IN THE END LOVE WINS

          I remember when my oldest son was in elementary school there was a large meeting about what to call the Holiday breaks. They had always been referred to as Christmas and Easter breaks but now that the community was more diverse there was some concern about those labels. The principal finally stood up and said “It’s just a matter of semantics…”. As I read the news and look at the social networking posts I realize once again if we could get past the labels perhaps we could begin to become part of the kingdom Jesus spoke about. Jesus said His father’s kingdom was here now. So many of us look to the afterlife as God’s kingdom but as followers of Jesus we are to bring God’s kingdom to earth each day. Some of Jesus’ followers, like Mother Theresa of India, brought the kingdom to earth in a big way. But as Mother Theresa said, “We are to bloom where we are planted”. To me bringing the kingdom to earth and blooming where I’m planted means working in small ways to share God’s love.

          As I look at the world and my country wallowing in hatred and violence I could give into despair. Yet I believe that even as one woman I can make a difference. It may be seen by others as non-consequential but that is okay because I know that the small mustard seed grows into the large bush and can become home to many birds. One small difference I can make is to only repost positive thoughts. Another is to strive to end the US vs. THEM by not using labels to identify people. I like to believe that we use these terms out of habit and give little thought to their cutting results. Habits can be changed and as a follower of The Way of Jesus I need to be aware of my shortcomings and learn from my failures, not just say, “I’ve always said that or done it that way”.

          It is not enough to say that “In the end love wins”, we must do all in our power to end the hatred inside ourselves, leaving only room for love. I am confident when we make a conscious effort to do this by changing the little things we say we will make a difference. We will help bring God’s kingdom to earth by losing the labels—homosexuals, Sikhs, Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Spic, illegal immigrant, etc. We are all people with the same struggles and joys. If there is any question about that just look at the picture of children playing anywhere in the world and you will see the same joy. Somewhere we lose that joy as we age and that is definitely our loss. Perhaps if we strive to lose the hatred within us the joy will again fill our being.

          I will strive to begin today to bring God’s love to our troubled world by becoming aware of the labels I use and throwing them away. Will you join me?

Our Voices Should Not Be Silenced

I had taken a break from blogging, because I became overwhelmed and frustrated at the hatred being spewed in the name of Christianity. But I recently began reading Dorothy Day-Selected Writings edited by Robert Ellsberg, and I realized the voice of love and reason cannot and should not be silenced. At times, her writings reveal frustration but her solid faith in the love of God gave her the strength and courage to continue her work.

For those who don’t know, Dorothy Day started the Catholic Worker Movement. She believed in and worked to bring peace and justice to the society which surrounded her. Long before Mother Teresa of Calcutta advised us to “bloom where we are planted”, Dorothy did just that. She started in small steps, first offering free coffee and toast to the homeless and unemployed who walked the streets desperately looking for work. Eventually there was a string of Hospitality Houses across the nation, some rural working farms growing food to help supply the urban houses.

This morning during my devotions I read about the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign that arrived in Washington, D.C. This kindled memories of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement which spanned our country last year. This quote from a Mississippi civil rights activist, Fannie Lou Hamer, struck a nerve, “Christianity is being concerned about your fellow man, not building a million dollar church while people are starving right around the corner. Christ was a revolutionary person, out there where it was happening. That’s what God is all about and that’s where I get my strength.”

There are two ways of looking at the writings for Dorothy Day and other activists which span the decades from the Great Depression to the present. We can become frustrated and overwhelmed because of the continued presence of the inequalities in our country, where “all men are created equal”, or we can become empowered by the true presence of the Creator of the Universe inside each of us, allowing us to see how it could be.

Dialog

“For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.” John 3:11 (NIV)

          Since 9/11 we have seen not only a rise in nationalism but a rise in fear and hatred of anything different than ourselves. We have seen the rise of hatred spewed on the nightly news. We have seen the rise of a barbed wire fence “protecting” our southern border. We have seen the rise of profiling and arrests of those whose skin is the wrong color or whose accent is too strong.

          We live in a GLOBAL SOCIETY and we need to come to grips with that reality. Diversity is not a four letter word to be shunned at any cost. More and more people are moving into communities with less and less diversity which only breeds more fear and hatred. Cultural differences make us unique and interesting individuals. Yes, it is good to know our roots but it is also important to let those roots spread and soak up all there is to absorb. We all know what happens to plants whose roots are stuffed into too small a pot, the plant eventually dies-no matter how much food and water we give it. But transplant that plant into the ground where it will have room to spread and grow and the plant will thrive. People are the same, sometimes it is important to move to new environments to absorb the wonders that other cultures can bring us.

          Yes, there is a catalyst to this post today, actually 2 happenings cause me to speak out. One is this article that I received in an email showing the results of hatred and bigotry -http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/one-towns-war-on-gay-teens-20120202?print=true

The other was a wonderful event my husband and I attended last evening with the Lehigh Valley Dialog Center. This organization started with a number of Turkish business men realizing that misconceptions can only be overcome with open dialog and sharing of cultural ideas and of course food! It is wonderful to be able to speak openly and frankly about our questions about their customs and the Islamic belief system. At the same time we are able to answer some of their questions about our beliefs.

          I pray that in my lifetime I will see diverse communities living peacefully focusing on our similarities and accepting our differences.

THOUGHTS ON VALENTINE'S DAY

“For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.” John 3:11 (NIV)

          Practically since the day after Christmas we have been inundated with Valentine’s Day products on the store shelves. We are reminded each year of this special day for lovers. Once again as with Christmas we can CHOOSE to put a non-commercial spin on this day.

v We can CHOOSE to show others kindness and mercy every day.

v  We can CHOOSE to step outside our comfort zone and be nice to some sandpaper people in our lives.

v We can CHOOSE to smile at people as we pass them during our day.

v We can CHOOSE to ask an elderly or sickly neighbor if they need help getting groceries or a book from the library.

v We can CHOOSE to visit a neighbor we haven’t seen yet this winter.

You get the idea; Valentine’s Day should not be limited to a 24 hour period or to those in a romantic relationship. Let’s CHOOSE to make Valentine’s day a daily occurrence and spread our love to those beyond our inner circle.

The Translation Does Make a Difference

The verse for the day from Bible Gateway devotions quotes

1 John4:20-21 from the NEW LIVING TRANSLATION BIBLE. “If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their Christian brothers and sisters.”

          I went to http://www.biblegateway.com to find a few parallel translations.

1.      The KING JAMES VERSION, “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.”

2.    THE NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”

3.    THE MESSAGE paraphrase, “If anyone boasts, “I love God,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both.”

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          My question is WHY would they use such an exclusive translation? Really…hello!!…Did Jesus really say, “Those who love God must also love their Christian brothers and sisters?” Jesus was JEWISH—not CHRISTIAN! Jesus message was for everyone. Jesus preached often to Gentiles and those thought worthless by the Religious Jewish community.

          If we want to be a light to others and bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth then we must start thinking inclusively. We must stop the mentality of THEM vs. US! We are ALL God’s creations; let’s follow the way of Jesus and love all people.

Let’s be aware of the language we use and seek to find loving words, not separatist words.

ANGER IS NOT A SIN

          We are often told of the evils of anger, yet anger is a God given emotion, and in itself is not a sin. How we react to our anger is what makes the difference.  Admittedly for me especially in my younger years, my reaction to anger was volatile. In recent years, with God’s help, my reactions have generally changed to responses. 

          Yesterday one of my devotional readings was Psalm 4:4-“Don’t sin by letting anger control you. Think about it overnight and remain silent.” (NLT) I looked up The Message paraphrase of the verse, “Complain if you must, but don’t lash out. Keep your mouth shut, and let your heart do the talking. Build your case before God and wait for His* verdict.” [*capitalization mine]

          How I wish I had read this verse early in my marriage. Instead I heard the adage, “Don’t go to bed angry”, which to me meant to resolve the problem before going to bed. This of course usually led to a heated confrontation with no resolution.

          When I thought about writing about anger I decided to try to find the origin of that old adage. Interestingly I found the cite, “Ask Moses” which cites the Talmud (an ancient compilation of Rabbinic law, commentary and analysis, 200 BCE-427 CE). “The Talmud¹ relates that Rabbi Nechunia Ben Hakanah and Rav Huna never went to sleep before forgiving anyone who wronged them.” They go on to cite, “the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (Abridged Code of Jewish Law) it says:

"...a person should forgive any colleague who wronged him, so that no other person will be punished because of him… One should repeat three times: "I release all those who caused me distress." Afterwards, one should recite the prayer: Ribono shel olom, hareini mochel... (Master of the world, behold, I forgive...)."²

          I admit, I love research and history, but that is not the only reason I cited the above. I found these quotes significant because it helps me understand the context of Paul’s words to the Ephesians, ““In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.”

          I loved the idea of my bedtime routine including, “I release all those who caused me distress.” Releasing those who caused me distress at the same time releases ME from the distress of carrying grudges.  But read on to find the beautiful prayer whose first words are cited above.

“Master of the world; Behold, I forgive anyone who angered or antagonized me, whether it was directed toward my body or my money or my honor or anything which belongs to me. [I forgive them] Whether the action was performed by total accident or willingly or through neglect or through premeditation, whether it was done through speech or physical action... may no person be punished because of me."

          May we all learn to respond to our anger rather than react. May we also learn to release those who cause us distress, allowing the Lord’s peace to take the place of that distress.

SO GOD, WHO DO YOU SAY I AM?

            At the start of the New Year it is customary to proclaim some resolutions for our lives. I am no different than others and I automatically started thinking about what I want to change about me. Then my pastor offered a message on New Year’s Day asking us to reflect on our past year and see what is working for us and what is not working for us. 

This got me thinking about how God has worked in my life this past year and what I have learned. One of the most important things I learned over the past year is busyness is not always what God wants. In Psalm 46:10 the psalmist tells us, “He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God…’”Sometimes we are asked to be still not busy.

Our New Year’s Day reading was from Ecclesiastes 3:1-13—

A Time for Everything

¹ For everything there is a season,
      a time for every activity under heaven.
 ² A time to be born and a time to die.
      A time to plant and a time to harvest.
 ³ A time to kill and a time to heal.
      A time to tear down and a time to build up.
 ⁴ A time to cry and a time to laugh.
      A time to grieve and a time to dance.
 ⁵ A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
      A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
 ⁶ A time to search and a time to quit searching.
      A time to keep and a time to throw away.
 ⁷ A time to tear and a time to mend.
      A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
 ⁸ A time to love and a time to hate.
      A time for war and a time for peace.

⁹ What do people really get for all their hard work? ¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. ¹¹ Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. ¹² So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. ¹³ And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.

I find this a good scripture to consider during the beginning of this New Year, this New Chance from God to follow His plan. So as I ponder how my limited energy will be spent, I turn to my Creator and ask, “So God, who do You say that I am?” I pray for the wisdom and clarity of mind to hear His answer!

Happy New Year, everyone!