Joseph, our
youngest, went with me to the grocery store to buy food for a delegation
supper. The night before Mike, Daniel,
Joseph and I had talked with a group of high school students from Houston about
our work, Nicaragua and poverty among many other topics.
One student
asked if it would be helpful to Nicaragua to have the U.S, a superpower, lend
aid in helping Nicaragua sort out its internal problems. This was the question Joseph and I discussed that
led Joseph to explain to me that maybe there is a perception that the U.S. is a
superpower…like Loki or Superman.
What a
unique perspective! This was a brand new
concept to me…and one that rang ominously true.
The whole world
does refer to the U.S. as a superpower and most of the time this is not a good
term. I tend to think of
We set up
the pieces and we play with the world either watching or being part of the game
itself…and that is our superpower, to move the pieces on the board in the
manner we think is best.
The problem
with chess and with superpowers is that the rooks and other lowly pieces are
expendable…they can be sacrificed for the betterment or security of the “king”
or the powerful.
Sacrificing
the “rooks” goes against the super hero code…it is the lowly and the vulnerable
who are saved by the Super Heroes. Chess
also goes against most religious beliefs and humanistic thinking.
Chess,
though a great game of logic and competition, is not a game for people to
live. It is not a game for those of us who
hold to the concept of the preferential option of the poor…that the poor are
loved and we are called to live our lives opting to side with the poor. The poor are not expendable. They have been sacrificed enough for power
and wealth and gain and the game needs to end a different way.
Maybe the
best way for us, the U.S., to change our Super Power status is to use our wealth
for the betterment of others…look for ways to side with the poor in our nation
and in our world…use our technology not to enhance our Batmobiles or our Batcave
or our weapons but use our technology to lift up the poor, the vulnerable, the
oppressed…and use our knowledge for good not for check mate...who knows we might actually achieve peace. -Kathleen 
