshots, addictions, violence and betrayal are the result of a limited myopic view of what this life is about.

If we want to change the world, it must begin with one, me. How do I live my life? I may be only one little cell in the Body of Christ, but by the grace of God and through the power of the Holy Spirit, I choose to be the best little cell that I can be. I choose to be life giving as Christ is life giving. I AM THE BODY OF CHRIST!!!


Patricia G. Medeiros, MS, MFT