Journal of Sacred Work

  It certainly wasn’t the centerpiece of the evening. Even if the right picture won, who cares about the Academy Award for best documentary? It’s the best actor and actress awards that count. It’s the best director and the best picture that we wonder about. The focus is on the red carpet and the women in the breath-taking, low-cut gowns, and the glory of victory – winning the game. That’s what the Academy Awards are about, right? That’s really what all the bright lights are about with respect to any acclaim, be it Superbowl or Grammy or World Series or Tony Awards.
   When the man who won the most votes for President of the United States in 2000 crossed the red carpet on the evening before the 79th Academy Awards there was only a smattering of applause. After all, he’s not Brad Pitt or George Clooney. He’s just Al Gore, the wooden man, the man who is calling us, relentlessly, to wake up to a crisis. And he is the star of the Oscar-winning documentary, An Inconvenient Truth.      
   Al Gore is a caregiver for the environment. He’s someone who cares about where we live and how we care for the world around us. Most ignore him. Some ridicule him as he continues to warn us…

   But this is always the way we treat those who speak truth to us about things that matter. We don’t want to notice them. They’re no fun. They’re too serious. They make us uncomfortable. They preach too much. And so we give them polite applause and turn our attention to what’s more fun. The flashing gowns, the red carpet, the sparkle, the gossip, this is where our attention flows.
   Jesus warned us that those who stood up for love and caring would be persecuted. Worse than that is how we ignore them.

   Love is important, often inconvenient, rarely flashy. People give standing ovations to the stars. They’re stuck in their seats in the presence of true greatness represented by, for example, the man who would (should?) have been President. Instead of Gore, the country chose a man who has spent half a trillion dollars and thousands of lives on what turns out to be an unwinable war.    
   These are facts, not a political opinion.
   Regardless of political views, regardless of our opinions, we must acknowledge an inconvenient truth. Gore was, and is, right. Our earth is in trouble. But, oh, how troublesome it is to accept this
truth.
   Love means caring and commitment to those truths that are so hard to face. Who wants to care for the dying? Who wants to look after the lame and the halt and the blind and the poor and the drug-addicted and the mentally disturbed?  Who wants to face the hard truth of global warming? It’s not for the red carpet is it?
   This essay is not meant to be a guilt trip. I love the movies, I’ve voted for lots of Republicans as well as Democrats, and I watched all of the Oscars show. It’s great fun. Hollywood is dreamland, not reality. It’s Disney, not Darfur. About what would you rather daydream, glamor or suffering?
   So how will we attend to the tragic truths of the world? We call upon Love to help us. But in the presence of the red carpet of glamor, what chance does Love have?

   Best Performance by a Man on Behalf of a Cause……Al Gore
   Most attention goes to………………………………glamor.
   While Paradise belongs to Love.

-Erie Chapman