Word of Encouragement

As if 2020 wasn’t already quite the year, add to it the passing of the legendary Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

However, I came across an interesting article regarding Justice Ginsberg. The article was written by Christopher Scalia, son of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, and highlighted the fact that even though Justices Scalia and Ginsburg sat on opposite ends of the ideological spectrum, they were the best of friends.

It brought back fond memories of the time some of my friends and I had the privilege of sitting with Justice Scalia for over an hour in his chambers at the Supreme Court a year before he passed away. Justice Scalia’s insights and observations about the United States were captivating, but one thing that really stood out and surprised me was when he talked about his friendship with Justice Ginsburg. He cited her intellect, convictions, and mutual love of opera in recounting why they were such close friends.

As Christopher Scalia points out, “They enjoyed working together, and they had many things in common.... My father explained that another reason for their friendship was that ‘we are both kibitzers,’ using a Yiddish term for someone who likes to give unsolicited counsel. 'We like to kibitz and we don’t mind being kibitzed.' They formed what he called ‘a mutual improvement society.’”

And after being kidded about buying two dozen birthday roses for his old friend, despite the fact that Justice Ginsburg had never sided with him in an important 5-4 case, Justice Scalia replied: “Some things are more important than votes… and they didn’t let differing and deeply held convictions undermine their dear friendship.”

Perhaps the reason I found this article so uplifting is because of the current political environment in this country. We are becoming increasingly divided. And as Harvard Professor Arthur Brooks, the former CEO of AEI, has pointed out, people with differing views don’t just disagree with each other anymore; far too often they allow contempt to poison the relationships they have with people who see things differently.

In the “True Confession” category, I am concerned that even though we haven’t even made it to October, there is intense vitriol on both sides of the political aisle. So some people are seeing either a Red or Blue color, instead of three combined colors: Red, White and Blue. The media wants to continue emphasizing what is at stake with these elections, but as Christopher Scalia points out, “a healthy society needs citizens to remember that political disagreement need not turn friends into enemies. My father and Justice Ginsburg mastered this balance. We’ll all need to do the same in the difficult months before us.”

Personally, when I read Isaiah 43, where it says that you are “precious and honored in my sight and because I love you…” I note that it doesn’t contain the words “except for.” Perhaps that is why Justice Scalia could say at an occasion where Justice Ginsburg was being roasted: “She was the best of colleagues, as she is the best of friends.” He knew she was, and we all are, precious to God.