{"id":8535,"date":"2019-04-10T09:24:28","date_gmt":"2019-04-10T14:24:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/?p=8535"},"modified":"2026-02-26T13:40:58","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T19:40:58","slug":"for-we-know-not-what-we-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/2019\/04\/10\/for-we-know-not-what-we-do\/","title":{"rendered":"For We Know Not What We Do"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Photo by Katie Moum on Unsplash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The world that surrounds us is daunting,\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0too many voices speak truth\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and prophetic words from false prophets\r\nsow division.\r\nGod cannot be both compassionate \r\n       and a defense through which morality props\r\n       up the unjust \r\n\r\nBut the most persuasive voices\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0can tailor the emperor\u2019s clothes\r\n       to align with God\u2019s will\r\n                or is it man\u2019s?<\/span>\r\n\r\nSo that the immigrant is still detained\r\nthe prisons overflow\r\nrace is divisive\r\nthe poor are criminalized\r\nthe natural world degraded\r\nwalls are built\r\nAnd weapons are beat not into plowshares, \r\n      but into proclamations that they alone\r\n      can make us secure.\u00a0 \r\n\r\nThe drumbeat goes on\r\n\r\nAnd then, in stillness\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0the God who is addressed in prayer\r\n      who is challenged and cursed and loved\r\n      and condemned <\/span>\r\n\r\nresponds:\r\n\r\n       Enter into discomfort,<\/em>\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0dispel rational thought\r\n             that has normalized hate,<\/em>\r\n       and do not tread on the surface,<\/em>\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0but abandon it for the deep<\/em>\r\n\r\nfor it is there<\/em>\r\nthat the truth will be uncovered<\/em>\r\n revealing that all are created\r\n in the image and likeness of God<\/em>\r\n all are made holy and sacred and just.<\/em>\r\n\r\nIt is a profound truth,\r\nif only because the voice that responds is feminine\r\n    and courageous, <\/span>\r\n\r\nas though all of the daughters and sisters and mothers \r\nhad preached a holy Gospel that for too long had gone<\/span>\r\n    unheard in the echo chambers of the ordained<\/span>\r\n    and the backroom channels of the elected<\/span>\r\n    and the boardroom coffers\r\n    of an ever-present greed<\/span>\r\n\r\nand the people would plead, \r\nand the faithful would gather:\r\n\r\nWe must rise from dust and ashes<\/em>\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0to a sermon on the mount that was once proclaimed<\/em>\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0not mere allegory or callous refrain<\/em>\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0but a prophetic truth that has always been<\/em>\r\n\r\nthat has always been until it wasn\u2019t\r\nbecause we had strayed so far from the road \r\n      that the Judean was left to rot and decay \r\n      and Lazarus awoke only to die again\r\nand the fishermen did not walk on water\r\nbut capsized in the storm,\r\n      their bodies washed to shore\r\n      not as fishermen, not as disciples, \r\nbut as refugee children drowned \r\n      and the rich man walked through\r\n          the eye of the needle\r\n      and the mob picked up the pile of stones\r\n      and the loaves and fishes were hoarded away\r\n      and the other cheek was not turned to the side,\r\n              but instead a gun was drawn\r\n              and the bullets pierced those hands\r\n                  that once held nails\r\nAnd we wept.\r\n\r\nFor so long we wept and cried out:\r\n  My God, my God why have you forsaken me?<\/em>\r\n\r\nAnd in reply her voice dispelled any rumor or denial:\r\n  My child, my child it is you who have forsaken me.<\/em>\r\nFor in that moment our truth had finally been revealed\r\n\r\nFor we cannot claim a compassionate God \r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0if the God we choose is a placeholder\r\n     to uphold unjust views\r\n     or whose ears fall deaf to the cries of the poor\r\n     or who promotes a prosperity\r\n      that benefits a few and no more.\r\n\r\nFor we cannot claim a compassionate God\r\n    and proclaim the Gospel as the only truth\r\n    when that very same God is rejected by us\r\n    because he or she does not look like us\r\n\r\nbut rather the image that appears \r\nreflected in our mirror is\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the immigrant detained by us\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the refugee excluded by us\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the inmate who profits us\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the detainee tortured by us\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the gay man shamed by us\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the child abused by us\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the woman silenced by us\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the poor forgotten by us\r\n\r\nAnd all of it in my name.<\/em>\r\n\r\nSo forgive us, we know not what we do.\r\nForgive us, even though we know \r\nthat it\u2019s not quite true:\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0for we know exactly what we do.\u00a0 \r\n\r\n                                  Amen.<\/pre>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Photo by Fares Hamouche on Unsplash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
About the Rabble Rouser<\/strong><\/p>\n
Michael Krueger\"Michael-Krueger\"<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n
Michael Krueger first met Sister Julia in La Crosse, Wisconsin,\u00a0<\/i>while<\/i><\/span>\u00a0an undergraduate student at Viterbo University and dishwasher at <\/i>St. Rose Convent<\/a>. She was the only sister who didn\u2019t leave a generous tip. (All joking aside, the one and only tip he actually received was the priceless call to FSPA affiliation in 2009). He credits that \u201ctop-notch Franciscan education\u201d for putting him on a path to La Crosse\u2019s Place of Grace Catholic Worker House (where he lived for two-and-a-half years), SOA peace vigils, work with developmentally disabled adults (inspired by Jean Vanier and L\u2019Arche), commitment to social justice and a chance dinner with Roy Bourgeois.<\/i> He currently lives near Madison and is a stay-at-home dad to two creative and adventurous kids, and is an active member of the <\/span>Catholic Worker<\/span><\/a> community there.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The world that surrounds us is daunting, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0too many voices speak truth \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and prophetic words from false prophets sow division. God cannot be both compassionate and a defense through which morality props up the unjust But the most persuasive voices \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0can tailor the emperor\u2019s clothes to align with God\u2019s will or is it man\u2019s? So...","protected":false},"author":103603832,"featured_media":8552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6469729,2178641],"tags":[27669,14526,2416,698755374,698755376,115259,401,7816,39932,4363,636445,8329,54368,698755380,724459,698755382,1861871,419539,25731,2282,676536695,106,107479257],"series":[698756626],"class_list":["post-8535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-and-activism","category-prayer-and-spirituality","tag-broken","tag-change","tag-church","tag-community","tag-discipleship","tag-division","tag-faith","tag-god","tag-hospitality","tag-immigration","tag-imperfect","tag-jesus","tag-lament","tag-lent","tag-love-your-neighbor","tag-peacemaking","tag-poetry-2","tag-repent","tag-scripture","tag-social-justice","tag-social-sin-struggle","tag-truth","tag-we-know-not-what-we-do","series-messy-jesus-business"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/image-1-scaled.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/feed\/podcast\/messy-jesus-business","embedCode":"
For We Know Not What We Do<\/a><\/blockquote>