Scalia and Grace

By Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died today. You can read about him here. There is a split decision in my house as to whether or not he was a good judge. I did not care for many (most) of his opinions. His particular Constitutional interpretations may well have hewn to the framers intent- when non-white men and women of all colors were hardly people. I do not think that is the best use of God-given intellect in this present age.

Be that as it may, the man is dead. His wife is grieving. His children, their spouses, and their children are grieving. His friends, including Justice Ruth Ginsberg, are saddened.

I am no longer quite Southern enough to say, "Well, everyone's momma loves them."

I did not like Scalia in a box, with a fox, in the rain, on a train, etc. But God did (does).

God loved him, warts and all. (Which is not to imply that the Justice in question had warts or did not. It's just a phrase.) Regardless of his decision-making, his rancor, his likability, his cantankerousness, his generosity, he was still a beloved child of God. Additionally, because he was a man of some faith, we were (are?) siblings in faith. We are on the same trail behind the pioneer of our faith, Jesus the Christ.

I don't know if I could have walked up the same aisle at the opera as Antonin Scalia, so it is very hard to type out that we were on the same spiritual trail (as it were) behind the Son.

Would I dare to say his name tomorrow among the saints who are gathered to their rest? Will I dare to picture his face, among to many beloved, as present in some capacity around the table, which belongs not to me, but to Christ?

I did pray earnestly today for peace and consolation for his wife and his family and all who loved him, a host which does not include me. I was not trying to be disingenuous or even take the high road. I was just trying to acknowledge something that was in the news and that's about it.

Still, despite this man's lifework that has brought stress and grief to me and many others, I hope that he does rest in peace. I hope that his family is consoled. I hope that God's perpetual light does shine on him.

And I hope I can learn to say the above with no sarcastic endnotes.

God's grace... which covers us all... it is the very worst best thing.