Religion.
We are told that this, and a few other things, are not discussed in polite company. I'm sure that's true.
Religion can be a place of great reconciliation. The church into which I was confirmed, in Pittsford, NY, was among the first around to have women preaching, the first to have men and women of color address the congregation and - amazing that this would even be the case - the first to invite (they accepted) nuns to attend.
Billy Graham had a high profile - a stunning world-wide profile - as friend of, and spiritual advisor to, presidents. He spoke internationally. Much has been written about him, more now that he has passed. Gone home, he would tell his followers when asked what death would mean to him.
In the Fifties, he befriended a man named Martin Luther King. Over the years they lived their own destinies, and sometimes differed. But, in 1963 when Dr. King was arrested during the Birmingham campaign, Billy Graham was there to get him out of jail.
My own relationship with "The Church" has ebbed and flowed over the years. It is impossible, at least for me, to escape the notion that even as I look all around me, realize everywhere is away and conclude I am the center of the universe, I'm not.
Neither, Mr. Graham would have said, was he. But, he had a particular gift for believing he knew where that center was, and making it a little more accessible to those seeking it.
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