Wednesday, December l8, 2002

Luke 22: 24 - 27

A biographer of Eleanor Roosevelt called her "probably the most active First Lady in American history." Her activity reached from her family circle to the farthest parts of the world. From my childhood I have considered her a person of true greatness.

Although I find no evidence of her involvement in the life of the church, her words and actions prove to me that the Holy Spirit inspired her in many important ways. Consider two quotations: "It takes courage to love, but pain through love is the purifying fire which those who live generously know" and "There are only two unacceptable four-letter words, Hate and Wars."

In l921 when her husband Franklin D. Roosevelt became crippled by polio, Eleanor began her life-long work of helping him politically and moving many nations closer to becoming committed to achieving a more civilized, peaceful world community.

During World War II, she traveled extensively to bolster the Allied effort against the Axis powers. Then from l945 to l951 she served as U.S. delegate to the UN General Assembly. Elected in l946 to chair the UN Human Rights Commission, she contributed significantly to the writing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That document to me represents a modern-day expression of the vision of world peace that we find in Isaiah 2:l-5 (and Micah 4:l-4). In the years since its publication this declaration has served, in the words of its preamble, "as a common standard of achievement for all people and all nations." One can hardly imagine a greater contribution, a better gift to the world community, then this statement for which Eleanor Roosevelt deserves major credit.

Our UM Social Principles contains the words:

Persons and groups must feel secure in their life and right to live within a society if order is to be achieved and maintained by law.... We reaffirm our historic concern for the world as our parish and seek for all persons and peoples full and equal membership in a truly world community.
          The Book of Discipline (2000) , p. 121

Thanks to Eleanor Roosevelt for contributing much to this goal.

Behold a broken world, we pray, where want and war increase,
  and grant us, Lord, in this our day, the ancient dream of peace:
    a dream of swords to sickles bent, of spears to scythe and spade,
      the weapons of our warfare spent, a world of peace remade;
        where every battle flag is furled and every trumpet stilled,
          where wars shall cease in all the world, a waking dream fulfilled.
                    Timothy Dudley Smith      UM Hymnal #426

Frank Kuhlman

All contents copyright 2002 by the Wisconsin Chapter of the Methodist Federation for Social Action. Permission is granted to United Methodist congregations, individuals and groups to reproduce and distribute this devotional without charge. All other use requires the advance permission of the editor.