George Washington's Rules
It being Washington’s birthday this last week, several folks have pointed to his “Rules of Civility” that, as a young man, he wrote into his school book. (You can find them easily by googling “Washington Rules of Civility.”) Some of his “rules” seem particularly good advice for us in our politically and socially fraught time. And some of them also seem particularly apt consequences of the teaching of Jesus. I will quote two.
Number 22: “Shew not yourself glad at the Misfortune of another though he were your enemy.” Gloating over the troubles of people on “the other side”—perhaps another sports team, perhaps a different political party, whatever—gloating is not to be done. Even when the person who is suffering misfortune is your enemy, and someone who (you judge) is worthy of public disdain, nonetheless, don’t gloat over his troubles. The Christian could ask: Did not Jesus instruct us to pray for our enemies?
Sometimes we really do have enemies, and sometimes, in our sober judgment, our enemies truly deserve to be frustrated in their designs. All this can be granted. Nonetheless, if misfortune befall them, we should not gloat. We could privately give thanks to God for frustrating the designs of the wicked. But public rejoicing, or public mocking of our now down-in-the-dumps enemy, or anything of the sort, is not good. It is not good for society as a whole, and it is not good for your own soul.
Number 23: “When you see a Crime punished, you may be inwardly Pleased; but always shew Pity to the Suffering Offender.” It is proper to be pleased that crime has been punished. For one thing, punishment means the truth has been told in public by the state, that the act in question was a crime, and that as a crime it has necessary consequences in terms of punishment. This is good for society: to be clear about what crime is, and not to allow crime to persist in its frustration of our societal purpose. Judgment always looks in two directions: backwards, to make a definitive statement about what has been done; forwards, to make it possible for our society to move on and not be thwarted by ongoing retribution.
Of being pleased, Washington says “you may”: it is permitted and fine for you to be pleased that crime has been punished. But, he goes on to say, we should not forget that the perpetrator of the crime, the offender, is a human being just like us: which is to say, he is someone worthy of pity for having fallen short. Crime is not an abstract thing whose perpetrators are like dumb robots whose elimination would be of no consequence. Every criminal still has human dignity and thus still is properly pitied for what he has done with his dignity.
Socrates said that, when you do wrong, the person you hurt the most is yourself.
And again, did not Jesus instruct us to pray for our enemies?
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I think it would be good for us to speak about people we disagree with, and people who have harmed us, with something of the restraint and wisdom of the young George Washington.
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Out & About. This Sunday (March 1) I am to preach at St. Matthew’s Cathedral, Dallas; the services are at 9 and 11:15am. That evening at 5pm (still at St. Matthew’s), the Good Books & Good Talk seminar will discuss The Little Princesses by Marion Crawford, a memoir of her time as a governess to princesses Elizabeth and Margaret. For the seminar, church parking is in the apartments just south of the cathedral. When you exit the parking garage, the cathedral will be ahead of you on your left. Go to your right, to Garrett Hall, with the space-age glass elevator attached to its middle. Someone will be there from about 4:45 to let you in.
Wednesday, March 11, at St. Augustine’s Church in Oak Cliff, Dallas, I am to speak at the Lenten program on Jesus as, basically, the culmination of all things! The program starts at 5:30pm and includes also a lenten supper and worship.