c. 2008 Religion News Service

NEW YORK _ Last week I met a buddy from graduate school whom I hadn’t seen in 35 years. Rather than talk over the noise of a hotel bar, we took a slow walk through Central Park.

We talked about yesterday, of course, but mainly, as happens among friends, we talked about today: what we care about today, what we are doing today, how today seems to be shaping tomorrow.

Such discovery required the back-and-forth of listening and talking, finding trust and openness, dealing with superficials and then going to that deeper place where only friends can get.

In contemplating Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the United States this month, I cannot imagine what it’s like to be so visible, so much a projection screen for others’ needs and feelings, so much a figurehead. Millions will parse his every sentence and assign meaning to every gesture.

But I can imagine what his flock needs. In addition to the show, I think people need their pope to help them grapple with today, the real today that extends beyond a global religious franchise.

No doubt, Benedict will receive a thorough briefing on the state of U.S. Catholicism. He’ll hear about frustrated bishops, parishes closing for lack of resources and schools for lack of students, a shortage of clergy, restive women seeking leadership, growing pockets of conservatism, Latino immigrants and lagging brand loyalty for all Christian denominations.

The pope could address those trends and move on to his next destination. After all, a global leader must have a broad reach.

My recommendation, however, would be for Benedict to take the equivalent of a slow walk through Central Park, away from the crowds, away from needing to perpetuate yesterday, away from managing his persona.

On that walk, I urge the pope to engage in a back-and-forth with the unique context of American Christianity. Whatever is happening elsewhere, Christianity in America has some unique opportunities, needs and challenges. They require the attention to context that Jesus gave to a single Pharisee or two sisters or one blind beggar.

A global movement can seem to rise above local context, but that is both delusional and bad theology. For the Christian, there is no life more important than the one at hand, the house where peace is given or not given, the wound touched or ignored, the vengeful sword raised or laid aside.

American Catholics need to be heard. This isn’t a developing nation. This is a postmodern nation, with a complex and at least temporarily dysfunctional economy, a government weakened by cronyism and cynical catering to greed, a populace losing confidence in tomorrow, a debtor nation whose ideals have been squandered in torture chambers, and a religious environment marked by conflict, financial woes, dispirited clergy and lifeless tradition.

It is also a time of great promise, when millions are yearning to learn about God and to find a substantial hope. The needs are great, and we have a gospel that can save.

But that gospel is no less contextual today than it was 2,000 years ago, when Jesus went about doing good on a small scale, engaging individuals, hearing their pain and questions, and weaving their actual lives into his parables.

Sometimes briefings, trends and global viewpoints don’t say enough. Sometimes we need a slow walk through Central Park. This is one of those times.

(Tom Ehrich is a writer, church consultant and Episcopal priest based in New York. He is the author of “Just Wondering, Jesus,” and the founder of the Church Wellness Project, http://www.churchwellness.com. His Web site is http://www.morningwalkmedia.com.)

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