Identity, as we all know, is a very complex concept.
We may well have unconscious echoes of Martin Luther’s remark “Here I Stand” in our minds when we take up a position or assert our identity, but it doesn’t follow that everyone else agrees that this is indeed where we stand nor even that this is where we should stand.You may have noticed in the lead-up to the recent Academy Awards that in the weeks immediately before the ceremony there was a concerted effort by some very influential Jews to ensure that Kate Winslett did not win the Oscar for her role in The Reader.
The problem wasn’t with Winslett but with the character she portrayed. Essentially, the criticism was that the film falsely implies that many (most?) Germans remained unaware of the persecution of the Jews by the Nazis until after the war.
I haven’t seen The Reader yet but I have seen The Boy in the Striped Pajamas – and the same criticism of what’s been called “Holocaust revisionism” is levelled at that film.
It’s a criticism that can’t be dismissed lightly given who makes it (several leading experts on the Holocaust) but it does raise questions as to just who determines the “identity” of both Jews and Germans at the time of WWII.
Another perspective on the issue of identity is provided by Elias Chacour, the Melkite Archbishop of Galilee. In his most recent book, Faith Beyond Despair he writes with great passion on what it means to be a Palestinian in Israel today and on what both sides – but especially the Jews – must do if there is to be any hope of lasting peace.
Chacour speaks of the need not only for physical liberation (from oppression) but also of the need for psychological and spiritual liberation. In other words, if we are to be true to who we are – and able to allow others to be true to who they are – then we must be free in every way within ourselves. As long as we are not truly free, then we will resist others being free also.
Objectively, I imagine that we can agree with what Chacour is saying (and he senses that with his opening comments: “From a distance, the Israel-Palestine conflict may seem to be something just to observe and comment on…”). I imagine that we can also see the point that the Holocaust experts are making even if we may not necessarily agree that the particular films in question are guilty as charged.
But perhaps its not quite so straightforward when we have to look at our own identity as Marists and as a Province? If we focus on the first section of the Vision Statement of the 2008 Chapter (By 2012 New Zealand Marists will be recognised as men who ….. and then there are five points following) we can see that it could be read in several ways.
The first way, perhaps, is that it’s stating the obvious. Many of us might say that we are already available for mission, living a prayerful life, showing joy, mercy and compassion, living in community, and have a sense of direction and are calling others to work with us and join us.
Another way to read it is that the Chapter is being highly critical of the present reality and is calling the Province to something which should be a way of life for us but isn’t at the moment.
And I guess another way of reading is that the Chapter is being idealistic and not particularly helpful at all.
I don’t think the Chapter is stating the obvious – because it’s talking about 2012 not right now. I don’t think it’s being highly critical – rather, I think it’s seeking to build on what we have but isn’t taking it for granted. And I hope it isn’t being idealistic because if it is, we might as well all pack up now!
It is certainly true in my experience that most men in the Province are available for mission – but it is also true that over the next four years we are going to face ever-more pressing questions as to what ministries and places we can sustain and which we our prayer life into something that is visible, not private, and that is focussed on Marist (i.e. religious) life. Most fundamentally, we are brothers living together in the Society of Mary – does the authenticity of our way of living illustrate that?
It’s significant, I think, that the vast majority of the Chapter members were aged under 65 (in fact, most were under 60) – and this was the group that is calling for us to live in communities of, where possible, 4 or more members. For some time, there has been a move in the Province towards smaller communities – now the call seems to have changed. We need to reflect on what that means and on what it might be saying to us: in terms of the desire for companionship; the desire for community prayer life; and so on.
The Chapter is calling us to show joy, mercy and compassion; to have a sense of direction and to call others to join us. We have been battered in recent years by events within and outside our control; we have struggled to know how to relate to some of our Province in the light of their actions; we have been hurt by the fact that we do not seem able to attract many new members – we have, in many cases, lost confidence both in ourselves and in our future as a Province.
I believe that the Chapter is calling us to have an identity as men who are, in Chacour’s words, “free” – physically, psychologically and spiritually. We are being called to move forward in faith with confidence and trust – to enjoy living with each other, to support each other and to show to others that our way of life is as valid as it ever has been.
Perhaps it’s not a case of “Here we stand” but “Here we go” – with confidence into the next four years.