Synchronizing our heart with our actions

Have you ever done the right thing in a difficult situation, but your heart said, "I'm just not feeling it"? If so, then you know how hard it is to sync your feelings with your actions. I remember such a moment in 1995 in Mountain View, where I was stationed at Onizuka Air Station. It was memorable because it was the very first time I shared a chaplain's assignment with a Catholic priest. His name was Richard Regan. Father Regan was a winsome and gregarious guy who was adored by his parishioners. We became fast friends, and he encouraged me to call him Richard, but around his parishioners, I had to call him "Father." One weekday morning, Richard and I arrived in uniform for a meeting in our chapel office. As we walked toward the entryway, we met two contractors hired to refurbish the steps. The two men scrambled to their feet. They looked past me and greeted Richard in a deep Irish brogue. "Top o' the morning to ya, Father." Richard returned a polished smile as we walked past them to enter our office suite. Inside, I noted how the men barely glanced at me. Richard explained. "I met them a few days ago and they asked about the Christian cross we both wear on our uniforms. I told them that I was a Catholic priest and you are a Protestant minister." Richard described how the men looked down at their work in an awkward pause. "Is that so?" they asked. "I hope that won't stop you from greeting him each morning, too," Richard said. "We'll greet him if you insist," one admitted, "but I'm afraid we'll be giving him a rather frosty 'top o' the morning.' " Richard laughed. The men didn't. I had much in common with those men. We both were having trouble syncing our feelings with doing what we knew was right. It was a stretch for me to call my friend "Father" because I was raised with the literal interpretation of Jesus' words in Mathew 23:9: "Do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven." Yet I learned to do it because it was a professional courtesy of clerical protocol. The Catholic men, likely raised in the Northern Ireland conflict, probably found it difficult not to spit on Protestants, but the good Father's insistence encouraged them to do what was right. Today, in the current political climate, I'm aware there are many issues that work to separate us, such as gun control, immigration and abortion. These topics are difficult to decide, but we choose our views for various reasons based on our upbringing, personalities and experiences. Yet as people of faith, we do know what is right between each other. Our faith demands we do unto others, as we would have them do unto us. We know for certain we must love God with all our heart and our neighbor as our self. So, even during these days of political madness and uncertainty, I hope we will pledge to ourselves and to our faith to do the right thing between each other. We will remain civil and kind and will synchronize our faith with our actions. As for the Irishmen, I told Richard they'd warmed a bit but still hadn't wished me, "Top o' the morning." "Sounds like progress," he said. "How so?" "If they really didn't like you, they'd insult you with something like, 'May the cat eat you, and may the devil eat the cat.' " I grinned. I suppose sometimes you take what you can get. Discounted versions of all my books can be found on Amazon by searching for "Norris Burkes." Autographed copies can be obtained on my website www.thechaplain.netor by sending a check for $20 for each book to 10566 Combie Road, Suite 6643, Auburn, CA 95602. I will bring the opening comments at the Nevada County Fair church service Sunday, Aug. 10, at 9 a.m. The service is held in the special events tent and is coordinated by the Nevada County Christian Ministers' Fellowship. Sign up to receive this weekly column by email at www.thechaplain.net/newsletter/ or send your email address to comment@thechaplain.net.