Will Braun started a class on  his Upside down view of Polarization with a reading of Luke 19 9-14 as he felt these verses were deeply relevant to sharing points at which the polarization rubber hits the road of life. I won’t quote it all but just a small part of it as follows:

King James Version Luke:

 

¹¹ The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

¹² I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

¹³ And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

¹⁴ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

 

 

To this Braun replied, “I have said that a million different times in my life. For example, thank you God that I am not like those people who watch Fox News.”  I admit, I have also felt that way and spoken that way. I am just as bad as Will and so many others. That is feelings of superiority speaking. Thank you God that I am not like those people who carry rainbow flags.  Or, thank you God that I am not like those who fly ‘F*ck You Trudeau signs. As Braun said, “we draw a line and place God on our side of the line and then look down on people on the other side of that line.” We are people who are confident of our own righteousness and look down on others.”

Or as Braun also put, “we wallow in our feelings of self-righteousness.”  The feeling of superiority is a powerful elixir, but it is toxic.

This was the attitude of superiority that has reaped havoc with Christian thought and action for centuries. That is the attitude that must be deep-sixed in favour of quiet, but powerful, humility.

Will Braun said he preferred to say, or at least was trying to favor saying, ‘Thank you God that I am like other people.’

I know when I moved back to Steinbach after 7 years studying at university in the big smoke, I was apprehensive. These people here did not feel like my kind of people. But guess what? They are my kind of people. I still disagree with them about many things. In some areas, like politics, I usually disagree with them, but they are still my kind of people.

The best example of this I can come up with is farmers. I grew up in a small rural town but I only knew one farm family. I loved going there to play on the farm. I thought cows were pretty cool. And Hay piles. I was blown away.

Later, after living here in Steinbach as a practicing lawyer, for some years I came to realize that I really liked farmers. They truly were the salt of the earth. We might disagree about politics or religion or social issues, but I really liked them. They were in many respects—in the most important respects—my kind of people. And I had a lot to learn from them, and perhaps, just perhaps they could learn a small tidbit or two from me. By the time I realized this I realized I was in the right place.

There was one incident that really solidified this view point for me. It was during the so-called ‘flood of the century” in Manitoba. Many homes were flooded. Some of the owners needed help flood proofing their homes. It was thanks to my son Patrick that I realized I should not remain a bystander. He told me, “Dad we should help.” I realized he was absolutely right we should help and he researched the issue and found a place, a farm where we could help them sand bag their property in the hopes of keeping back the river. He found a farm near Niverville where I worked one day a week and we went out sand bagging and felt good about our little effort.

The next day I talked to a client of mine from Niverville. He was a farmer who always lived and worked his farm in the flood plain. He had the right equipment for building dykes from his farm. It was a big farm. He was a very successful farmer and he made his equipment available for his neighbours to use and they worked together on their farms to strengthen their dykes.  I asked him at the end of the day, “What about your farm?”  He answered “I will get to my farm, but these places are more urgent. We must do them first. I said “OK you know what you are doing.” But he didn’t. A couple of days later his farm yard and his farm buildings flooded, but thankfully not his house which was on higher ground and was spared. But he suffered significant losses that he could have avoided by working on protecting his own house first instead of helping his neighbours.

This farmer was a mensch. He was the salt of the earth. I wondered if other professionals would have done what he did? I wondered if I would have done what he did? Farmers just seem to do it. Not all of them, but many of them. Farmers are my kind of people.

Will Braun my instructor on an upside-down view of polarization at Canadian Mennonite University  also lived in a Bible Belt farming community, like me. He too moved back to his home community in the country in the Bible belt where people are very conservative. As he said about himself, “It’s weird how over time in a new environment, you see things differently. When people around you see things differently you can’t dismiss them. They are good people, even though sometimes you want to dismiss them.”  You should never dismiss people.  That does not mean you always have to agree with them. But recognize that like you they are travelling through life doing the best they can and making mistakes like us. Braun said it has made him be open to broader views. This made him better able to avoid taking too extreme views. They were his kind of people.

I hope that living with farmers also expanded my horizons. I fear that too often I have failed to learn from my neighbours. It’s hard to measure up to them.

Will Braun our course leader in the course we took at Canadian Mennonite University  always slid towards the gentle. That, largely, is what I liked so much about the talks he facilitated largely without preaching.  He did it with gentleness. He reminded me of what I know about Vaclav Havel and his velvet revolution.

He also reminded me of Mennonites. In fact, I thought he exemplified the best of the Mennonite perennial philosophy of trying to be Die Stillen im Lande.” (The quiet on the land ) That really is the essence of negating the tensions as Braun called  it and dissolving the extremes as I call it. Mennonites like to consider themselves as peace makers as well. Again dissolving opposition. Though sometimes it seems Mennonites are happy to reap the benefits of the violence of others. There is nothing morally great about that.

I think some people in our class found it difficult to follow Braun’s example. They wanted to oppose what they thought of as morally wrong, even if that merely sharpened the polarizations. I tend to do that too,  but it makes a difference how you oppose it. Some means of opposition result in the other cementing his or her position more tightly and indelibly. Braun’s way is to meander towards reconciliation wherever possible. He does it softly and always with gentleness some find irksome and I found encouraging.

I would say the best part of Braun’s classes on the upside down view of polarization as he called it, was his example of gentleness in action.  He taught by example. Usually the best way to do it.

I wish I could be more like that.