One of the leitmotifs of the
four Christian Gospels is the surprising value of peripheries even over people
who are up front, whether politically, economically, socially, and even atop
religious institutions. “The last are first, and (most of) the first are last”
is a Biblical staple for Christians. In terms of compassion, the value being
espoused here is consistent with Jesus’s preachment that compassion to one’s
detractors and even sworn enemies is the way into the spiritual Kingdom of God,
which, being within a person and between people in the spirit of
inconvenient love/compassion, is at hand rather than pending Christ’s Second
Coming. This point is dramatically made in the film, Mary Magdalene. It
was also made in Pope Francis’s decision to skip the grand opening of Notre
Dame in Paris and go instead to the French island of Corsica in December, 2024.
In making this choice, the pope evinced distinctively Christian leadership,
which can also be practiced by heads of governments and even CEOs.
The full essay is at "Church of the Peripheries."
