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Life Arts    H3'ed 9/13/20

Unforgetting U.S. Crimes: The Karmic Roots of Our Border Problems

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All of that, Lovato repeats, must be "unforgetted" if we North Americans are to have any hope of solving our problems of immigration, gangs, drugs, and social justice. Our country owes extensive reparation to Central Americans.

Today's Readings

So, with all of that in mind, please consider this Sunday's selections. On the one hand, they centralize the divine amnesia of Jesus' Great Father-Mother God regarding our personal and communal shortcomings that some refer to as "sin." On the other hand, our Divine Parents' compassionate forgetfulness is contrasted with our own petty preoccupation with the way we imagine others have somehow done us wrong, while we conveniently forget our wrongs to them.

Sirach, the Psalmist, Paul, and Jesus all remind us of how easily we forget the way we've abused "strangers" (like those at our border) whom the Master identified as our very sisters and brothers. Ironically, unforgetting them is the karmic key to our own forgiveness and liberation.

In any case, what follow are my "translations" of today's biblical excerpts. You can find the originals here to see if I've got them right.

Sirach 27: 30-28:7: Karma is a Law of the Universe. LIFE will treat you as you treat your neighbor. If you're vengeful, you'll inevitably experience others' revenge. If you're always angry, life will seem cruel. But if you're forgiving, Life itself will forgive you. So, forget about your own fictitious wounds. Instead practice forgetful mercy, forgiveness, and compassion. After all, life is short. Vendettas will mean nothing to you on your deathbed.

Psalm 103: 1-4, 9-12: Our Divine Mother herself sets the example. She is patient, forgiving, kind, generous and compassionate. She doesn't remember any of our faults - not even grave "sins" we fear may have destroyed our lives. Far, far from such guilt, it's as if she never witnessed our shortcomings at all.

Romans 14: 7-9: Practicing such forgetfulness, none of us will have anything at all to fear from death which will simply be surrender to the One in whom we have always lived and moved and had our being. This is what Jesus himself showed us by the example of his own life.

Matthew 18: 21-35: When Peter asked him about the limits of forgiveness, Jesus said there are none at all. "Or maybe" (he joked) "you can stop forgiving after the 490th time - but be sure to keep track, Peter, as I know you will. Don't let yourself go over 500." (He said that with a gentle smile.) "In any case, remember what Sirach said about karma. If you're generous to others, Life will treat you kindly; If not, you're creating your own tragic misfortune - and that of your entire family. It's you, not God who creates your inevitable destiny."

Conclusion

Yes, Karma is a law of the universe. All the world's great spiritual traditions teach that simple profound truth. What we do to others will eventually come back to haunt us. There's no getting around it.

The problems experienced at our borders are simply blowback from our country's own criminal missteps in the world. While we imagine that we're threatened and wronged by those at our border, simple unforgetting reminds us that we're actually the ones who have victimized the ones seeking refuge and asylum. Actually, we have nothing at all to forgive them. Instead, we owe them enormous repair.

No, it's the ones at our border who have so much to forgive us. So far, they've been generous in doing so - well beyond the 500 quantum specified by Jesus. Both our karmic liability and our debt of gratitude to our southern siblings are huge.

We're indebted to Roberto Lovato for helping us unforget all of that.

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Mike Rivage-Seul is a liberation theologian and former Roman Catholic priest. Retired in 2014, he taught at Berea College in Kentucky for 40 years where he directed Berea's Peace and Social Justice Studies Program. His latest book is (more...)
 

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