Article/Column

Renewing our faith

by Congressman Elijah E. Cummings

Some experts call the economic hardships that tens of millions of Americans must now survive a recession.  Yet, for those of our neighbors who are in such desperate need this winter, that word – recession – must seem inhumanly disconnected from their daily lives.

Some of those who now suffer are our families and friends.  All are our countrymen and women, and they look to us to help them restore their faith in the future of our great nation.

This is as it always has been – and as it should be – during hard economic times.  America is either "one nation, under God, indivisible," or we are not.

At its most basic level, the first obstacle that we must face together and overcome is clear.  More than 10 million Americans are now looking for work – a staggering toll that is expected to grow worse before better times are restored.

When so many Americans are denied the regular paychecks that they need to support their families, it is the time for action, not for more ideological debate.

We Americans are a people of optimism and faith.  Yet, in truth, that faith – in our economic system, our government and even in ourselves – has been injured and now must be healed.

Confronted by so much peril, we must cast aside the old labels as the first step toward a new, more effective vision of our national goals.  Partisan labels and stereotypes that no longer reflect the foundations of our lives must bend to the new realities.

Our national policy debates must now center on the creation of practical, effective policies.  What will count most and deserve our support in the days to come will be policy measures that speak to the common good.

That, I am convinced, is why Barack Obama has made the creation of millions of new jobs (as well as saving as many of the existing jobs that currently are at risk as we can) his most immediate priorities.  Our President-Elect understands, as do I, that a fully-employed America is a nation that will survive.

There still are those, of course, who have yet to fully accept Barack Obama's most fundamental insight – the understanding that we Americans must stand (or fall) together in this life.

If forces of the status quo refuse to cooperate in accomplishing what must be done, then we must sweep them aside in 2012 – even as we rejected the party of deception, inequity and war during our elections this year.  Our national future is at stake, and we have no other choice.

Yet, even those tempted to filibuster, obfuscate and obstruct in the Senate of the United States may find that the practical necessities of "hard times" are convincing arguments for fundamental change.

Our parents' generation can remind us all that a similar reality test once gave birth to a heightened social conscience that lifted America up from the depths of the Great Depression.  The widespread experience of poverty and despair provided the political foundation for a more progressive society.

Now, America and the world are learning this same lesson anew.

We are standing at a fault line in history.  Together, we now must cross that fundamental divide – and leave the most selfish, self-centered and socially destructive in our midst behind.

We no longer can afford a national culture in which some can fly to resorts on private jets while millions of American children go to bed hungry at night.  Nor can we continue to honor neighbors in our own communities who fail to stand together with us for the common good.

During these hard times, we no longer can delude ourselves that it is possible to borrow ourselves into prosperity.  Realizing our national promise will require nothing less than unrelenting determination and hard work by us all.

Above all, we must cease honoring those who enrich themselves by preying upon others.  Rather, by our actions, we should be strengthening the social standing of those who devote themselves to others.

This shift in the way we apply our values will be as important to the welfare of our local communities as it is in the conduct of our national policies.  That is why the American people are turning, once again, to the leadership of our congregations of faith.

Winter is the season each year when the world's major faith traditions redouble their messages of generosity and compassion for others.  This year, their faith will find practical expression in gifts as diverse as the many challenges that people face in their daily lives – a shared meal, help with an illness or a ride to a job interview.

Our churches, synagogues and mosques not only serve their own congregations.  They help to restore and strengthen our faith that a just, prosperous future can be attained.

We do not have to search far to see all that we owe to neighbors who follow the calling to give.  Every day, we witness the uplifting labors of faith-based initiatives like those of Our Daily Bread and Catholic Charities – feeding the homeless and helping those without jobs develop the skills and contacts to become employed.

Not a week goes by in which the social ministries of synagogues like Baltimore Hebrew Congregation fail to do their part in realizing their vision of "Tikkun Olam – The Repair of the World."

Appalled by the harsh reality that 86,000 Baltimore County children and adults lack health insurance, the congregations of The Islamic Society of Baltimore have created a Community Health Center to minister to those unmet needs.

Throughout our region, congregations of every religious tradition like my own (New Psalmist Baptist Church) are giving tangible meaning to the "social gospel" messages of our faith.

Few of us will ever be called to be President of the United States – but we all have the opportunity to serve.

Responding to that calling is fundamental to our highest and best nature as human beings.

Each of us can do something to uplift the poor, heal the broken hearted, deliver the captives, help the blind and restore hope to those who have been injured.

During this time of trial, I am grateful that we once again can turn to people of conscience and faith – and by their example, my own faith in America's future has been renewed.

Congressman Elijah E. Cummings represents Maryland's Seventh Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives.

- The Honorable Elijah E. Cummings represents the 7th Congressional District of Maryland in the United States House of Representatives.