On the occasion of Civitan’s 2006 Recognition Dinner
February 2, 2006
Thank you very much for inviting me to join you this evening as we join with people of faith to recognize those who help us “keep the faith.”
Wendell West, thank you for delivering me out of Nashville tonight. I remember standing in Wendell’s dark and flooded office over at Colonial several years ago the morning after the tornado ripped through town. Even though he was worried whether his business would survive, he was more worried about what it would mean to his employees and to the community as a whole if it did not survive. That’s the kind of man, the kind of Citizen, Wendell West is.
And I want to thank all the members of Civitan, the Dyersburg Civitan Club, for all that you do, collectively and as individuals, to help those with developmental disabilities especially children.
I appreciate your asking me to speak about “Building Good Citizenship.” I was beginning to worry that the words “senator” and “good citizen” weren’t being used in the same sentence any more after all we have been through at the General Assembly in the past year.
As though being a lawyer and a legislator at the same time isn’t already difficult enough.
You may have heard about our situation trying to determine whether a recent senate election should stand. We’ve spent a little time in court lately thanks to a few votes cast from beyond the grave. A federal court in Memphis issued an opinion yesterday taking me to task for trying to uphold the law. The judge quotes me in her opinion as being confused for thinking it my responsibility to uphold the law when “this seems clearly inconsistent with the State’s past practice…”.
And here we are in the middle of a special session on ethics!
Actually, it makes sense to invite a politician to recognize our clergy in the context of good citizenship. We have more in common than you might think. The public’s expectations of the clergy and elected officials are similar. This was recently recognized by an editorial writer for the Greensboro New-Record, Dough Clark:
Never forget anyone’s name.
Never use bad language.
Always be nice.
Attend lots of meetings but avoid getting bogged down in bureaucracy.
Deliver a profound message but keep it light.
Be a leader in the community without letting outside activities take too much time.
Take a firm stand without dividing the congregation.
“Be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect” even if the rest of us are not.
“Politics and morality are inseparable,” said Ronald Reagan. “And as morality’s foundation is religion, religion and politics are necessarily related. We need religion as a guide. We need it because we are imperfect, and our government needs the church because only those humble enough to admit they’re sinners can bring to democracy the tolerance it requires in order to survive.”
In contemporary America, it is more important than ever that we lead by example. This means that we must demonstrate daily the discharge of those responsibilities inherent in democracy and, in so doing, impress upon those among us the simple deeds of democracy which keep this Nation great.
Like ministering to all of us.
In his first inaugural address, President Bush said, “The most important tasks of Democracy are done by everyone.” One that dreary day in January of 2001, nine months before the terrorist attacks, our President said:
“America, at its best, is a place where personal responsibility is valued and expected.”
Our public interest depends on private character, on civic duty and family bonds and basic fairness, on uncounted, un-honored acts of decency which give direction to our freedom.
Sometimes in life we are called to do great things. But as a saint of our times has said, every day we are called to do small things with great love. The most important tasks of a democracy are done by everyone.
What you do is as important as anything government does. I ask you to seek a common good beyond your comfort; to defend needed reforms against easy attacks; to serve your nation, beginning with your neighbor. I ask you to be citizens: citizens not spectators; citizens, not subjects; responsible citizens, building communities of service and a nation of character.”
This is what you, our ministers, do for us and for our community every day. We turn to you in the worst of times and in the best of times; for moral authority and moral support. You are on call 24-7. The most important tasks of democracy are done by everyone, and everyone looks to you.
For this, and for each of you, we give thanks tonight.
