Mistake

 

I made a mistake yesterday.

I asked two political questions.

I wasn’t trying to be divisive.

I was genuinely curious as to the answers to my questions.

But both questions garnered answers that were mean-spirited

And I found friends being questioned and attacked for no good reason,

So I took both posts down.

 

I was reminded of a couple of things, though.

 

There are vastly different definitions of Christian in America today.

There is one version of Christian that holds to holiness, purity, and righteousness.

This version is very serious about morality and usually takes scripture literally.

There is another version of Christian that holds to love, grace, and forgiveness.

This version is very serious about welcoming people to Christ’s table and takes scripture as God’s story that is continuing to unfold.

Both are very committed to their faith and their understanding of God.

And while both believe that “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son so that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life,”

How they interpret that verse and idea is not the same.

 

We, as an American society, have lost the ability to have conversations about hard things.

We resort to name calling and hurl insults at people we’ve never met

And then we assume that the other person is an idiot.

We are so certain that we are right and that “they” are wrong

That we cannot agree to disagree and to treat people with dignity and respect.

We all have thoughts.

We all have opinions.

There are many things about which there is no absolute right or wrong.

But dignity and respect, treating people as human beings,

Is not negotiable.

Life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness is not negotiable.

Or it shouldn’t be.

But we’ve made it so.

 

Sometimes it all feels like too much.

Sometimes I feel defeated.

I did yesterday.

Instead of napping,

I found myself on my knees,

Kneeling beside my bed,

Praying with tears

Because I didn’t have words.

 

Help, was all I knew to say.

Help free us from the fear

That you just might

Love us all.

 

Amen.

Hurt Feelings

 Hurting someone’s feelings is different than insulting someone’s existence.

 

Hurting someone’s feelings is saying no when they really want you to say yes. Hurting someone’s feelings is not supporting a new hairstyle when a person wants to get their hair cut or dyed. Hurting someone’s feelings is not being appreciative of the hard work they’ve done to help you. Hurting someone’s feelings is disagreeing with someone on an issue that they feel strongly about. 

 

Hurting someone’s feelings is NOT insulting someone because they are differently-abled, Mexican, poor, gay, female, or non-Christian. Hurting someone’s feelings is not taking advantage of or manipulating them because they are perceived weaker than you. Hurting someone’s feelings is not joking about physical harm, lack of emotional boundaries, and abuse. Hurting someone’s feelings is not about using God’s name or conservative Christian values for personal gain. Hurting someone’s feelings is not using your voice to promote fear and hatred. Hurting someone’s feelings is not promoting patriotic freedom over universal decency. 

 

Hurt feelings pass. Damning character does not. Hurt feelings are not a matter of life or death. Attacks on identity and worth are. Hurt feelings stem from fatigue or oversight. Chronic insults stem from arrogance and heartlessness. Hurt feelings come from being human. A pattern of judgment comes from deep brokenness. 

 

I am white. I come from a position of privilege and power. I come from a place where I could let fear overwhelm me. God forgive me when I am blinded by privilege, power, and fear and fail to see that there is enough love and wealth and freedom to go around. Amen. 

What Do You Think? Observations From The State Fair

You’re on your way to the fair, listening to the Christian radio station, when a political add comes on. The candidate ends his message with the statement, “I paid for this commercial with MY money that I earned from MY business that I started over 20 years ago.”

What do you think?

1) This is how it should be—politicians paying for their own adds—and people working for their own money and keeping it for themselves.

2) Good. I’m glad he paid for his own add. But if I understand the Christian story correctly, then nothing that we have is ours, but God’s. And what we do have should be freely offered back to God in thanksgiving and sacrifice, for meeting our basic needs and for meeting the needs of others—especially the poor and widowed. This candidate sounds a bit too proud of HIS resources—especially to be on the Christian radio station.

You’re at the fair and you observe that everyone wearing one political party’s stickers is Caucasian American while persons wearing the other political party’s stickers represent a more culturally diverse portion of America, though the majority is African American.

What do you think?

1) This makes perfect sense.

2) There is something majorly wrong with this picture.

Still at the fair, you’re standing by a political party’s booth waiting for the rest of your family to catch up with you. You have your two young children with you. You’re wearing the political party’s main sticker when someone wearing the opposing political party’s stickers walks by and pretends to shoot you through your sticker—which happens to be near your heart. He doesn’t speak. He doesn’t stop. He doesn’t laugh. He just air shoots and keeps on going.

What do you think?

1) That man was joking with me, silly jokester.

2) That man just pretended to shoot me because I was wearing a sticker he didn’t like. He didn’t know me from anyone, yet he pretended to shoot me in front of my children because I hold a differing opinion.

3) That man really doesn’t like my sticker or what my sticker stands for. His shooting motion had nothing to do with me but with my sticker.

4) That man was reaching out to gesture agreement through the “you got it right” point when he realized our stickers were different, so he folded his thumb and took down his hand and continued to walk.

You leave the fair glad that you went but sad for what you have seen.

What do you do?

1) Forget about it and move on. There’s nothing you can do anyway.

2) Weep and pray:

Almighty God, who has given us this good land for our heritage: We humbly beseech you that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of your favor and glad to do your will. Bless our land with honorable industry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from pride and arrogance; and from every evil way. Defend our liberties and fashion into one united people the multitudes brought here out of many tribes and tongues. Fill with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in thy Name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that, through obedience to your law, we may show forth your praise among the nations of the earth. In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in you to fail; all which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (adapted from Book of Common Prayer, Prayer for Our Nation)