Twenty-Fourth Day of Lent: Words of Reason

For a summary of Passus IV, see First Sunday of Lent.

In Passus IV, Reason is brought in to the royal court to render judgment on certain disputes.  Meed and her allies, used to smoothing things over for their friends with favors, bribes, and appeals to pragmatism, attempt to sway Reason to leniency in the case of Wrong v. Peace.  But Reason declares he will not have mercy

“Till the greed of the clergy become clothing for the poor

And their fur and fine horses the sustenance of the needy,

And religious orders be confined to their cloisters

And be as Benedict taught, Dominic and Francis;

Till the learned live all the lessons they teach

And till the king’s council seeks only common good

And till bishops become bakers, brewers, and tailors

For all manner of men that they find in need;

Till Saint James is sought where the poor lie sick,

And prisons and poor hovels be a pilgrimage to Rome,

So that none goes to Galicia unless he goes forever.”

Reason insists that the ills of society are not something that can be solved by tweaking here or there and he refuses to accept the idea of incremental reform through compromise with sin.  True justice will require a transformation of the habits of the entire community.  The clergy, who have grown rich and powerful in his day, must reapply themselves to their calling to be, like God, the friends and sustainers of the poor in body and spirit.  Monks must recommit to their ancient lifestyle of retreat and prayer instead of wandering about the country.  Teachers must set an example with their lives as well as their words, and the nation’s leaders must only seek what is good for all, never private gain.  And all Christians must exchange the spiritual tourism of pilgrimages around the world for a loving attention towards the sick, the imprisoned, and the destitute among their neighbors.

Certainly our world today could stand to hear Reason’s bold proclamation.  In our nation, our leaders seem to find it quite easy to listen to Meed and her various persuasions, and so we attempt little individual tweaks to things like Health Care policy and financial regulation, without even once turning our eyes to the lies, malice, greed, and selfish callousness that power our country like some infernal engine.  Pastors get together and we discuss pensions and insurance and share the chumminess of middle class life, instead of striving to be “bakers, brewers, and tailors” to the hungry, unrefreshed, and naked souls and bodies of those we have been sent to.  And all of us Christians would rather have the experience of a flight to the Holy Land or even a bus to New Orleans than a drive to the trailer park or the state penitentiary.

Of all Reason’s words, his criticism of pilgrimages might seem the harshest and most unwarranted.  After all, a mission trip or a pilgrimage to some sacred and historic place can certainly be an occasion of great spiritual renewal, growth, and empowerment.  There is another side to the coin, however, that Reason is well aware of, and that is how fine the line is between pilgrimage and tourism.  He knows that seeing any new place or experiencing any different way of life can be an occasion for personal epiphany, but a pilgrimage is about seeing and experiencing God.  And Reason might well have quoted a saying that was current in Langland’s day to make his point:  “There is no need to go far for a pilgrimage.  Make a pilgrimage to your neighbor, for they are the living image of God.”  For any pilgrimage to a foreign land that does not become in the end a pilgrimage to your neighbor at home is not a pilgrimage worthy of the name.

Are there parts of your community, where you live, that you have never seen?  Who are the neighbors you have never known or seen, let alone loved?  Listen to Reason, and make your pilgrimage there.  God is not far away; though if you fail to seek him in the poor who are near to you, you will indeed be far from him.

“Is not this the fast that I choose:
    to loose the bonds of injustice,
    to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
    and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
    and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
    and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you,
    the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
    you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.”  (Isaiah 58:6-9)