I Went for a Run Today

I went for a run today. I’ve been trying to get back into running regularly over the last several weeks, but I will admit that it has been tough. Today as I walked out the door a little after 7:30 am, I was hit by a wall of heat and humidity which I knew immediately would make the run more challenging. For a moment, I even considered changing my route and running a shorter distance, closer to home, but as I reached the sidewalk in front of my house and started jogging, I resolved to go my usual route.

I love my usual running route. A shade longer than a 5K, it goes down a great hill, runs through a beautiful greenway, past a scenic lake dotted with ducks and herons and such, then along the Des Moines River, through some woods (which are still flooded from the wet spring and last week’s flash floods), and back up the main drag through the heart of my neighborhood. Along the way on any given day, you may see numerous species of birds, rabbits, squirrels, woodchucks, turkey, and deer. It’s also quiet. Yes, you can hear the distant rumble of trucks on the interstate, the buzz of an occasional airplane or helicopter, and even on occasion the purr of a boat meandering up the river, but you can also hear the birds singing, the squirrels playing, and the deer snorting at passersby intruding upon their munching.

This morning, one of the reasons I so wanted to take this route was that, for about a half mile, the path runs alongside the Tai Village. Originally intended to be a place for the Tai Dam people, originally from China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand, to settle in Iowa, the Tai Village today consists of a cultural center, a few pavilions and gazebos, and the aforementioned lake. Every year during Labor Day weekend, the Tai Village hosts a festival celebrating their culture and others who have found refuge in our little part of the world.

This is why I was so eager to run this route today. You see, the Tai Dam people and many others would not be my neighbors if not for the work of one man, Robert D. Ray. Ray was many things over his long and storied career. Some of the things in his biography which struck me were the fact that he was the head of the Republican Party in Iowa. He was elected five times to serve as governor of the state of Iowa, and this was no small thing considering he was a staunch conservative serving during the social upheaval of the 60’s and 70’s, not to mention the Watergate scandal which rocked the public’s trust in government and the Republican Party. And in the midst of all this, Bob Ray lived and led in such a way that, in the wake of his passing this weekend, people on both sides the proverbial aisle have delivered tributes to him.

This is striking, particularly in today’s political and ideological polarization, and it compels me to wonder what it was that led even those at the opposite end of the political spectrum to respect and honor this man. And I think I find three things.

First, Ray was a man of unimpeachable character. The Des Moines Register described the conservative Republican as “quiet, humble and thoughtful, yet confident in his deeply held beliefs with the courage to act.” Those who knew him best described Ray’s leadership as open, honest, moral, and ethical, but what has struck me most were the words of David Oman, who served as Ray’s chief of staff: “That’s how he lived and that’s how he led” (source: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2018/07/08/bob-ray-obituary-iowa-governor-robert-ray-dies/998099001/) Simply put, Bob Ray was, by all accounts, a man of character, both in and out of the public spotlight, and that was clearly the primary reason he is today so widely respected. We would do well to heed this observation! Yet too often, we attempt to separate the public and private, insisting that we can be honorable in one sphere without having to be so in the other. If there is one lesson we must take from Robert Ray, as leaders and as people, it is that we must be people of unimpeachable character.

Second, Ray was more concerned with what was right than what was politically expedient. The Tai Dam people are a tremendous case in point. Today, we hear Republicans clamoring for walls and restrictions on immigration, but in 1975, as communism consolidated its hold on Vietnam and Laos and the Tai Dam, who had stood firmly against communism, feared reprisals, it was the Republican Bob Ray who went to President Ford seeking permission to resettle them in Iowa. He then helped form Iowa SHARES, a charity which raised $500,000 to help refugees in Thailand. In gratitude for his work on their behalf, the Tai Village named its cultural center in Ray’s honor, and Ray’s efforts laid the groundwork for many other groups of refugees displaced from places around the globe to find a new home in our community. And our community is better for it. We would do well to heed this observation as well! But instead of considering the situation and responding with right, how often do we listen to the sound bytes of pundits whose sole motivation is to rally votes? This is not to say that we should not have border security and immigration law! But it is to say that it is sometimes important – nay, imperative – that we step back, consider the bigger picture, and do the right thing rather than that which merely conforms with what our political affiliation tells us. Ray saw people in need, even on the far side of the world, and he endeavored to help. I dare say we must do the same!

Finally, one of the most impressive tributes to Ray which I have read in the last couple days was written by a woman who once debated him. Ray was staunchly conservative (read that, pro-life), and this woman was a leader of Planned Parenthood. There was no way the two were going to agree, and yet she recounted how their impromptu debate – which happened while they were both laid over in an airport terminal – was respectful and even warm. And at the end, she walked away from the exchange with an appreciation for both his position and the man. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out the application here. Watch the news for a few minutes, listen to talk radio, or even glance at Facebook, and it is plain to see that our discourse is dominated by vitriolic polemics which do little to convince anyone of anything and even less to reconcile. As a result, our culture is becoming increasingly polarized, both politically and ideologically. Some of this is inevitable. St. Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, “There must, indeed, be factions among you, so that those who are approved may be recognized among you” (1 Corinthians 11:19 HCSB2009). But Paul also exhorted these same Corinthians to embrace a “ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5). How can we have any hope of reconciliation, or even cooperation, if we’re too busy burning bridges with incendiary rhetoric and inflammatory discourse? It is interesting that Paul held no illusion that the church at Corinth would ever be completely uniform. Indeed, he advocated that their diversity was an essential strength! He advocated instead for unity, where all the different parts and pieces were committed to the same basic purpose and therefore pulling in the same general direction. And what was that purpose? The author of the Pledge of the Allegiance figured it out: “one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Despite all our differences, we must be committed to liberty and justice for everyone. American. Tai Dam. Syrian. Mexican. Rich. Poor. Male. Female. Black. White. Old. Young. Unborn. We can have honest debates about how to best accomplish that. But we must never lost sight of the fact that we’re in this together, and so we must always engage those debates in a respectful and even warm way.

Robert D. Ray will probably never be a household name beyond the bounds of Iowa. But his life and his leadership have left a precedent for which we must all strive.