Elders: Pogo and Jesus Are Still Right!

Nurturing Elders and Others
Pogo and Jesus Are Still Right
By The Rev. Paul Graves

“WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY, AND HE IS US.”

That famous quote from the cartoon character Pogo was first seen on Earth Day 1971. As Pogo and his friend Porkypine sat on a big tree root in the Okefenokee Swamp, they stared at all the trash covering the swamp’s floor.

Porkypine says, “It is hard walking on this stuff.” Pogo looks at his friend and simply says, “Yep, son, we have met the enemy and he is us.”

Pogo’s creator, Walt Kelly, paraphrased a military quote from 1813. Pogo’s words offer a penetrating way to capture a truth we too often conveniently forget: there seem to be two people living in a single body!

So how do I reconcile the “me” I try to be, with the enemy who is also me? Join me in this question! Join me too as I reflect on an exciting twist I recently discovered.

The twist came in words from Jesus: “Love your enemies.” I have always thought of those “enemies” as being out there: persons, attitudes, events out there.

But what if Jesus was sneaky enough to also be suggesting the enemy inside each of us? Then his words might become: “Love your enemy, especially when ‘he is us.”

Challenge yourself to look differently at Matthew 5: 43-48. How might Jesus’ words reflect His attitude toward the “enemy within” ourselves?

But why would older adults even have an “enemy within”? Because we are human beings too, albeit with more grey hair and wrinkles perhaps. Older adults wrestle with the same enemies within as younger people do. With our added experience, we can only hope we’ve a fuller understanding on how to approach the tussle.

How can we possibly love the enemy within ourselves? We know that enemy too well to love. Nah, I don’t think so.

We mostly know what our egos drive us to know. Too often, our egos are either stretched big like a balloon ready to pop; or look like a deflated balloon lying on the cold, hard floor.

I think my mother had trouble pulling her ego off that cold floor. She grew up very poor and was raised by stoic Swedish parents who appeared to be more demanding than loving. Mom’s last year was spent as a hospice client.

I visited Mom and Dad one day here just after a Hospice aide had helped Mom get ready for her day. After the young woman had gone on her way, Mom mentioned how embarrassing it was to have someone help her like that. “I’ve lost all my modesty”, she said.

Something prompted me to say, “Well Mom, you may have lost your modesty, but you’ll never lose your dignity.” I think most of her life, my mom had mixed up modesty and dignity. They may be cousins, but they aren’t identical twins. There are times to be modest. But the bigger challenge is to live with dignity at all times.

Where do we get that dignity? Stores don’t sell it, though we pretend we can buy dignity. Whatever status appeals to us doesn’t come with dignity attached. In fact, nothing we can do brings dignity to us. Because it is already deep within us.

Maybe we simply don’t remember, or maybe we don’t know this: soul-dignity, not ego, is the essence of our being. I’m not sure Mom really understood that, at least deep-down. I wish she had.

She was a very religious person for many years. But I wondered if she really embraced her dignity as a gift that went beyond being a faithful church person and a “good” person.

Jesus’ call to “love your enemy” is a call to be more naturally human, not more religious. He calls us to let our enemy bring out the best in us, not the worst. We meet the enemy every day that we are honest with ourselves. He is us.

But when we can love that enemy, the great thing that happens is we are both transformed. We are no longer enemies. We learn to love one another at a depth we didn’t even know exists within us.

Crazy Love (D1035) This study guide and DVD is about love–God’s incredible love for us and our love for God. Is love transforming your life? Do you really understand God’s unlimited, relentless love? Does your love for God drive your life? This study will help you think through God’s love and how it should transform all aspects of your being.  This study for individuals and small groups is based on the book titled Crazy Love by Francis Chan. To reserve this video now, e-mail The Regional Media Center.

Three Simple Questions (D2030) This study is based on a resource by Rueben P. Job titled Three Simple Rules. How people answer these three simple questions: “who is God, who am I, who are we together?” has a big impact on what they believe, how they live and how they relate to others.  This DVD helps reinforce connections between Bishop Job’s book and scripture.  A leader guide for adults and for youth and children is included so that the study can be conducted on a church-wide basis. To reserve this video now, e-mail The Regional Media Center.