When politicians retire, they typically do so for two reasons: They’re expecting to lose their jobs anyway, or they’re eager to work in that more lucrative form of politics — lobbying.
There’s now a third reason, thanks to Washington Lt. Gov. Cyrus Habib, who announced last week that he will not seek reelection. It’s not because he thinks he’d lose or because he wants to make millions, but because he wants to join the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits.
“I have felt a calling to dedicate my life in a more direct and personal way to serving the marginalized, empowering the vulnerable, healing those who suffer from spiritual wounds and accompanying those discerning their own futures,” Habib said in a statement. “I have also come to believe that, while we certainly continue to need people of goodwill to serve in elected office, meeting the challenges our country faces will require more than just policymaking.”
Habib’s announcement caught his party off guard. State Sen. Jamie Pedersen, a Seattle Democrat, said he even thought Habib might succeed Washington Gov. Jay Inslee if Inslee were to accept a job in a Democratic presidential administration. But “it happens to people,” Pedersen said, especially to those with faith. “They sense a calling.”
As a Jesuit, Habib will be expected to make four vows: poverty, chastity, and obedience, plus a vow to worldwide mission. As an Ivy League-educated attorney, Rhodes scholar, law professor, and state politician, Habib admitted he isn’t sure what this next period of life will look like, or what it will require. “But I am confident that it will involve teaching, intercultural and interfaith dialogue, advocacy, and spiritual accompaniment,” he said.
Like so many people, Habib realized that politics doesn’t have all the answers, because sometimes, it fails to recognize the problem.
Governments tend to focus on the physical needs of their citizens, and that is their duty. But our spiritual needs are just as important, and they are often neglected. Habib realized he had a choice: “How could I resist the opportunity to participate, if only in a small way, in the life-giving work of spiritual renewal that our world and these times so desperately need?” he explained.
Habib will still serve Washington’s residents, just in a different, and what some might even call a more important, way.
