Healing the Wound Lightly
In 1991 I transitioned from parish ministry to wider-church ministry on the staff of the Southwestern Minnesota Synod ELCA. One of my chief duties on the synod staff was to assist the bishop in dealing with the problem of clergy sexual misconduct. In preparation for this task I spent a week in Pennsylvania being trained by the Rev. Dr. Marie Fortune, whose ground-breaking book “Is Nothing Sacred: When Sex Invades the Pastoral Relationship” (1989) was leading church leaders to rethink their whole approach to handling this grievous problem.
Previously too many churches dealt with ministerial
misconduct by NOT dealing with it. The
focus, all too often, had been on salvaging the minister’s career in order to
keep peace in the parish. In the late
1980s, however, there was a sea change (thanks to persons like Dr. Fortune) that
placed a premium on believing and pursuing justice for victims, even if that
meant ending ministerial careers and shining the light of truth on
congregations and other organizations where sexual misconduct by members of
“helping professions” was happening.
Looking back on this era, it seems obvious that
churches and other institutions started doing what they should have been doing
all along. But it wasn’t obvious. Indeed some parish lay leaders resisted the
new approach—finagling ways to retain the services of beloved pastors who had
abused parishioners, while refusing to allow full disclosure of the misconduct
in the congregation. In her book, Dr.
Fortune described this as “healing the wound lightly,” based on a striking
passage in the Old Testament prophecy of Jeremiah:
“For
from the least to the greatest of them, every one is greedy for unjust gain;
and from prophet to priest, every one
deals falsely.
They
have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying,
‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no
peace.
Were
they ashamed when they committed abomination?
No, they were not at all ashamed; they did
not know how to blush.
Therefore
they shall fall among those who fall;
at the time that I punish them, they shall
be overthrown,’ says the LORD.”
Jeremiah .6:13-15 (RSV)
The
phrase “healing the wound lightly” has kept coming back to me since January 6,
2021, as leaders of our two major political parties have haggled over the
second impeachment of the former president—with many but not all Republicans declaring
that it’s time to “move on” from the dreadful event on January 6.
This week our nation has an opportunity to look at itself in the mirror and pursue the only kind of just peace that will bring long-term healing: a peace that begins with fearless, full accountability for the former president’s role in inciting the unprecedented violent assault on our nation’s Capitol.
This week I will join many Americans in praying that members of the U.S. Senate recognize and declare that no one—not even the President of the United States—is above the law.
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