Spiritual Yearning

Yearning is described as:  a feeling of intense longing for something.

It sure seems to me that God wants, even yearns to be in relationship with all of humanity. As a matter of fact, the overarching narrative of most sacred texts, what we Christians call the ‘bible”, is about God’s relationship with and within humanity and our response to that relationship, our yearning to know that there is a Divine Presence during this journey we call life. Our yearning to know God and to know that there is a Presence in this life and the next life that will never go deaf to our words or blind to our needs. What we find out is that God is yearning for us to know the Presence as we yearn to know and experience that Presence in the here and now of our history.  

What a beautiful concept and story that is: The story of Jesus the Universal Christ. For more on this I encourage you to read the book by that same name from Fr. Richard Rohre.

What we yearn for is yearning for us. How beautiful, how simple but how complicated we have made it. Jesus, as the embodied, incarnated, Cosmic universal Christ, saying to all of creation, I know you and I want you to know Me.

A mutual co-yearning to know each other deeper and better is the order of the universe.

God wants what we want, peaceful living in harmonious relationship between all of creation. Jesus might call this the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God. Some may call it “kingdom”. I tend to call this the place, heart, essence, realm of God. Or simply God.

If I’m attentive, with ears to hear and eyes to see, I can experience that relational knowing. It is in that space of knowing, God moments some may say, that I can realize the true peace of this relational living.

If we were to sit in quiet reflection, I invite you to do just that, we would realize that our deepest spiritual yearning is to be in close relationship with one another. Married couples know this. Mothers and fathers know this and when we reflect on our own childhood, we know this as well. We all experience this as an infant wanting to know and stay close to that touch of relationship. Most of us know how it feels to have that taken away, that close touch of Love, with the death of a loved one, or to be in a relationship where mutual love is absent.

We all know yearning. Hopefully we all know unconditional love as well. When and where that is absent, I imagine Jesus is weeping.

And when that relationship is broken or impeded by systems or individuals, we have the responsibly of mutual freedom and thriving, love God and neighbor as yourself, to help repair what we have broken as well as work to create a more equality driven society and culture: see the Gospel.

In our Christian tradition we can witness the work of God restoring and repairing what humanity has broken by gazing upon the Cross and the Tomb.

Death repaired to life.

Love crucified by humanity, resurrected by God.

A parable of relationship restored.

A metaphor helping us understand God’s yearning to stay in relationship with us, even if we want to crucify the Body of Love incarnated, God will say no, I must remain so that all of creation can live relationally within Me, even as I eternally live in relationship with/within all of creation.

Maybe if we embrace our own yearning to know God, we can realize God’s own yearning to be in close relationship with us.

In our spirit, in our soul, outside of our extreme dualistic mind, we know this to be true.

As we walk through this journey of life may we know we are in good company, always.

An invitation to peaceful living

Painting by Annete Trent

I wonder if we have allowed our collective selves to be taken over by the absolute. I wonder if we have lost touch with the blessing of the unknown, the mystery of God, the Divine YHWH, and the expansive God of the universe. In our losing touch with the Mystery, we have replaced the Christ incarnated in Jesus with an exclusive Jesus as the only and a last name of Christ. We have taken an invitation from God and created an absolute in or out Christianity.

It seems that this may be one of the reasons for the sharp decline in attendance at mainline churches, especially among the young adults and their parents. The world is a mystery, and our young people know it. They have the mystery at their fingertips and may be searching for answers but are more eager to have a person or institution that helps them create space for questioning and exploring. Instead, many have found the absolute believe or else way of understanding the world through an exclusionary Christianity to be empty. There may be some absolutes in our world and in our lives. However, there is much more mystery and paradox then we dare to admit. Maybe we have been helping folks get stuck on the finger instead of gazing upon the mystery of the moon. Maybe we have been providing answers instead of joining in the exploration of it all. Yes, The All includes the expansive and expanding God.

If we can expand our own understanding beyond our need to know exactly with exactitude, we can live in the unknown and appreciate the mystery. If we can appreciate the mystery, then we can release Jesus from the shackles of absolutism and exclusion. And in that releasing we can get to know Jesus as invitation instead of dogma and creed. We can come to know the spiritual flesh under and beyond the words.

Maybe we can become invitational ourselves.

Jesus invites all of humanity into the relationship with and within God; Come to Me all of you who are weary. Sometimes we get stuck on the preceding verse when Jesus says that the way of greed and empire, the Father of the Roman empire, the emperor, or the Lord as the Roman rulers were called, is not the way to a relationship with God. To know God, Jesus says, we must know the Christ within Jesus, we must know this through relationship much more than belief. Only through that knowing of the Christ, the Father/Divine/Sacred/YHWH/Lord, can we know God. Greed and power, the way of empire, are not the way to know the God incarnated in Jesus as the Christ.

Maybe we can become invitational ourselves.

If we see Jesus as the Christian incarnational invitation to know the Divine Christ, the substance and sustenance of God incarnated in Jesus, then we can be that invitation in our own time and place. Then we may be able to step back from the cliff of absolute and begin to create explorers of faith instead of violent warriors for the faith.

Violence is often thought of as carried out with a weapon or physical altercation. But violence can be carried out in damaging ways with words and often to more destructive ends. Ask anyone who is in an emotionally abusive relationship, and they will tell you that words hurt, bruise, cut, and cause lasting trauma to the soul without a single shot or punch.

Invitational language may help us to be healers and sustainers of healthy relationships instead of breaking things apart with violent language; And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.

One simple way of hearing the difference; You should do it this way! can be more invitational if we asked, how can I help? With that example we may be able to hear the invitation instead of the direction. That might not sound like the difference between violence and love. It does present an idea for a more inviting way of being in the world. After we ask, how can I help, the person my respond with a need for direct advice. But training our voices to be more inviting may help us all realize the power of those words…. Come to Me, each of you that are weary! Come and be in relationship with the Love of God.

We are the invitation with our words and our lives.

When we tap into our own internal need for a relationship with pure Love, God as Paul says, we can realize the calling of Jesus to come to him and know Peace. With invitation we can create space for others to know that pure Love of God.

Jesus again invites us in the Gospel of John, Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you

Did we hear that? My Peace! God’s peace is what Jesus left us with by his life as the example for invitational peaceful living.

I invite you to explore what invitation sounds like for you.

I invite you to explore how you hear God’s invitation into a deeper relationship with that Divine Love.

May the peace of God be with each of us, all of these days, and the days beyond today.

Listening as art

When I was just starting out in ministry and taking my pastoral care classes I realized that sometimes I had a hard time listening. I marveled at other pastors’ ability to be present in conversations. One pastor that I was impressed with had a great ability to do this in group settings. Listening to what was being said, recap the mood and help move the conversation along in a productive way. Helping others to listen to what the group was saying. Not all the time mind you but enough times for me to notice how this pastor listened.

When I began doing pastoral care calls, I realized that there is a rhythmic sound to our voices, almost musical in terms of tones, the ups and downs. So, in a sense, at least in my own spirit, I began to listen to the music in the voices of those who are talking. What this helped me understand, and a tool for pastoral care that I gained, was a way to quiet my mind and truly listen to what was being shared, listening for the spirit of the speaker through the rhythm and tones of their voices.

Matthew 11:15 Whoever has ears, let them hear.

For most of us we are hearing the sounds in a conversation, and we are processing our response instead of truly listening. We are hearing to respond instead of really listening for the other persons heart and soul. This continues to be a challenge for me at times, even to the point of interrupting instead of listening. I work at listening instead of hearing in order to reply.

Listening may feel like a lost art, it is an art form that is sorely needed.

We possess an ability to proclaim, loudly and destructively all too often, instead of listening with curiosity. This causes me to wonder, are we hearing what we want to hear from the people who don’t challenge us to listen deeply. When we listen deeply and with curiosity it may challenge our long-held beliefs. This may be why we can hear without listening. When someone challenges our deep, long-held beliefs, our minds check out and we lose touch with our other ability, our spiritual ability to listen to the music in the voices of our conversation partner.

Instead of talking at one another we may do well to step into every discussion as a spiritual exercise in conversational partnership. If we can approach our discussions from this point of view, then maybe we can stop the destructive pattern of yelling political talking points at each other like tiny little stones that together are ruining our collective spirit.

Imagine sitting in a locked room. Your assignment is to prove your point. But the other person just sits and yells at you, loudly and rudely. Almost to the point of calling you names and insulting you personally simply because they disagree. Calling into question your personhood even. That sounds to me like a very spiritually draining and costly endeavor. Most of us would get up and walk out, wouldn’t we?

Well, it doesn’t take much imagination to see that is how we are treating each other when it comes to solving the problems of this world. We are hearing a lot of noise without listening to the truth in someone else’s story. Engaging in a political talking point debate is a much different approach than really listening with empathy and curiosity.

What this may help us understand is that when two people share, spiritually share, and spiritually listen to one another, the grace of God can be exchanged. With the help of the presence of the Grace of God we may begin to heal and repair what we have broken.

Isn’t that the point after all? To heal from brokenness of the world and ourselves.

The benefit of listening with our spiritual ear is two-fold.

First, we see and hear the divine spark in our conversation partner. We see their humanity and they see ours. When we listen to the truth in someone else’s story and they in turn listen to our truth we are engaging in spiritual dialogue and the Grace of God is invited into the conversation to help in the healing process.

Second, we train ourselves to listen for the presence of God in every moment. We tune our spiritual ear to the vibrations of creation and the sounds of humanity. Through the ebbs of worry and flows of our joys, God continues to reach out to us within the sounds of our lives and our shared humanity. Can we hear it? Can we take time to hear with our spiritual ear so that we can listen to the presence of the Divine in all of us and within all of creation?

For if we are truly tuned into the songs of our lives, listening with our spiritual ear, we can hear the presence of God in everything, even our worries and the difficulties of our world.

For if we are truly tuned into the songs of our lives, we can hear the heartbeat of humanity in everyone and we can witness to the divine in everything.

If we listen for the healing presence of God we may just hear our own heartbeat echoing in our spiritual ear.

If we listen for the healing presence of God we may just hear our own heartbeat echoing in our spiritual ear.

Peaceful Heart Full Of Peace

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We may not be able to change the world, but the world will not change without us. 

The question is….do we want a different world?  Or more to the point of life question, do we want to leave the world a little bit better than when we found it? 

That is my question. Do we want a different world for our communities, our world, and our children? Is the point of our lives, the gift of this life that we have been given, to take all we can while we are here and leave it all scorched to the ground in the meantime? Is the point of life to live selfishly?  Or is the point of life to live self-giving for others?   

If we call ourselves Christian, we have our answer. As Christians, if we are to truly follow and let Jesus be our guide, we have the answers about how to live in the world by following the example of how He lived his life, guided by the Spirit of God’s love.  

He tells us that the greatest indicator of our devotion to God is found in loving as we have been loved by God as made known to us in Him, Jesus.  

In Jesus we see a God who isn’t tinkering around the edges of something new. In Jesus we see a God who is breaking into history, incarnated in Jesus, to bring the world of power, greed, empire, and money to its knees by turning the system of exploitation and oppression upside down. Read the first shall be last, the last shall be first from the Gospel of Matthew. If we don’t hear Jesus’s underlying message about what God is newly creating in that short message, then we truly are listening with our own egotistical ears.  

It really is quite simple if we can allow ourselves to conceive of it, admit it, work for it, allow it to fill us up, allow the wisdom of Jesus to teach us about how to change the world.  

Truly the only way the world can change is through what we put into the world.  

At times it may feel like we are helpless against the tyranny of violence, war and hate. At times it may feel like we can do nothing. That feeling as if we can do nothing can create a sense of loss and maybe even anxiety or sadness. 

It is in these times that we must hold onto this reality that the world will only change by how we are in the world.  

It is very difficult to hang onto our faith when we are given all indications that we are fools for believing in a great something that is ordering our world towards peace. But our faith doesn’t tell us that we are passive participants. Quite the contrary, actually.  

What kind of world do we want to live in?  

Our job is to wrestle with that question, get up and get to work creating that world by being in the world what we most desire.  

So, if you are looking for good in the world…take a selfie or look in a mirror to see the image of God’s goodness in this world.

So, if you are looking for an affirmation that God is up to goodness, take a selfie or find a mirror.

God’s goodness in the world is contained in each one of us.

A peaceful world begins with a peaceful heart.

Pissed Off Pastor

John 19:41

As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, if you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! 

I’m pissed off and angry. It seems that we can’t do anything anymore in our nation. We can’t solve problems. We continue to let ourselves be brainwashed that there is nothing we can accomplish because we are so divided. I say bullshit. We are not divided by some cosmic divine entity that just won’t let us come together to accomplish something for the good of everyone. Every faith practice calls us towards a different way, towards unity and care for all. I proclaim there is a better way, and that way begins with me.

I’m reminded that we teach our children to make good choices. We are choosing to let ourselves be divided. We are choosing to let our anger turn to hate for anyone who disagrees with us. We are choosing to respond to hate with hate, anger with anger and vile speech with vile speech.

There must be a better way and it must begin with me.

I have said for many years now that finding the good in the world is a spiritual exercise, lest our hearts be ruined. It is even more important today to search out those who are putting good into the world.

Yes, they are here.

Even today there are people expressing publicly all our anger and frustration. Imploring the leaders to listen for the good of all. Even today there are people praying publicly. Even today there are people trying to find a way forward. Even today there are churches opening their doors for people to gather. Even today there are people holding space with the victims and doing the most difficult, good work of helping the community in Texas heal. Yes. Even in the midst of this horrific shooting there is love.

There is a time for anger and frustration because of our collective inaction in the wake of senseless and useless death. There is a season for everything, and in every season is a time of rebirth. Within this better way is a decision. Who are we going to be in the world? Healers or haters? Speakers of love or screamers of violence? Angry, forever? Or are we going to sit in this current season of anguish only to rise up stronger in our commitment to being goodness in a hurting world? The better way begins in our own hearts and souls. If we allow it the goodness can infect our spirit just as much as the other aspects of life that are ruinous.

Jesus Weeps!

I’m saddened to know that the trauma will not affect just the families of the 22, the latest count as of this writing, families. It’s hard to calculate how many will be affected by the senseless shooting of children and teachers while at school. But safe to say the real trauma will affect hundreds, even thousands in that community directly. And if we think that all children, families, and schools are not traumatized from this news that is becoming all too familiar in our country, we are not spiritually tuned in.

This latest tragedy touches each and every one of us. Not politically. Spiritually in our souls, collectively.

Some of us may feel lost, or pissed, or angry, or sad, or depressed, or worried, or all the above and more. In these times when our hearts are wrenched open so violently, we can only Lament as a way of releasing the toxins of despair. Lament is the time when our spirit feels as if no one is listening. No one, but God.

We can hear this in the book of Lamentations, ‘My eyes will flow without ceasing, without respite, until the Lord of heaven looks down and sees. 

In the weeping, in the lamenting, God is listening. Even weeping with us at the loss of life.

Maybe the way forward, or the first step, is to care. Maybe that’s the first step towards getting up after our season of lament. Maybe caring for our family and friends is a small way of putting good into the world.

So, share some care today.

Share some love in your family or community

Call someone who you know you can trust and lament together

Listen to each other’s pain

Say thank you a bit more today

Say I love you a few more times today

Write down you anger and let it out

Cry onto the paper of your lament

Get outside if you can and breathe

Care for your own soul

Put the goodness of your soul into the world

So that the world can begin to heal

Find quiet time

Rest

It is OK.

Rest so as to rise in goodness

I need you and you need me

We need each other

Rest so as to rise in goodness, together.

Sight Seeing

Paul says in his second letter to the church in Corinth that we walk by faith not by sight.  

Years ago, I preached two sermons in two different churches where I gave credit for this saying to Walter Payton’s wife. She had written a memoir to her late husband, the greatest running back ever!, and used this quote without giving credit to Paul or scripture. So, I lifted the same quote and gave her credit instead of Paul or mentioning that it comes from scripture, more precisely the Christian New Testament. Luckily no one through me out of the church for what was an embarrassing transgression.

The full verse reads: ‘so we are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord-for we walk by faith not by sight’.  

Another way of thinking about this may be that while we yearn to know and see God it may feel as if we cannot see or touch God. What if? What if we thought of it another way? What if our faith steps in when it seems we cannot feel, see, touch, experience God? What if our sight, read seeing and touching, is telling us to pay spiritual attention so that we can see the presence of God in all things, even when all things stand in contrast to that knowing?  

My faith, like all faiths, helps me realize that the presence of God is always within. Paul helps us understand this in the later parts of chapter four: we look at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.  

Let us read that passage as understanding instead of or alongside, seeing. We walk by faith not by the fleeting moments of understanding, for understanding is as small as a grain of sand compared to the expanding realm of God.

There are times when we cannot understand God. Often, we cannot begin to see God’s presence, especially during the times of senseless violence, war, hunger, poverty and so on. How can we understand God when God cannot be seen? This is where our faith steps in. This may be where we recite Paul’s short verse; we walk by faith in the eternal presence of God as made known in Christ Jesus, when our sight, or understanding leaves us feeling blind.  

My faith lies in the fact that God is God all the time, especially in those times when I can sense Their Presence least.  

Paul was imploring his followers and the people of the New Way of Jesus to realize their home, their faith home, was found in the God of Jesus. When they could no longer see Jesus, he was encouraging them to have faith in God’s eternal presence, which is ours and their true spiritual home.  

When we feel lost and alone, when we can’t see how God can possibly be present in all the violence, Paul reminds us to have faith that our true home, our true companion is God among us and within us as the eternal Christ incarnated in Jesus, creation, and yes, even you and me.

Maybe seeing the presence of Love in our lives is a way to witness the presence of God.

Maybe we are all sightseeing along this journey of life, continually gazing upon God’s eternal presence. If we can just open the spiritual eye of our faith and realize we don’t move in and out of God, God is in everything. Even our doubt.

Let us all go sightseeing, spiritually gazing upon the God of both this material world along and also of the spiritual realm.

In our seeing

May our soul’s smile.

Is there such a thing?

I hold no special standing to know exactly what to say and when to say it. When I do speak, I hope that my words are shared with dignity and from a place of wisdom sharing.

For sure, I believe, Jesus wrestled with this idea more often than we are led to believe. To explore the humanness of Christ Jesus is to explore our own humanity and the struggles there, within. The Gospel is stock full of stories about the fully human reality in Jesus as he prays, heals, teaches, seeks solitude, weeps, and displays righteous anger towards those who would build walls and erect barriers to keep those deemed unworthy out of the Kindom of God’s Love.  For Jesus, the Kindom of God IS LOVE!! The Unearned, unretractable, eternally within, Love of God. 

No one can give us the love of God. We are all called to openly share the love of God that we experience. Jesus called this Love as you have been Loved.  If someone did not give it then no one can take it away, ever. Not even death. Have we done more than simply ignore this call from Jesus? Have we lost our ability to act in such a way that honors God’s love by honoring that Love in others. If it is inherent in us it is inherent in others.

When we think of the current headlines regarding the supreme court actions about a woman’s right to choose, how can anyone stake a claim in the middle? Especially in the current age of fence building and barrier erecting between differing factions. 

Is there a different way? Is there a different stand to take? Is there a new proclamation other than extreme either/or?

Is there such a thing as pro-choice/pro-life?

I cannot get pregnant. There for it’s not my body, it’s not my choice. So, I am pro-choice.

I am pro, from the womb to the tomb, life. That means that every single person in our nation deserves support and care for themselves so that everyone can live with dignity and freedom to be who they are in the world. Pro-Life means every single child from birth to death is supported and loved. By all of us, regardless of stature or place in societies false hierarchy.

Maybe I can. Maybe there is space to make a new proclamation as a pro-life/pro-choice pastor. 

Not my body, not my choice means for me that I support all woman and every child in the world as they journey through life. I support and will fight for the dignity and freedom of every human being, even a woman who makes the difficult choice to end a pregnancy. 

Yes! There is such a thing! 

We can all work to support every single life as sacred and worthy, while also holding space for a woman’s right to choose. We can all reject this notion that to hold one you must let go of the other. We can all work towards a health care system that supports all stages of life from the womb to the tomb. This is really pro-life.

I am a pro-choice pro-life, a pro-life-choice pastor and I get to define what that means, regardless of what is being said that is meant to tear us apart. 

I declare a different way of holding life as sacred to mean all of life, everyone’s life, the entire span, and stages of life for each and every child of God. 

I declare there is such a thing as a life affirming, choice defending way of being.

If we are lucky

I was in Illinois this last weekend at a memorial service for one of my uncles. As I reflected on his good long life of 89 years, I thought of how not young I am and how the aches of my body remind me that I’m aging.

I thought about this and how old I am compared to the childhood memories that came bubbling up as my brothers and I reminisced while we drove around our old neighborhood. All the people who were in the room were middle aged now, as I am, or older. We shared memories of my uncle all the while sharing smiles of our childhood connection.

We’ve all been there: remember this tree, remember that scratch, this bump, that car, and so on and so on.

If we are lucky.

I think that often we lament how our bodies ache more and more as we get older. Debilitating pain can be a spiritual weight that some must carry. I have been lucky enough to have a body that was able, continues to be able, to do most of what I want physically. I have never had to deal with being inflicted with debilitating pain or total physical hinderance. This is physical privilege even as I deal with the usual aches of aging joints.

Maybe the hair that is much thinner, the waddle that is in our step sometimes, the loss of our loved ones, the aches, pains, and the just the general feeling of getting older could be a reminder of a good long life. Maybe in the re-acquainting with our bodies signs of aging we can thank God for a long enough life that our bodies begin to give out. This may help us move into a heart of gratitude along with lamenting our bodies aging process.  

My hips may hurt but they’ve walked many a mile in my lifetime.

My shoulders may hurt but they’ve carried my children as they grew from toddler to full grown adults.

My knees may creak, but they ran, jumped, leapt, and brought me lots of joy.

My feet may ache, but they carried me over lots of tough bumpy roads.

I may need glasses, but I can read stories that inspire, watch movies that pull at my heart, and gaze upon this awe-inspiring creation of God.

We get older and our bodies begin to change, if we are lucky to have a good long life of physical ability.

We get older

Our bodies change

If we are lucky.

All Signs Point to Relationship

The word became flesh and dwelt among us, within us, to point us to the importance of relationship. God yearns to know us in close relationship and the flesh, the material, points us inward, the spiritual, to help us realize how important close relationship within humankind is to God. 

Even when humanity could not handle the openness of Christ’s invitation to everyone and welcome all, no matter station or stature, into this divine relationship, God said; you can’t take Me away from you. We are one. I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, from the Gospel of John. 

Relationship was so vitally important to God that crucifixion, what we did to that body of Jesus, was not God’s last word. God is still on the move, seeking us out, sending us an infinite number of invitations so that we never forget God’s yearning to be close to us. 

We see in the resurrection the eternal relationship of God. It was the point all along. God in relationship with us through Jesus, so that all of humanity can see and experience God’s presence. 

Most of us can feel what it is like when relationships are lost, just like Mary as she stood at the foot of the cross while her friend breathed His last. 

Even in our sadness we feel how important deep loving connection is to who we are as human beings. When we lose that connection, it hurts. Even the pain of loss can help us realize how important healthy relationships are to our soul.

All signs, Divine and human alike, point to the importance of healthy relationship with others and ourselves. It may feel overwhelming to think of how to create and sustain healthy relationships. It may not be that complicated after all. If we can only follow the signs in our heart. If only we gaze upon all of creation and see the importance of relationship: the stars with the evening sky, the moon with the sun, the sunrise with the sunset, the rivers and streams with the oceans and so on.

All signs point to relational connection.

What if relationship was easy? What if we could all live into the beauty of seeing another’s innate self-worth? What if we could all live and experience our own innate self-worth? 

What if it is that easy? Just see and value our own humanity so that we can see and value it in others. We may call this the divine spark. That divine spark is what we miss when our loved one is lost. Truly we miss the relational connection. 

Maybe this will help us walk in the world with a stronger sense of empathy and in the empathy, we can see that divine spark in others even as we claim our own self-worth. 

We all know how important relationship is to our overall health and well-being. We can feel it when it is lost and we can feel it when it is good. This may be God’s dream for us all when we hear Jesus saying, that they all be one.

We honor our relationship with God by honoring God’s relationship with all of creation. When this is in harmony, the inner relationship between the material and the spiritual, it is Good News.

Our comfort may come from the deep spiritual knowing, that place we may forget sometimes and loose touch with, that God is the Divine and Eternal relationship. If we really listen and watch, all signs point us to this beautiful, endless relationship.

Can we imagine that?

Can our hearts truly fathom that truth in our soul?

What we most yearn for, a real and every day healthy relationship with ourselves and our God, is the same Divine Yearning back to us from God.

All signs point towards this Holy relationship.

A new story

‘Until the lioness tells their side of the story the tale will always glorify the hunter’, is an old African proverb and it is a wonderful reminder for me to listen to the truth in someone else’s story. Another way of thinking of this, my life experience cannot dictate how another person responds to the circumstances of their life. 

Even though I can relate to addiction, having faced my own binge drinking habit, I don’ have the capacity of life experience to know what it is like to be addicted to more harmful drugs such as heroin or cocaine. I cannot know what it is like to face the double trauma of mental illness and addiction even if, through life experience, I may understand addictive behavior. 

I can bring only my life experience to bear on my own reactions and decision making. My experience is no one else’s even if it “intersects” along a common line based on location and environmental influences. 

This behavior of making ones experience the norm becomes destructive to the collective when groups then gather and create a ‘norm’ by which all of life is calculated. If the hunter creates not only the story, but creates a normative story, based on their life experience, by which all of life revolves, then anything, anyone, or any group that operates outside of that ‘norm’ is deemed to be the wrong way and even less than. 

Jesus is telling a new story.

What happens when the story or narrative we have been told begins to be challenged by the truth in someone else’s story? When this happens do we lose our ability to hear? Do we move from listening to ignoring? Even worse do we work at shutting down the alternative narrative because it goes against our perceived ‘normal’? 

Let those with ears hear the new story.

This concept of listening for the truth in someone else’s story, listening for the lioness to speak, may help us to live a more compassionate life based on empathy for others. This is the first step towards creating and sustaining the Beloved Community that Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of.

When we release our grip on the concept that our life experience is the barometer by which all things are calculated, then the barriers we build to protect our ‘way’ of life crumble. By allowing these destructive barriers to crumble, in a real sense, we are opening our hearts to the realities of those who live a different life experience. 

Jesus was telling a new narrative of God by which the Divine was not located in the empire or the golden castles or golden temples of his day. God was located within all of creation but especially, by way of the new heaven and new earth, within those marginalized or the put asides and put outs of the day. Jesus was telling a new story and giving voice to the Love of God instead of the domination of God based on the domination of the Jewish and Roman authorities. 

Jesus is telling a new story. 

With our listening, spiritual ear we can hear this new narrative of God among us, for us, and with/within us. Jesus is teaching us that the realm of God is in every heart and soul. The divine spark that created everything that is, is also part of who we are. No system of domination can contain that spark.

This new way of seeing God’s presence within all of creation unbeholden to anyone or any system, is a new story told from the point of view of the dominated and the oppressed. In other word’s Jesus is telling the story of the lioness and we must decide who we are going to listen to. 

This new way of seeing and telling the story of God challenges our ears so much so that we may not want to hear the story that Jesus tells. Listening to this new story from Jesus requires that we put aside our own proclivity towards owning the narrative of life based on our own particular experience. 

If the first step towards taking an active part in the building of the beloved community is empathy, then we must listen to the new story that Jesus tells. 

Weary

My heart is weary and heavy

Bombs, guns, hate

Children 

Dying in the streets

Parents taken 

Lives lost

Gloom 

In the middle of 

Coming spring

Help me O God

I prayed

Help us O God I asked

Take this all away and bring peace

Take this pain away from us 

Make all this stop 

Heal us

I pray

Where are you O God 

I asked

How long 

O Lord 

How Long

Must we wait

Then my eyes saw

My ears heard

My heart gazed

My soul listened 

Upon the earth

Birds chirped, geese honked

Wind moved trees swayed 

Sun smiled memory exploded

Emmanuel

God is with us 

From then of all yesterdays 

From now until all tomorrows

God with us 

In all

Within all

Help me O God

Live within your peace 

As your peace lives within

Help us O God 

Be Your peace Your love

Your grace Your strength

Your compassion 

In our time

Guide our steps

So that all hearts

Point to your peace

Peace

Richard Rohr says, “The best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better.”

I don’t know about you, but my newsfeed is stock full of bad news. Bad people doing bad and horrible things to one another. On top of all the bad news we are witness to one of the most divided times in our country. Everywhere I turn I hear of this bad news. On top of that I hear our leaders simply arguing over who is to blame. As if we can simply find someone to blame then find someone to respond the way we want, and all these problems of the world will be fixed. We hear arguing instead of deep thinking of the very real problems we face in our lives here within our own communities as well as the violence of war.

Many of us are seeking an answer to the question what can we do? We can’t solve the world’s problems. We can’t solve the problems of the lingering pandemic. We can’t solve the problems of an economic storm that is causing prices to rise across the board for everyone. We can’t go talk to those world leaders who turn towards evil, power and violence and tell them to STOP! We could close our eyes or grow a hardened heart and cover our worry and our pain with anger. There are any number of ways to respond when our communities and world bring news of pain and violence.

We can practice better

I like this quote from Richard Rohr because it speaks to me as a person with an empathetic heart who feels the pain in the images of war and violence. As a person who has witnessed the rise of hate and anger over these last few years. As a person who wishes we could stop yelling and be more compassionate instead of using the worries of the world as political tools in order to kick the other down just a little bit more. As a person who wishes we could listen to the love of God more instead of our own pain that finds a home in the ridicule of “them, those, and the others”.

I can practice the better

I can criticize less with my words and realize that practicing better is not something that I can do to solve the problems of the world. Practicing better means that better finds a home in my heart. Better in my heart means that the empathy I feel for the people who are facing war, violence, hunger, homelessness, addiction and so on and on and on doesn’t get taken over by judgement and self-righteousness. This idea of better means that peace finds a home in my heart so that in every aspect of my daily life people experience peace through me. That seems better than people finding more anger and judgement.

I can practice better

I cannot preach peace while the pain of empathy turns my soul to revenge. I cannot preach peace while being infected with the need to blame. The pains of the world are simply that. Pains of the world and the struggles of humanity as part of our human existence. To turn our attention to blame and revenge means that the pain only expands to infect more and more souls.

We can practice better

We all can be part of the healing process. We can all become advocates and allies for those who are facing oppression. We can respond to the human atrocities happening in the Ukraine by remembering that people in our own hometown communities are facing many of the same atrocities. Those atrocities that we are witnessing in the Ukraine happen at home each day in every community.  To do better is to see the hurt in our own community and work to heal all that we have broken in the name of power and greed.

The practice of better, to do better and to criticize the bad is to practice peace in our hearts.

I believe that God is on the side of peace making even while we make war.

If I’m going to stand in a position of crying for peace that peace must start with me.

This work of being love in the world keeps me in perfect harmony and singing to the tune of God’s peace.

To criticize the bad is to do better and make peace part of my soul instead of just a word and a symbol.

Peace Begins

Me n You

Here n Now

Truth!

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

As it is above so it is below

As it is on the outside so it shall be on the inside

When we think of rules as something that we must follow, Commandments, or we will get into trouble it can create a world view of vengeance and retribution, as it was said years ago in one of my classes, a sky bully theology. In other words, do as I say, or you’ll get what’s coming to you, from God itself. Imagine. Waiting for God to seek revenge for our wrongdoing. How scary is that?

Think, “wait til’ your father gets home.”

Many a little child waited expectantly for the wrath of an angry parent. Many hearts were filled with terror and anxiety as we waited for the “whipping” that would commence. I don’t believe that parents meant to terrorize their young children and I’m not debating to spank or not to spank.

This narrative way of understanding a theology of commandment or rule as a do it or feel the wrath of God understanding takes away a deeper truth about the world in which we live together.

With this theology and worldview, we can then become the avengers, the punishers, the defenders of all that is righteous. That is a slippery slope, a thin line to easy to cross, towards taking on the role of the bully. With a vengeful theology, idea of who God is, or a vengeful worldview it creates quite a bit of anxiety within us and our collective psyche. This is when fists fly, power corrupts, and wars commence.  

If our theology of a vengeful God rules our hearts, we take on the role of enforcer.

I like to think of this as the Golden Truth much more so than the Golden Rule of do it or else.

As a Golden Truth it may read that this is a way of good life for us and our community. It may read as more of a Jesus Way of invitation towards righteousness, right relationship between us, our neighbors and God.

As it is above so it is below. As it is on the outside so it shall be on the inside.

We reflect into the world what we feel on the inside. If our past pain is not healed, we continue to cause pain in the world through self-righteousness, anger, revenge, self-centeredness, and ego first instead of God’s Love first and foremost, as Jesus did.

When we react from a place of anger and vengeance, we are poisoning the soul, the divine, inside us as well as the world outside.

Imagine that? Let’s just sit with that for a minute.

Take a breath and repeat that couple of times.

When we react from a place of anger and vengeance, we are poisoning the soul, the divine, inside us as well as the world outside.

Whew!!

What would happen if we made a commitment to ourselves, our families, and our communities to deal with our own issues of past pain.

I know that many times my own anger felt like a rock that covered and protected something deep. This rock of anger became a protective shield so that I didn’t have to remember the pain of past trauma and embarrassment. It was only when this outer shell began to brake open, crack by crack over time, I realized that the anger was a safety piece surrounding vulnerability. This protective shield, for me, falls away when I step into spiritual empathy, seeing the divine in others as I feel it is in me. I began to see the hurt I was causing to others in my life that did not deserve to feel my pain.

Maybe you’re like me and it feels like a daily struggle much more than a one and done prayer. Maybe you’re like me and it’s a journey instead of short trip to a known point.

These days I cannot say that the words that come out of my mouth are not colorful at times. These days I cannot say that I don’t get angry or that I am simply walking in this world on a cloud of peace.

I can say that the lessons of life, good loving people showing me a different way, and a ministry founded in Christ Jesus has helped me see how important it is that we work to heal ourselves so that we can reflect peace back into the world instead of more vengeance, anger, and violence.

As God has done for us so we do for others.

This is a Truth that can bring health to our world one transformed heart at a time.  

American Camel

In Matthew 19:24 we hear a discussion between Jesus and his disciples. Or so we think. 😉 We must back up to get a larger view of the famous saying, “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.”

We may interpret this as an answer to the question, what must we do now to earn heaven later. Backing up a bit to earlier verses, “if you wish to enter into life, keep the Commandments.”

Jesus puts Life now together with the Kingdom, Realm, Heaven, or place of God later to come. In other words, it is much more about putting the now of life together with the then of life to come. This helps us realize it’s more about an and also way of viewing this one eternal life with/within God.

What if Jesus Christ was talking about righteousness, or right relationship now is life itself. To live a life of healthy, fully human living for us, our families, our communities, and our neighbors now instead of earning a spot in the heaven to come.

As it is with the entirety of the Gospel story, the saying(s) belongs in the larger story of the ministry of Jesus Christ. Just as well, as it is with the entirety of the Gospel, there is an ever expanding, ever constantly deeper meaning contained in the story. That is the beauty of the Gospel experience: to deepen our relationship with the God of all time, of every place, of every heart, and every soul.

I’m reminded of the African Proverb, until the lioness tells the story, the hunter is always the hero.

Is America trying to force the camel of history into the needle of absolute American Exceptionalism? If the Realm of God is true peace, prosperity, and freedom for everyone, will America ever realize how difficult it is for us to enter that realm with the deafness and blindness of a country unwilling to listen to ALL voices of our collective history.

It easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a blind country to see the true peace of God.

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a deaf country to hear the voice of God.

May we listen to all voices of our collective history so that we may all live in right relationship with God and one another.

I believe that is the point of history.

I believe that is the point of Life.

We are not a free nation

We are not a free nation

The philosophy of Ubuntu says – “I am because we are”.

Paul says, “for just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” 12:12 nrsv

Jesus says in Matthew, “For God makes the sun rise on bad and good alike: God’s rain falls on the just and the unjust.” 5:45 msg

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. says, “God is not merely interested in the freedom of brown men, yellow men, red men, and black men. He is interested in the freedom of the whole human race.”

Each January we celebrate the birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with posts, speeches, quotes, memes, and so on. A great many a leader commemorates the birthday of the pioneer of the modern civil rights movement with words and most times with very little deed.  I say modern because…well we’ll get to that.

Let’s talk about freedom and the movement of the spirit during these days following the national celebrations, keeping in mind the quotes from above.

Howard Thurman can help us transition:

When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with their flocks,
the work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost,
to heal the broken,
to feed the hungry,
to release the prisoner,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among the people,
to make music in the heart.

After all the quotes, memes, and speeches, after all the posts and pics have worn out only to disappear from the collective conscience, this is when the real work begins to move our nation towards freedom.

We are not a free nation.

We are missing the deeper truth about freedom. We are not free when racism continues to infect the soul of our country. To deny that racism exists and indeed infects the fabric of America is to gaze out into the world with the eyes of privilege. So that when we begin talking about slavery and racism we are talking about the collective soul of this nation.

This is how Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcom X, Desmond Tutu, and many others understood freedom. We often make the mistake of thinking that freedom is something that we must either fight for or give up. When we lend our ear to the voices of division, loud screaming voices they are, we lose sight of the hard to see deep truth: those who are fighting for their own freedom are teaching us how to be free from the sin of othering as less than human, which is the root sin of racism. This sin has been within the soul of humankind since we took our first breath of collectively organizing into separate groups. This sin landed on the shores of the new America in the form of slavery.

John told us to repent for the forgiveness of sin. We are still hunting that Jordan river to be made clean and we are still haunted by this sin.

We have yet to repent, ask for forgiveness and live freely. If we can bring ourselves to let go and listen, we are being taught what it is to repent. We are just skipping class because we have been convinced by historical brainwashing that freedom is something we must give up so that someone else can be truly free as a fully human person. In the realm of God, in the beloved community, this is folly.

I have searched the Gospel story and I have not been able to find a place where Jesus Christ says that God’s freedom is for us and not them. I have not been able to find a place where Jesus Christ tells his disciples that God’s freedom is for them, as the in crowd, and not for all of creation. Even the disciples struggled with this notion.

Instead, what I hear in the entirety of our sacred text is that creation, all of creation, is where God’s freedom is given to all and to everything under the sun so that everyone and everything can flourish and thrive.  Let us read that again. Creation, all of creation, is where God’s freedom is given to all and to everything under the sun so that everyone and everything can flourish and thrive.

God’s justice, love, and freedom does indeed flow like a river that nourishes all of God’s creation. Down through human history we have, too many times, gone about the business of building a dam so a lake may be built to keep others out. We fail to realize that living on a private lake of freedom, built with oppression, poisons the water for everyone. Freedom from oppression is freedom for both the oppressor and the oppressed. The oppressor fails to realize that building and sustaining a system of oppression is to allow the evil sin of division sicken the collective body and soul.

When white people in this country realize this, we can begin the work of repentance and healing from the sin. When we, the privileged white folks, see others freedom as important as our own, when we admit to our own sin of othering as less than human, we are stepping into the redemptive work of healing. It is in this work that Jesus joins us as modern disciples with Christ. Jesus is our cohort in the work of bringing God’s justice to all.

We are not a free nation.

We continue to be sickened by the sin of racism. We just need to decide if we are going to embark on the difficult task of going up stream to breakdown, deconstruct, dismantle, destroy, blow up the human made dam of oppression so that the river of God’s freedom flows freely, overflows the banks and floods all the earth, as it has always done, as it was always meant to be. Listening to the voices of those we continue to oppress may help us to see that the river of freedom can never be contained. We may be able to slow its flow for a bit, for our own short lived personal gain, but the Levee breaks.

When I say we and white folk I’m talking about and including myself in this conversation. I realized my own ignorance and I have come to see clearly my ancestors who walked and lived in the world of privilege and racism. Although my work is not done, I have seen and felt the calling that the Gospel has put on my heart to lay my privilege on the line, grab the hand of Christ and work to heal what is broken, both within myself and the world. To put it succinctly: I am white folk. Now that I recognize the ignorance with which I was raised and taught, now that I can see the sin, I must join in the ranks of creating a better way for all. The blessing is that we don’t do this work alone. There is a better Way.

In our Christian tradition, Jesus is the Way and the example of the One who puts it all on the line to break the levee open so that God’s freedom may nourish all of creation. Christ Jesus knew that freedom is given freely to all of creation. Christ Jesus also knew that humanity continues to fight with itself and struggle with the sinful concept of who can be free and who has the right to hoard the freedom of others with politics, policy, and violence.

We are not a free nation.

We continue to be yoked to the sin of racism. True freedom within our souls can only come when we realize that freedom is God given. When we work to take away someone else’s ability to realize their own humanity we are truly taking away our own freedom by continuing the sin of oppressing others so that our own power remains.

May we not listen to those who say give me more power.

May we listen to the One who died because humanity could not, would not listen to the voice of Divine Incarnated Love.

May we listen to the yearnings of our true heart.

May we all gaze upon that cross and see our own sins.

May we all look beyond our sin to the Tomb that reminds us that God’s freedom is eternal.  

May we realize the truth of humanity: Our true freedom is tied up and within the freedom of everyone. No one is free until we are all free.

It is at the foot of the Cross that we realize; power kills and God’s freedom rains down from the heavens to freely fall on each of us, to nourish each soul with love and grace.

I am free when you are free!!

Locating Jesus

Locating Jesus

In the second chapter of the Gospel of Luke we hear about Jesus and his parents making their way to and from the festival of the Passover. Along the way they discover that Jesus is not with them, nowhere to be found among their family and friends that are traveling with them. They expected Jesus to be among and with them, but he has stayed in Jerusalem. Jesus was not where his parents expected him to be. 

It is this in between space, between losing and finding Jesus, that we can ask ourselves, where do we expect Jesus to be? Where do we look for Jesus? These questions lead us to a deeper discussion of who is Jesus for us and does the Jesus of history have anything to teach us today?

Jim Wallis, in his book, (Un)Common Good, How the Gospel Brings Hope to a World Divided, shares a wonderful piece of wisdom that continues to guide my understanding of Jesus and God’s mission within humankind. 

“Who we think Jesus is will determine the kind of Christianity we live….If Jesus came to create a new community and not just save people, then that community’s collective life in the world will be of crucial importance. And, if we as individuals are so drawn to Jesus that we want to learn the ways he would have us live, he becomes the living teacher who walks among us”  

Have we learned all there is to know about Jesus Christ? 

If we look for Jesus within our own location, within our own church, within our own community, then we miss the fact that Jesus is among the places and people we don’t expect him to be. Jesus is leading us all to a deeper relationship with God, inviting us to know Him more so that we can know God. Jesus teaches us all, this is a lifelong journey to know our own selves more and discover the Divine Presence within all of creation, to honor the Divine in others as we honor it within ourselves. 

If we know all there is to know about Jesus Christ, then He loses His ability to challenge us as individuals as well as challenge the empire of greed and power. Jesus loses his power of transformation when we know exactly where Jesus Christ is and who Jesus Christ is. 

If we have nothing left to learn from God, life and Jesus then all this knowing may turn to ownership. You see WE know who Jesus Christ is and He resides with us, right here. WE have all the answers to all the questions about Jesus Christ, who He is and where He is. When we believe that we have all the answers we close our hearts down to that deeper relationship with God that Jesus invites into. 

If we believe that Jesus is with us in our location, within our tribe, within our house, within our church and, most destructive of all, within our OWN not with them, then Jesus becomes an idol instead of a conduit for transformation of all that is.

Luke, maybe unbeknownst to him, invites deeper into the Gospel by sharing this story of Mary and Joseph searching for Jesus where they expected Him to be.

If we turn to the Gospel story, we may be able to get a glimpse of where Jesus Christ is by realizing where he is not. This may help to find Jesus by realizing where he is not.

Jesus Christ is not in the exclusion of others. Jesus Christ is nowhere near the simplistic us vs. them or we vs. other. Jesus Christ has no place in nation building or continental location. Jesus is not American nor patriotic.

If we truly want to find Jesus it may be in the “other” more so than the “we”. 

Maybe wherever there is need, there we may find Jesus. 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer further helps us understand: He comes in the form of the beggar, of the dissolute human child in ragged clothes, asking for help. He confronts you in every person that you meet. As long as there are people, Christ will walk the earth as your neighbor.

The difficult task of human kind, the rubber meeting the spiritual road is knowing that WE are all in need of God’s love and presence. In the opening of our hearts to realize our own need to be loved without condition, it is there that we may find Jesus in every heart. 

It is in the journey towards transformation that we find Jesus exactly where we need Him to be. 

Right here along side us on every road, through every valley, on top of every mountain, in the shadows of despair, in the joy of a smile, in the deep questions of our faith, in the fight for justice, in the beloved community building, in the searching and in the finding.

In the end we are all searching for Immanuel, God with us. 

Jesus tells us, I AM here, exactly where it is that you search for me.

Expectation or Exploration

Expectation or Exploration

Who do we read about when we read the Gospel? Do we view Jesus with an open hand of invitation or a palm facing out, pushing us away when we struggle, or backslide or ask questions? Do we seek to read about the Jesus of the Gospel so that then we can be affirmed in our beliefs and push people away who we view as other, different, and not enough? 

Jesus proclaims in Matthew, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Our most prized possession, our Christian treasure, could be the Jesus of yes, I am all these things, and I Am also more than human understanding. I Am all these things and more, makes the questions we ask, to the point of division instead of exploration, fools’ folly. The point is not that one practice is “the way”. The point is to accept God’s invitation to be in conversation and relationship, whichever faith has been laid upon our hearts to practice. The journey is the point much more than making sure that we are on the right vessel with the right people. 

We are all in constant conversation with God in every experience of our lives along with the life to come. If we listen deeply to the stirrings of the soul, Jesus will be our Christian conversation partner who can help us experience God, teach us how to love our neighbor, and live a life guided by the God of Jesus instead of the circumstances and powers of the world. 

And, when we think of the circumstances of the world today, we may approach our conversation partner and ask, what is Jesus Christ telling me about this situation today? How is God teaching me about myself? How is God inviting me into deeper discussion and wrestling? How am I connected to these people? How are these people connected to me? The most important question we can ask, where is Jesus located in this situation?  

If we can come to understand Jesus Christ as invitation to know and experience God instead of the CEO of our own private company, we can then view the world through the empathetic eyes of God, as Jesus did. 

When we realize in our hearts that Jesus was guided by the divine indwelling of the Spirit and we can allow ourselves to be guided by that same Spirit, then our hearts open a bit wider, and we allow God to transform us from within. 

When we approach the Gospel story from a point of view of exploration about God, us and our interconnected relationship and when we can put our expectations aside we can discover the Jesus of transformation, renewal and healing.

We may even discover our more fully human self.

Both & Also

““There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.”― Desmond Tutu

Let us explore how we may put these two concepts together in a both & also manner instead of either or.

We all have a role to play in both rescuing and advocating. Rescuing, the pulling people out of the river, those who may be drowning from the human created systems of oppression along with and, going up stream to dismantle and tear down the systems that throw life away, down the river for someone else to care about.

This may be easier to see and understand if we can view the rescuing part as we think about our family, friends, and community. I’ll gladly put myself in harm’s way, ridicule, or public embarrassment to save my children, my family, or fellow neighbor.

We all may feel a sense of wading in the water to rescue our loved ones. Even to the point of drowning ourselves. We will stand up to the “institution” so that we or our loved one’s receive equal opportunity in life to thrive as a human being. This may be thought of as rescuing and maybe even advocating to a certain point. We will gladly step from the rescuing, pulling, to advocating, upstream work, for those we are closest to and love. This may not come naturally to all of us. However, most of us have empathy for those we know and love. Thinking about rescuing or advocating on behalf of those closest to us may not feel like a stretch.

We can all feel what it would or has been like advocating on behalf of our children if a school is not granting a good education. We can all feel what it may be like to advocate for a loved one who isn’t receiving the best health care. Think Shirley McClain in Terms of Endearment. Turning from rescuing our neighbors, who we may not know, to advocating on their behalf is the challenge.

In the parable of the Good Samaritan Jesus calls us to see every fellow human being as our neighbor and advocate on their behalf, giving up some of our own resources, power, privilege, time, and treasure so that all have true equal opportunity to become fully human. The Good Samaritan both rescues the beaten as well as escorts him to a place of safety, giving up some of his time and treasure to ensure the beaten gets good care: Rescue and advocacy are part of the parable along with our calling as Christ’s hands and feet, His church.

This is move from rescuing into advocacy to the work of going up stream and putting our very way of life on the line to challenge the oppressive systems, which stem from the ego centered empire of greed and power, becomes a stumbling block, an impediment to seeing and honoring the divine in all of creation. Especially those who we have been told are less than by society, culture, tradition, family, and history.

We can see putting it all and more on the line for our families. The difficult part comes when we, as called forth by God through Jesus, are admonished to put all that on the line for someone we have never met.

From The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“On the parable of the Good Samaritan: "I imagine that the first question the priest and Levite asked was: 'If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?' But by the very nature of his concern, the good Samaritan reversed the question: 'If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”

If we can, by the Grace of God, hold this quote and know that collectively we are all standing by the banks of the river. Each playing a part in the rescuing of our neighbors along with going up the river to stem the flow of oppression that is throwing bodies away in the name of greed.

It is not enough to stand at the riverbank feeling sorry for those who are hurting and struggling against oppression and violence.

It is not enough to stand at the riverbank helping with the rescue effort without also doing the difficult work of dismantling the entire system.

It is not enough to say well at least I’m not like them so I don’t need to interrupt my way of life. I’m a good person and I didn’t create the mess in the first place.

In the end we are all responsible for the well-being of each other as we are all connected by the sacred strand of Eternal Creation.

Truth

This is a print from https://radicistudios.com

From Matthew 3: In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.

In his book, Speaking Christian, Marcus Borg may help us understand the deeper meaning of repentance. “In what is believed to be the first words of Jesus in any Gospel, the Gospel of Mark, Jesus proclaims, ‘The Kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’ To repent means to turn, return to God and to go beyond the mind that we have and see things in a new way’. He goes further: ‘repentance - turning and returning to God, going beyond the mind that we have - is the path that leads to transformation.’

We are in a transformational time in our country once again. Transformation may feel like a great storm, it may feel like God has left us in the eye of the storm to battle for ourselves. It may feel like God has left us now to contend with our own sins, unable to return to God, unable to see and honor the Divine in others stuck in the cycle of violence. We have been here before but our faith tells us, God has been with us all along during the storms as well as the joy of the sunshine that lurks behind every cloud. 

Through Jesus Christ God is calling us to repent and return our gaze upon God so that we may be transformed into a people that respects and loves one another instead of tearing each other down for our own gain and continued grip on power. 

We cannot ask anyone else to turn unless we ourselves are willing to transform our own hearts and minds. We must look deep into the mirror of our souls and realize that it isn’t the other one. It is us and only us who can transform the world by transforming our hearts first. We are called to individual as well as collective repentance. 

This turn begins with the truth of our sins. But, can we? Can we imagine a transformed America where the river of true freedom and justice rolls down to nourish all of us? Is that our ideal any longer? Could we ever see the day when America repents? Can we even see the continuing sin of racism within our country? It is all too easy to respond to someone else’s hate with hate in our own heart. I fear it is all too easy to remain blind to the speck in our own eye.

If we listen to the words of John and Jesus, we may hear the yearning of God calling us towards repentance, pulling us towards healing, prodding us to open our hearts so as to be transformed, so that our country may live into the higher ideal of what America could be, what we can become. 

All large-scale transformations begin one transformed heart at a time. Jesus knew this and set out to bring people into the essence, king/kindom, place of God, the heart of the Divine, the beloved community, person by person, town by town, group by group, and soul by soul. 

May we all hear the call to repent and be healed. May we all keep our eye on what we can become and maybe we can then see what God is calling us all towards.

Prayer: God of mercy and justice help us cling to your Presence so that we may be healed. Help us to return to you thankful in our joy, repentant in our honesty, and open to transformation. May your Presence in our lives help us to become your Presence in others lives.

Contrast

It can feel like our lives are being lived in black and white, absolute, us versus them. It can feel like we are living in the most difficult times in our nation’s history, polarized to the point of breaking once again.

Maybe now more than ever, we are being inundated with a notion that life is a simple division between black and white. That to solve the problems of our time all we need to do is hate the other person, blame them, promote, or vote for the “right person for the job” and move on. All one must do is align themselves with the “right” person, place, thing, or group. In doing so we can be part of the winning team.  “Our” team will not only win, but they will also put things right. Our faith, my faith has been misplaced at times. My faith has been put in human institutions instead of the Divine realm of God.  

When we think of being on the right side or the wrong side, we then move to quickly into the thinking that God is on our side, the righteous side of history. This is all to the detriment of our collective soul. 

In living this way, we have lost our connection with the driving force of the universe, God, who is bringing all things together instead of dividing us apart. We lose touch with the God who is about peace making in every time and in every place. The God who heals all wounds, transforms, and resurrects all that humanity has broken. 

It is in the gray area of life that real transformation happens, where creativity can blossom and where deep healing takes place. Gray represents the collection of the two opposites of black and white. It is only in the collective that we can solve the problems of this nation and world. 

The gray area may make us feel vulnerable as we step into the conversation carrying our personal responsibility. Absolute right and wrong feels good. It gives us answers and can feel comfortable. Until there is only darkness in our hearts, even as we believe we are right.

When we move from the deep contrast of either/or and step into the gray area collectively is when we can then move to see the entire color spectrum and the wonderful tapestry of creation in all its splendor. Moving from the extreme contrast of absolute to the fullness of God can then feel like an awakening from a deep slumber to a bright morning sunrise. 

God is calling us and beckoning us to awaken. This is a new day and the new dawn. Awaken and witness all that God is doing, creating, healing, loving, making a Way towards peace where there seems to be no way, and transforming hearts to transform the world.