May 21, 2010
Taking the Time to Make a Difference
About peace and justice and beauty
BY PAUL R. LEINGANG
(Listen to Paul read this column | Weekly podcast)
The irises are blooming in our back yard, the grass is dark green, the grape vines cover the back fence. And every once in a while, I think about Jim McGinnes.
Jim died in 2009, a prophet to the end, an end that came suddenly with a heart attack. It was a final prophetic acknowledgement that even those who give in and allow God to speak through them remain vulnerable to the reality of humanity.
Many people know of his ministry, his and Kathy’s, and the witness they have given with their passion for peace and justice.
The two of them started the Institute for Peace and Justice in St. Louis in 1970, and wrote the book, Educating for Peace and Justice, A Manual for Teachers, in 1973. Editions of the book were published again and again over 20 years, reaching a global audience. But that is not what brings Jim to my mind just now.
Twenty or so years ago, Jim introduced me to Arun Gandhi, who told wonderful and inspiring stories about his life and times with his grandfather, Mahatma Gandhi. I have to acknowledge a personal failing here — a kind of pride that allows me to drop the names of people I have met under various circumstances.
I remember such a time with great pleasure, but this too is not what came to mind most recently.
Among the ways Jim influenced people was though a personal appearance in the form of Francis the Clown. That was St. Francis, of course, willing to be a fool for Christ. I have never liked clowns, but Jim’s Francis spoke to many.
Jim visited Evansville some years ago at my request, and presented a kind of guided retreat for employees and staff at the Catholic Center. And this is what I remember now.
Jim did not hammer us with stern warnings about war and injustice. He spoke not about divine condemnation, but rather, about Jesus, who drew near Jesusalem “and wept over it, saying, “If this day you only knew what makes for peace” (Luke 19).
And most memorable for me, Jim said, that one of the things that make for peace is beauty. Peace is not imposed by strength, but is drawn out by beauty.
I find a sense of peacefulness in our backyard, amid the beauty of the flowers and greenery, but there is more to Jim’s witness than one man’s personal experience.
I recall a late evening in a summer some years ago, when I helped take some children from a large city to a state park some hours away.
The ride proved to be a little longer than some of the active boys could tolerate. At the end of our journey, arriving at the weekend camping site, two of the boys erupted into a struggle over something known only to them.
Punching and shoving, they tumbled — literally — down the steps and out of the bus and onto the ground. Before anyone could get to them to stop the fighting, they stopped on their own.
The boy on his back, facing a fist from above, suddenly dropped his guard to exclaim, “Look at the stars!”
The boy with the temporary advantage unclenched his fist, looked toward the sky, then rolled over onto the grass next to his opponent — as both of them looked at a sky they had never before seen, the stars that had always before been lost in the hazy lights of the city.
* * *
Jim McGinnes was among the champions of the truth, that “if you want peace, work for justice.” He also was an advocate of the basic human need for beauty.
* * *
Take the time today to reflect on the scenic vista or the small painting, the concerto or the ringtone — your own experience of nature or artistry.
Philosophers and theologians have linked truth and beauty and the source of all goodness. I pray for an end of hatred and violence, and that each of us may find a way to help others to experience a starry night.
Comments are welcome at office@cfm.org or the Christian Family Movement, P.O. Box 925, Evansvsille, IN 47706-0925