Running Interference

“The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all these living beings, which are all part of one another, and all involved in one another.” ~ Thomas Merton, Trappist monk, American Catholic writer (1915-1968).

We turned and started up the stairs toward the entrance. To our right were several international warning signs (no smoking, quiet please, etc.) The most prominent and most repeated was a picture of a camera with a red circle around it and a red line through it. Clearly photography was not going to be permitted.

At the top of the stairs was a guard. Rhythmically, in a heavily accented voice, he repeated the same warning, “no pictures.” Dutifully, I quickly stepped aside and took a moment to shove my Canon Rebel, lens and all, into the specially padded knapsack I carried.

Stepping back in line I held up the bag displaying it to the guard. To my surprise, he smiled briefly and gave me a “thumbs up” sign. We turned to our right and headed into one of the most beautiful and inspired rooms in the world – the Sistine Chapel. The Chapel (named for Pope Sixtus IV) is famous for its architecture and its frescos painted by the likes of Michelangelo, Botticelli, Perugino and Pinturicchio.

The room was packed with people, shoulder to shoulder, staring in all directions. Three guards stood on the raised portion of the floor where the altar was located, watching the crowd carefully. Periodically one would speak a single word, “Silenzio,” at which the crowd would quiet to a murmur. This was randomly interspersed with another phrase, “No pictures!”

We were admiring Michelangelo’s “The Last Judgment” on the main wall when a flash of light erupted to our immediate left. In an instant one of the guards descended on a group of three young women, barely 10 feet from us. “Did you not hear us tell you no pictures?” the guard scolded in a stern voice. “What does it take to make you understand?” Two of them looked at the floor, but one, the offending camera still in her hand, began to flush. “Please don’t cause me to have to make you leave,” the guard continued.

Finally, the girl glared at the guard. “You can’t make us leave,” she responded. Her accent was distinctly American and definitely urban. “We paid to be here.” “You can’t make us leave,” she repeated. “We’ve got rights ya know!”

Teresa and I stared at each other trying not to chuckle. Did she just say that? Really?? The Sistine Chapel is located in Vatican City which is a country unto itself. Essentially, when you’re there, like any foreign country, you play by their rules. They can do whatever they deem appropriate.

The guard seemed to suppress a smile, perhaps recognizing the naiveté in the woman’s comment. He stared back at her for a moment. Then, with a sweeping gesture of his right arm, palm open he motioned toward the exit. “Please, per favore, this way.” He said this almost sympathetically, as if to a child who had just been scolded. Without a word of protestation from any of them, he led them to the nearest exit and watched as they left.

The guard returned to his station shaking his head. Immediately the sound level began to rise. “Silenzio,” came the voice of another guard. This time, the room fell into near perfect silence.

We live in arguably the most desirable country in the world. After wresting itself from the monarchial rule of England, the United States of America developed its own form of democracy, with a legal system to match. Having fought tirelessly for our independence, we set about to assure we would not be “interfered with” again. One of our early flags bears the simple phrase, “Don’t Tread on Me.”

For the most part, the laws of our democracy are constructed to provide us with protection from the interference of others. As an individual this means, “I should be able to do what I want, provided I don’t harm (or interfere with) anyone else.”

How often have we heard this phrase used as an argument in favor of legalizing some activity or something? “I’m not hurting anyone, so what’s the harm in my doing what I want to do?” I have little doubt the same reasoning was at work that day in the Sistine Chapel. “If I take a picture, it’s not hurting anyone.” “In fact, it’s my right. After all, I paid to be here.” Is it any wonder Americans have the reputation for being the staunch individualists of the world?

And, while we like to think our Christian values play well with the laws of the land, there are distinct contrasts between the two. Our individualism calls us to stay out of each other’s way, while our Christian values call us to get involved and to sometimes intervene where necessary.

Jesus was often accused of interfering with the smooth operation of the “status quo.” His ministry was one of intervention; intervening when others were in need. In fact, he describes the difference between those who will enter the kingdom and those who won’t as being those who get involved and care for others as opposed to those who don’t. He doesn’t mention following the rules or a policy of non-interference (Matthew 25).

As modern-day Christians, we are called to intervene at times. We are called to intervene in the cycle of poverty, we are called to intervene in the rising rate of homelessness, and we are called to intervene until all are educated and have adequate medical coverage. We are called to intervene wherever inequities exist.

We are called to be interventionists and to be agents of positive change. Wherever there is inequity between the poor and the rich, the underprivileged and the privileged, the uneducated and the educated, or the marginalized and the mainstream, those of us who profess to be Christian should be at work balancing the scales. It is not an easy task and it is often unpopular. Is it any wonder there have been so many Christian martyrs (45.5 million in the 20th century alone)?

We are blessed to live in a country of great freedom, but with great freedom comes great responsibility. We are not called to go our own way and stay out of the way. We are called to follow the way Jesus modeled for us – involving ourselves in the world, leaving it better than we found it.

Dear God, who needs my help today?

“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.” ~Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., African-American clergyman, activist and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement (1929-1968)

© 2011 James E. Carper. All rights reserved.

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