For Wilshire Baptist Church
“Tell President Trump to mind his own business.”
“See if you can straighten those people out.”
Those were the pre-travel instructions given by my father and LeAnn’s mother, respectively, the day before LeAnn and I left for a week in Washington, D.C. They simply echoed the restlessness and political fatigue of so many of us, and their words sounded like a sort of secular missionary commissioning.
We didn’t come to Washington with that business in mind, and interestingly, the closer we’ve gotten to the so-called “swamp,” the less I’ve thought about the district in that light. A big part of that is that we’ve mostly tuned out the media drum beat. We don’t consume large amounts of news anyway, although we do keep current, but a business/vacation trip has a nice way of turning one’s attention elsewhere, even when you are in the actual capital of national news.
We spent much of the week in and out of museums, and I can report that just outside the halls of government, ordinary people still have interest in and admiration for the people and principles that created this union and have sustained it. You could sense it as they hovered over displays describing our shared history and values, and you could hear it in fragments of conversation between parents and their children. Likewise, there still is plenty of respect and reverence for the sacrifice of our countrymen at sacred grounds such as Arlington National Cemetery.
On the streets and in the museums, the ordinary people of America were just doing what people do and probably what most immigrants want to do: spending quality time with family and friends. And the everyday people who keep the capital city and the government running were tending to business the way you and I do.
The closest we came to seeing or hearing unrest was a large, loud rally on the National Mall. But it wasn’t a political rally or protest; it was a 2018 edition of the Poor People’s March of 1968. The theme was “Fight Poverty, Not the Poor,” and the speakers we heard from a distance were calling for action — not just from elected Washington but from people who care from coast to coast.
And the closest we got to any “swamp monsters” was on tours of the Capitol and the Supreme Court, but even there the buildings and the ideals they represent seem stronger and more enduring than the current occupants. And hours spent poring over American history reminded me that this is not the worst time in our nation’s history, not the most divided time, not the most uncivil time. It just feels that way because it is OUR time. And our emotions are heightened by traditional and social media that never rests—but that is a part of our time too.
So what are we to do in our time?
Our Sunday here was bookended by worship at Vienna Baptist Church and the Washington National Cathedral, and at both places the Gospel reading was from the Gospel of Mark, where Jesus calmed the storm on the Sea of Galilee with the words, “Peace, be still.” Austin Almaguer at Vienna and Randolph Marshall Hollerith at the cathedral both related this to our personal and societal storms and specifically the national debate over immigration policy.
Austin said the gospel story reminds us that “when we feel trapped in the midst of a raging storm we are to find hope in the God who brings comfort and peace but more importantly the God who stays in the boat with us.” But Austin also added it is no accident that the story happens as Jesus is crossing boundaries to bring hope to a people who are despised, marginalized and ignored. The story is a commissioning for the people of God to do the same.
That includes when people are crossing our border.