“Fear has a way of bending us.” – Sherrod Brown
“Unbind him and let him go.” – John 11:44
 
This week I have been watching the political news, both the Iowa Caucuses and the conclusion of the Impeachment trial. The outcome in Iowa (or lack thereof) is startling to me. The result of the Impeachment trial, not so much. Along the way I’ve been struck by a side story of the impeachment: Senator Mitt Romney’s vote. 
 
I remember Romney well from his days as governor of Massachusetts. He didn’t endear himself to me with his opposition to marriage equality and trans justice as governor, particularly his use in 2004 of a racist 1913 law to prevent anyone whose marriage wouldn’t be considered legal in their home state from getting married in Massachusetts. “Massachusetts should not become the Las Vegas of same-sex marriage,” he said at the time. “We do not intend to export our marriage confusion to the entire nation.” You can read the 2004 article here.
 
This history hasn’t predisposed me to wait eagerly upon Romney’s words, but I was struck particularly by comments he shared about his vote. His whole floor speech can be read here, but in this New York Times article he talked about how easy it can be to vote for (or against) something even when you know on some level that your action is wrong. “I have found, in business in particular but also in politics, that when something is in your personal best interests, the ability of the mind to rationalize that that’s the right thing is really quite extraordinary. I have seen it in others, and I have seen it in myself.” His clarity about rationalization struck me—not simply that we do things that we suspect or know are wrong but that we can rationalize them so well that we fail to fully recognize all that we are doing. I also appreciated that he did not come across as judgmental in his commentary. Perhaps some of his colleagues may consider his words sanctimonious. But that’s where his application of this insight to himself helped. Earlier in the article he “recalled times in which his decisions had been influenced ‘in some cases by political benefit.’” I wonder if he now considers his Massachusetts 1913 law arguments in that light?
 
Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio added insight about how hard it is to make a choice against one’s self interest amid a community gripped by fear. Quoting his colleague, Senator Patty Murray from Washington, Brown commented that the atmosphere of fear in the Senate is very much like the months after 9/11 that led up to the Iraq War vote. “For the stay-in-office-at-all-cost representatives and senators, fear is the motivator. They are afraid that Mr. Trump might give them a nickname like ‘Low Energy Jeb’ and ‘Lyin’ Ted,’ or that he might tweet about their disloyalty. Or — worst of all — that he might come to their state to campaign against them in the Republican primary. They worry: ‘Will the hosts on Fox attack me?’ ‘Will the mouthpieces on talk radio go after me?’ ‘Will the Twitter trolls turn their followers against me?’ My colleagues know they all just might.” Fear has a way of becoming contagious in groups (even more so on social media). It can gain a certain momentum that banishes reason and insight, erodes courage. 
 
I don’t think any of us makes the right call, the moral or courageous decision, in every circumstance in our lives when we are challenged to act against the grain of powerful collective fear. We all fall short multiple times. Sometimes the consequences are severe. Sometimes the consequences are more subtle.
 
My prayer as we shift into this post-impeachment chapter is that all of us might gain more insight into the power of fear in our lives, especially the kind of collective fear that turns into an unspoken, pervasive panic. The kind that inspires action that seeks simply to relieve the vice grip of fear, to cooperate with it rather than to step back and, seeing its source, refusing to hand ourselves over to its power.
 
So this week I’m grateful for the singular vote of Senator Romney. He hasn’t become my new hero, and I sincerely wish his vote were not such an anomaly in the face of such egregious actions on the part of the President of the United States. Yet this vote can serve as a reminder to all of us, all of us who face our own much less dramatic, morally significant decision points, that it is possible to resist the momentum of fear. It is possible to make a right and good choice even if you’ve previously made very different ones. It is possible to gain and maintain perspective, and to do so with as much humility as bedrock conviction. 
 
Remember Lazarus of Bethany who died, whom Jesus raised? After the stone on his tomb was removed, “the dead man” hopped out, still wrapped in his grave clothes. Lazarus’ wrappings remind me of Senator Sherrod Brown’s comment, “fear as a way of bending us.” Jesus’ comment to the community witnessing the emerging Lazarus was “unbind him and let him go.” This week our call is to unbend fear. Unbend it, and let it go.
 
Peace,
 
Cameron