I met a Yalie Mediator Attorney Rabbi.
At NY Ave Presby church (see note below) in DC Rosh Hashana services were held for anyone who cared to show up free of charge. "We are egalitarian, we don't have a priestly class" proclaimed a woman cantor from the alter who beautifully chanted psalms in Hebrew. "We all have the ability to bless each other" she declared. This resonated with the protestant view of 'priesthood of all believers" thoughts.
The head Rabbi, a gentle soft spoken man of a wise 60 years is a practicing professional mediator- attorney who worked for years in DC Superior Court as an attorney in the family law area in childhood neglect/abuse issues, and is a yale law graduate. Immediately I loved this guy. His name is John. John the Rabbi Yalie mediator-attorney.
Christ is the mediator between God and Man I thought, bridging the chasmic gap between sin and holiness. Kadosh Kadosh Kadosh they chanted which means Holy Holy Holy. Christians sing Holy Holy Holy Lord God almighty about once a week if they go to daily mass.
If only we all knew what we all have in common.
The confessional model that the catholics follow, which is taught as something that comes from Christ's commissioning (while nowhere in scripture is there an account of anyone going to confession per se, to any of the apostles, but an admonition to 'confess your sins one to another' which protestants mean to anyone, including anyone you sinned against, not just a priest--gives priests alone 'absolution' powers. Sometimes I find this to be a convenient excuse not to actually ask forgiveness of the one offended to request forgiveness. A quick 'Hail Mary' will do you.
Sometimes people go for literally years without getting it right between people who offended them and visa versa, and sometimes don't even realize what they did wrong to be so offensive. Spiritual blindness comes in all classes, ages, sizes, races and genders. People hold to their perspectives t hat it was all the other guy's fault- and they take no ownership of what they did wrong, insisting on playing blame game politics-and recruiting all their friends to ally with their view. Confession conveys information only to the priest, and confidentially. Sometimes people don't even understand how what they have done- sometimes even chronically over and over again, that is deeply harmful to someone else and they are blindsided by the reaction. Compound this problem a thousand fold over if the offender is a priest, who recruits all his priestly friends to the view, and demands the other go to confession. That goes no where in a hurry.
So I recommend to all my catholic brothers and sisters that if they really want to get it right, and make it right, that the Church should hire John the Yalie Mediator Attorney Rabbi on retainer and use him when it is necessary to get to a chronic conflict that doesn't seem to heal--especially when a priest is involved as a part of the problem.
This is the season, just before Yom Kippur, to get all the conflict behind us for a new fresh start. Christ, the mediator between God and Man surely would hire John the Yalie Mediator Attorney Rabbi if he thought it would help heal.
Kadosh Kadosh Kadosh.
The Lord Our God is One.
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