"Why?" I asked.

"Because I not only killed enemy soldiers in combat, but I murdered lots of innocent civilians as well." Knowing I had been a chaplain, he went on: "You have spent your entire life working for God, and I have done all this evil, so where does that leave me?"

"You get the party and I don’t," I replied.

"What are you taking about?" he asked.

SHEMA YISRAEL ADONAI ALOHANU ADONAI ACHAD
Hear, O Israel, the Lord, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.

Thus begins the Shema Yisrael, the ancient Hebrew prayer found in Deuteronomy 6. It is the foundational and daily prayer of the people of Israel from biblical times to this very day--a bold proclamation that there is only one God--a gutsy statement in the ancient world--the foundational understanding of God as well for us, the people of the new Israel, the new Covenant. The Lord our God is One.

It was this God who made the promise to Abraham. It was this God who called to Moses from the burning bush and promised to rescue the people from slavery in Egypt. And when Moses asked the voice for a name, he got a very short answer and no name at all: 'ehyeh asher ehyeh' translated "I am who I am" or better "I will be who I will be."

It was this God whose name could not really be uttered, a God of awesome mystery, who dwells totally beyond the world--and yet a God who hears the cry of the people. This is a God of absolute power, more powerful the Pharoah's army, more powerful than the sea--One who could rescue his people. This name and this God admits of no further penetration, no further interpretation.

But this God had to be called something: Adonai, El, Elohim or simply the short form of God's unpronounceable name "Yahweh" which means: "he is," or "he will be" or "he will cause to be." And, God tells Moses, "this is my name forever and my title for all generations." (3:15)

As we heard in the readings from Isaiah and Revelation a moment ago: This is the God who created the heavens and is now enthroned in the heavens and is called: "Holy, Holy, Holy." "Who was and is and is to come." The people will see who this God is when they witness what this God does--as Ezekiel reminds us: "And they will know that I am Yahweh." This is the God who tells Isaiah: "I am the First and the Last." (48:12) and yet a God whom Isaiah knows cherishes the people with a mother's love and comforts them as a mother comforts her child (49:15; 66:13).

This is the God who hears the groaning of all creation (Rm 8:22). This is the God who has mercy on his people in their struggles with sin and suffering and death. This is a God who connects with earth, not like the kite at the end of a string, but as One who comes among us: This is Emmanuel, God with us.

From the New Intro to Out of the Night on civil religion and war

Once again the country is divided over a war which seems to have no end in sight. Once again, troops are called upon to fight a war against an insurgency that seems to grow stronger. Once again the American military is called upon to chase an enemy into the midst of a civilian population. Once again the American military is seen by an indigenous population as oppressors. As was the case in Vietnam, the origins and conduct of the war seem grounded in erroneous intelligence, misjudgments, mistakes and outright deception on the part of political leaders.

Soldiers and their families are beginning to raise their voices in protest about shabby medical treatment they have received back home. Multiple deployments of military personnel back into the war zone have caused serious morale problems among the troops. Reserve and National Guard units have been called up and deployed in ways not seen since World War II.

Once again the American civil religion--which is often confused with authentic Christianity--has been used as a religious and moral underpinning for war. The discussion of civil religion in Out of the Night is as relevant today as when it was written. The religious rhetoric used to support the war in Iraq is even more blatant and virulent than that used during Vietnam. The dangerous doctrine of American exceptionalism which formed the basis for this pre-emptive war has its roots in civil religion. There has never been a greater need for a public conversation about religion and war than there is now. Out of the Night provides a framework for this discussion.

Discussions with counselors who work with newly returned veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and some personal contact with these veterans make it abundantly clear that the questions and problems confronting these young men and women are the same as those that plagued older generations of warriors.

The sole exception and crucial difference between these new veterans and those who returned from Vietnam is that the country has learned from the bitter experience of a generation ago that we must provide support for our troops. We must not scapegoat them for whatever errors the civilian authorities might make in the decision to go to war and the blunders they make in fighting the war.

As are other Vietnam vets, I am profoundly grateful for the support our troops have received during this war. I like to think that this book has played a small part in making Americans aware that veterans need our support, whatever we may think of the war itself.

Brent's description of Gordon's death was both accurate and deeply moving. He wrote: "Gordon died cradled in the arms of Louise and surrounded by friends of many years who have stood beside him (and Louise) in good times and bad. His death was peaceful and holy, as Louise hoped it would be. He knew that it was time to die and the passage was mercifully swift. The continuum between life and death was fully evident and Gordon made the transition with grace, surrounded by love."

The doctors and the medical staff at the VA loved and respected Gordon and Louise. In fact one of the doctors who visited during his last hours commented that most people aren't surrounded by this kind of love as they slip away towards death.

Certainly there is a large and deeply felt absence here in this parish. To quote Brent again: "The voice of St. David's died. Gordon’s voice was heard in worship, in the pages of The Gospel, in his strength of spirit, and in the dignity with which he lived his life. That voice is now silent here, but singing the praises of God in a place where there is no suffering or pain."

At the reception after the service we will hear many stories from the life of this multi-faceted and magnificent man. We will learn that he was a lifelong devotee of railroading, he was at various times a gymnast, a radio announcer, a licensed pilot, a soldier, an electrical engineer, a computer expert, a pioneer designer of the internet and a handyman who could do just about anything. Gordon knew everything about computers and would answer any question. The only trouble was, after talking to Gordon you always needed just a little more ram or another few megabytes or gigabytes.

Louise and Gordon loved children and before the accident they would offer assistance to parents by taking care of the kids for a weekend or a few days. And kids loved them and responded to them. When the parents returned, Gordon and Louise would remark on how well-behaved the kids were--and you'd wonder whose kids they were talking about.

We who remember Gordon before the accident know that his great delight was in doing all that he could to make life pleasant and bright for his beloved Louise. And then there was that terrible day in March of 1989.

When Gordon returned to St. David's in his wheelchair, though diminished in size, he grew in stature. He never complained, rather, he inspired us all. He resumed his place in the choir he loved so much. He served on the vestry. He read the Scriptures from the very center of the church. He published our monthly newsletter. After the accident Gordon moved even more into the center of our parish life.

And so did Louise, for she continued on as our liturgist and devoted parish helper, but now she was constrained by the tremendous responsibility of caring for Gordon. So Louise and Gordon inspired us in new ways from their place at the very center of life in this parish.

Many people came to their assistance, and were in turn inspired and helped by them. Parishioners went over to help. There were the attendants and the choir. Their circle of friends grew to include the wonderful medical staff at the VA hospital where Gordon was a patient so many times.

Then there was that incredible day sixteen years ago when Gordon discovered a daughter he had never met. When that daughter and her husband came to San Diego to visit, there was a public ceremony of adoption right here in this parish.

Gordon and Louise accepted Tinker as their daughter and Barry as their son-in-law. The lives of both couples were immeasurably and permanently enriched by this relationship and they have been even further blessed by the four children since born to Tinker and Barry.

When Gordon died, the VA presented Louise with a flag because Gordon had been a soldier. When Tinker opened the box, this young woman who had been an army wife, realized the flag was not properly folded, so we went to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot to have the Marines fold it the right way. Louise decided that Tinker should receive the flag.

So six Marines from the color guard folded the flag properly--as at a military funeral--and presented the flag to Tinker. And upon leaving the premises they rendered a proper salute to the departed soldier, to his wife and daughter.

Tinker, that flag is yours. Keep it and treasure it, for it is a reminder of your father at a stage in his life when he was young and vigorous, when he endured the rigors of basic training and lived the army life with which you and Barry are so familiar. And Arielle, Caleb, Adrianna and Alexis--remember that your grandfather was at one time a young man whose energy was at least the equal of your own.

Really Gordon's life is best summed up in his signature hymn: The
Exultet, the Easter Proclamation. Each year on the night before Easter at the service of the Great Vigil, Gordon sang right here in this church that most ancient and beautiful Christian hymn. It is a hymn that summarizes all we believe about the core of our faith: that Christ crucified, was raised from the dead and that we who are baptized into his death are joined also in his resurrection. The root meaning of Exultet is to exult. That's our Easter faith. That's the way Gordon sang it and that's the way Gordon lived it.

You see Gordon, the skeptic, the doubter, the careful scientist had come to faith by resolving in his own mind the deepest questions of science and faith and he had also accepted that faith in his heart and at the very center of his soul.

Gordon sang the Exultet every year, but he lived it every day. This year he had again prepared to sing it at the Great Vigil of Easter, but was too sick to come to church, so he called our home that night and sang it beautifully over the phone for Carol and Marie. He sang it and he lived it.

So, what does it say, this song which was Gordon's song and is actually the signature hymn for the entire human race? It begins when the church is dark and the paschal candle is brought in signifying the light of Christ, This light is then spread to the smaller candles, representing all of us who receive our light from the light of Christ. Did Gordon, confined to a wheelchair as a quadriplegic, understand darkness and the night of the soul? Oh yes, he did! Did he understand the light of Christ and did he extend it to others? Oh yes, he did!

Just remember or imagine for a moment that man with less than 30% lung capacity, in his wheelchair singing with full voice and great joy the opening words of that ancient hymn:

"Rejoice, heavenly powers! Sing, choirs of angels!
Exult, all creation around God's throne!
Jesus Christ, our King, is risen!
Sound the trumpet of salvation!"

Remember this man, who lived for 19 years in the darkness of quadriplegia singing this:

"Rejoice, O earth, in shining splendor,
radiant in the brightness of your King!
Christ has conquered! Glory fills you!
Darkness vanishes for ever!"

And the hymn goes on, bidding us to do what Gordon did with his life among us:

"Rejoice, O Mother Church! Exult in glory!
The risen Savior shines upon you!
Let this place resound with joy,
echoing the mighty song of all God's people!"

On the morning he died, Gordon refused any further treatment, knowing it was fruitless. He told Louise, "I've decided to bail." A paraphrase of the words of Jesus on the Cross: "It is finished." When he was anointed and heard the prayers for the dying, he was still able to respond, in imitation of the one who said: "Father, into your hands, I commend my spirit."

And then came the transition from life into the long night of death…but here's what the Exultet says about the finality of death:

"This is the night
when Jesus Christ broke the chains of death
and rose triumphant from the grave."

Gordon lived out the Exultet every day. His example and his inspiration to us was his Easter faith. His legacy to us is to be found in the final words of that great song, his song, our song.

"May the Morning Star which never sets
find this flame still burning:
Christ, that Morning Star,
who came back from the dead,
and shed his peaceful light on all humankind,
your Son, who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Amen." And for Gordon. Alleluia, Alleluia.

(The text of the Exultet used in this homily is from the longer version, cited in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exultet)

Jesus raises the young man to life (Lk 7:11-17), exercising the power of God, over even death itself. In the first reading (1 Kings 17:17-24) we hear the Elijah implores God to restore life to a young man who had just died. God responded. We learn that the author of life fully intends that death shall not have the final word. In this morning's second reading, Paul testifies that he proclaims what he has seen through a personal appearance of the risen Christ. Like the original disciples who had seen the risen Lord, Paul also has first hand knowledge of God's power over death. Paul now knows God's final intention for the world; he understands the decisive event which points humanity in a new direction as children of adoption towards the newness of life. He has become an apostle, a messenger of this good news to the world.

Paul explains to the Galatians that he received his mission first hand from the Lord and he exercises his mission independently and in no way is he subordinate to the Jerusalem apostles. And yet, he also tells us, and we know from other passages, that he had checked out his message with the original apostles. We know that Paul was a part of the community which itself decided on how the mission to the non Jewish world,--the mission to the gentiles--was to be exercised. He did not operate outside the church, but he was an equal and independent force within the church. Paul once persecuted the church and now he is an apostle of the Lord. He states that those who witnessed this change in him now "glorified God" because of him. He the messenger of God's new life in Christ also embodies and exemplifies what he preaches.

The betrayal at the highest levels: by bush, Cheney and the cabal of their cronies in Congress is at the root of why my fellow veterans are in such pain. It is at the root of why my VA colleagues are so distressed.

The consequences of this betrayal are laid out in considerable detail by a wonderful piece of reporting by McClathey Washington Bureau. I invite you to read the entire piece. Then please do what I intend to do along with some of my fellow veterans: contact your local congressional representative now, without fail and raise absolute hell. Demand that they "support the troops," not with cliches and bumper stickers but with funding. Hold them accountable.

"Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God."

John was preaching repentance. He was announcing the final outcome of God's plan for the world. John told his hearers that in God's own time, the mountains and hills we humans create will be made low; our crooked paths will be made straight and our rough ways smooth.

Most of my ordained ministry has been spent, not in parishes, but in other settings: school teacher, the military, the university campus, federal employee, health care clinician, administrator, non-profit employee. Though retired, I remain fascinated by work environments and still occasionally work for the VA. When I go into any kind of establishment or conduct business dealings on the phone, whenever possible, I do informal surveys of workplace conditions. I listen to and try to learn from everyone.

I am sorry to report this year that workplace conditions continue to get worse across the board. Though each workplace is different and some of them have excellent conditions, pay and benefits, sadly the larger trends are in the other direction. Recent statistics tell part of the story that many people experience daily. This past week we learned that:

The Fundamental Christian Position

1. Problems, questions and issues

May a Christian ever resort to violence? What does scripture have to say about this question? What does the history of the Church and theological reflection say? What are the real world problems?

The Mt. Soledad Veteran's Memorial in San Diego is located upon a hilltop overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Built with private funds but located on city property, it is topped by a forty-three foot cross, visible for miles. In 1989, the city was sued by an atheist Vietnam veteran to have the cross removed on the grounds that a Christian symbol on public land violates the principle of separation of church and state. The courts have agreed that this is the case and the cross must be removed by Aug. 1, 2006, or the city will face severe fines for each subsequent day that it remains. As a Vietnam veteran, I am strongly inclined to keep the cross in place. But, though this cause has a very powerful emotional appeal, as a Christian I realize that it may be spiritually destructive. I believe that this current local issue points to a much larger and more pervasive problem in American Christianity.

The young man sitting in the empty tomb of Jesus told the women not to be alarmed, for Jesus had been raised from the dead and was on his way to Galilee. They were to tell Peter and the disciples that the risen Jesus was going there ahead of them and they would see him there. Did these consoling words comfort the women? Of course not, the Gospel tells us that they were seized with terror and amazement. They were afraid.

And why would they not be afraid? Their whole world had just been turned upside down. Life had been forever changed. Their fundamental understanding of life and death had been irrevocably altered. They were quite literally living in an entirely new dimension. The promises to Israel had been fulfilled in a way that was incomprehensible. Israel had been delivered from the tyranny of its Roman oppressors and the corruption of its own leadership. Yes, Jesus had truly been the Messiah, the promised one, but the magnitude and extent of their deliverance was beyond comprehension. It was only later, after these first fearful moments had past that the full truth would become clear to the followers of Jesus.

Through Jesus not only Israel, but the entire world had entered into and experienced the first glimmer of a new creation which is the ultimate goal of the entire cosmos. In the confusion of the first Easter appearances, the disciples could not comprehend the full extent of what had happened. The Spirit would clarify at Pentecost, and then they would begin to understand. The magnitude of what happened still startles us after two thousand years. For not only is he the true Paschal Lamb, who was sacrificed for us, not only has he taken away the sin of the world. But by his death he has destroyed death, and by his rising to life again he has won for us everlasting life.

But there is even more, for the passage from Isaiah we have just read is literally true: "he will swallow up death forever." As Peter told his hearers: "He is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead." He is, as Paul would later say: "The first fruits of those raised from the dead." And as Paul would also write of the risen Christ: "Creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God." He is the "Firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him."

Today we celebrate this, he bedrock foundation of our faith. Easter is the primordial, and in a sense, the only Christian feast. All else is subordinate to Easter. The risen Christ is Lord of all. He has the power over sin and suffering and even over life and death. It is the risen Christ to whom we turn in times of terrible distress. It is he who stands in our midst as our rector struggles with cancer. He is with us as we face our own failing health. He alone offers us hope in a world of mindless violence, unending wars and spreading poverty and now the threat of preemptive tactical nuclear attacks. It is he who will judge the rulers of this world. It is He who will bind up the wounds of the world and reconcile all things to God through his death and resurrection. It is He who will greet us at the first moment of our entrance into eternity. It is He who is the guarantor that we too shall rise from the dead with him.

All this is implied and understood in that most ancient of Christian greetings. When one follower of Jesus encountered another, the truth was first proclaimed: "Christ is risen." And the response was "The Lord is risen indeed." So, let us shout it out: Christ is risen. The Lord is risen indeed. And to this risen Lord be all power, might, dominion and majesty now and forever. Amen

As a Vietnam veteran, and as one who has worked for the VA helping other veterans with combat stress, I know what war does to people. The war may be wrong, but those who go into battle deserve their country's support during and after the war. The country owes them this--but our leaders withhold this support.

We know our leaders do not care for Iraqi civilians. But they never said they did. We know the lies and deceptions about this war--but maybe we believe them when they say they support the troops and veterans of war. They do not.

They wrap themselves in the flag and proclaim their support for American troops. They accuse war critics of endangering the military. But they lie--here too they lie. They do not really support the troops: not active duty personnel, not reservists not National Guard, and not veterans. Look at what they have done.

They refused to send enough soldiers to maintain order in Iraq. They give huge sums of money to private contractors and don't give their own soldiers adequate armor and supplies.

They strain the National Guard and Reserves to the breaking point. They fail these people on their return to civilian life. They give them poor medical treatment and no job assistance.

People cannot recover from the psychic scars of war if they have to go back into combat again and again. But they continue to send young men and women back for second, third and even fourth tours--back into a war with no apparent reason, purpose or end. Today we learned that they have to send many of them back on anti-anxiety drugs and anti-depressants.

Stress on military families is unprecedented--but our leaders do not care. Already veterans of the Iraq war are having employment problems. The rate of homelessness Iraq veterans is three times that of their age cohort.

In spite of all this, the administration's budget proposes a 13% decrease for the VA over the next five years—this at a time when new veterans are flooding the system and there are over 16,000 wounded in Iraq. They are forcing the VA to decrease its services and forcing veterans out of the system.

Military doctors are being pressured to misdiagnose combat stress disorders. This way the government does not have to pay for treatment and compensation.

They tried to question 72,000 legitimate awards of combat stress, so they could throw veterans off the compensation rolls. They failed; but they are at it again. This at a time when 33% of returning veterans already have mental disorders.

The facts contradict our leaders' platitudes of support for the troops. They are hypocrites. They do not care about military personnel and veterans. They say one thing and do another. They abuse the military and abandon the veterans.

What was said in Scripture can be said of them: They are hypocrites. They are a nest of vipers. But, wait, it is we the people who allow them to do it. We endorse their hypocrisy. It is we who are the hypocrites. It is we who are the nest of vipers. It is time to wake up. It is time to repent.

The Reading John 1:43-51

43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, "Follow me." 44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote--Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
46 "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked. "Come and see," said Philip. 47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit. 48 "How do you know me?" Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you." 49 Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel." 50 Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that." 51 He then added, "I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."

Reflection on the Reading

So Nathaniel is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit, no guile. The dictionary defines guile: insidious cunning; duplicity; artful deception. Deceit is: concealment or distortion of the truth for the purpose of misleading.

Why does Jesus refer to Nathaniel as an Israelite and why is it important that he is without guile? This is a profound issue and still relevant today. The word used in John's Gospel for deceit or guile is dolos It is the same word used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament in use at the time of Jesus in which Isaac describes the treachery of his son Jacob. Jacob disguised himself as his older twin, Esau, and fraudulently obtained both the birthright and the blessing promised by God. Isaac tells Esau: "Your brother came with guile, with deceit, with dolos, and took your blessing." God's blessing, obtained by fraud, was passed to the world through a deceiver. Jacob even received a new name: Israel. This became the name of the peopl. As the New Testament people of God, we are also descendants of this deceiver.

There is a huge theological problem here, one that greatly perplexed the early church. Since so much of the Old Testament is taken up with the prophets castigating Israel for their hypocrisy and self deception, the lies and deceit which always precede acts of injustice and wrongdoing, how is it that the people bear the name of the greatest deceiver in their history?

Jesus himself spent a good bit of time castigating religious leaders for their deceptions, lies and hypocrisy. In a faith which abhors lying, guile and deception, how explain the lie which underlies the very foundation of Israel? No less a mind than St. Augustine came to an impasse. He copped out by saying: "it's not a lie, but a mystery." Well, yes, it is a mystery, but it remains a lie, dolos, guile, deceit.

So when Jesus sees Nathaniel, he calls him by the name borne by their people: He calls him an Israelite, and then states that in this Israelite there is no guile. To this Israelite with no guile, the promise is given of what he and the entire new people of Israel will see. This time around there is to be no guile. The new people cannot be founded upon dolos, deceit, but upon the honesty and guilelessness personified by Jesus and exemplified by Nathaniel.

Real guile does not mean necessary "tactical statements," such as: "My mommy isn't in now," rather than "my mommy doesn't want to talk to you." Or how you respond when asked: "Dear, does my new outfit make me look fat?" Or, when the boss comes in and says: "Okay, here's the new plan of how we are going to do things around here. What do you think?" Not guile, tact.

Guile is distortion of the truth for the purpose of misleading. Some examples you may have heard: "We don't meet the specs on this product, but we tell our customers that we do." Or "It's very difficult for anyone to actually collect on this policy we're selling, but we tell the clients how easy it is." Or, "We do not tolerate torture." Or, "we do not conduct surveillance without a warrant." Or "I never take bribes, I have never even smoked marijuana." Or, "I never had sex with that woman." Or "We didn't manipulate the California energy markets." Or, "San Diego's city pension fund is sound. Or "We invaded because they were developing nuclear weapons."

Pervasive deceit renders civil society impossible. The Church should be in a very real sense the sacramental sign to the world of the transcendent honesty of the One who is Truth itself. The Church must be guileless. But how does it get there?

Following the lead of Augustine for whom this was a major problem, we begin first by looking within ourselves. His simple prayer "O God, let me know myself, let me know you." (Sol 2.1.1) If we go this way into the deepest part of our soul, we begin to discover who we really are. God's light shines within our cracks and crevices. We begin to see our flaws and sins as well as our bright spots. But as Augustine writes in his own autobiography, this should not be disheartening, but rather the occasion to discern the glimmering of God's grace. Within our own inner darkness, the brightness of divine light becomes clear. There is deceit within us, but we see it and allow it to be transformed in the light of grace. Here Augustine simply follows Paul, who was confronted with his own "sting of the flesh." When Paul asked God to remove it, the answer came: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor 12:9). Only then was Paul able to boast of his own weakness. Augustine is open about his own sinfulness and weakness in his most famous work The Confessions. For Augustine, as for Paul, the self is not the center. God is.

Deception and guile result from our desire to present ourselves to others in ways that are not true. We want others to think well of us, to do our bidding. We want to enhance ourselves at the expense of others. Sin begins with pride and immediately becomes deceit. Before we can deceive others, we must first deceive ourselves. Guile is first practiced on oneself. The paradox that troubled Augustine is resolved when we discover that God can allow the promise to be passed through a deceiver only if God redeems and transforms deceit into honesty. Like Nathaniel we are to be people in whom no guile is found. This is possible only through God's grace and our honest response. Here is the bedrock of Christian life. It begins within ourselves.

As we open ourselves to God's invitation in prayer and honesty, we discover the truth of Augustine's prayer where he says: "You were more inward to me than my inmost parts and higher than my highest reach." (Conf, 3, 6.11) Yes, God is both more intimate to us than we are to ourselves and at the same time further beyond us than even the cosmos itself. When we grasp this, we begin the outward movement towards others, arising now from the deepest wellsprings within us. We can see that God has formed a bond with each of us even in the depth of our dishonesty and sin. God now calls us out of ourselves into community--a common bond with others who are also mired in deceit and sinfulness. From this most profound moment of grace, we are called out into the world to form a common life with all we meet. As the guileless Nathaniel saw Jesus and recognized him as the Son of God, receiving the promise of what is to come, so we too are able to invite others, to come and see.

Augustine uncovered the root of his own sin when he pondered why it was, as a troublemaking adolescent, that he joined with a gang of other young thugs and stole some pears from a neighbor's orchard. They didn't want the pears; they didn't eat them--they actually threw them to some pigs. An adolescent prank, yes, but why? He pretended to want the pears when he really didn't. He realized in retrospect that he did it because he wanted companionship, the friendship of the other pear thieves.

He saw that the desire for companionship and friendship can lead us into sin as well as into grace. Genesis describes the man and the woman in the garden as companions in both in deceit and in sin. It never changes. Mutual deceit destroys the soul, ruins families, renders commerce impossible and collapses nations, i.e. USSR

So we are surrounded by deceit and mired in guile. This is not particularly new. Near the turn of the 20th Century, Congress was owned by and operated for the big three: the railroads, the steel industry and Standard Oil. Corruption was pervasive. The wars in Cuba and the Philippines at that time involved at least as much deceit as did Vietnam and Iraq.

What is new and troubling, however, is the communication transformation wrought by 24/7 television and the pervasiveness of the internet. Theater has always been influential. The ancient Greeks knew this. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet: "The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king." But as news and entertainment become indistinguishable from each other and are purveyed by mass media on a global scale, a new element has been added. The internet is great but it invites identity theft. Chat rooms allow for and sometimes necessitate disguise and the use of false personas. Predators lurk on the internet and some subterfuge is necessary. The media are now not just the message, but a large slice of life itself.

So the Church must become that place where guile is transformed, where deceit is redeemed. Our transparency must be that of Nathaniel as we recognize Jesus and then invite others to come and see. This parish is about to open a new mission center. We are planning a renewal weekend. We must realize there are no shortcuts to the inner search I have described. No programs, no models will do this for us. There must be a full commitment to a personal and corporate search for God that is without guile. This takes place both in the depths of our own hearts and in our life together.

As Augustine tells us, there is not only a community of sin, but also one of grace. Christian spiritual life consists essentially of our common life together. We cannot discover God at a profound personal level and remain mired within ourselves--we are impelled outwards. As a parish we cannot be a "mission center" if we are not first a community transparent in grace. If we are so transformed others will come to us to discover what about us makes us different.

Scripture tells us that we are "partakers of the divine nature." (2 Peter 1:4). We are called as "adopted children" to enter with Christ in some way into the totally transparent common life within the Trinity, to share in some way within the mutual love of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Then at last "we shall know even as we are known." Augustine goes so far as to say that within our inmost parts there is a glimpse and faint awareness that our inner selves are configured to the Trinity. (On the Trinity,7.6.12)

So let our lives be this prayer: "O God, Let me know myself, let me know you--for you are more inward to me than my inmost parts and higher than my highest reach--and so to you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit be all honor and glory now and forever. Amen."