Yes, there is that voice, the voice that speaks from above and from within and that whispers softly or declares loudly: “You are my Beloved, on you my favor rests.” It certainly is not easy to hear that voice in a world filled with voices that shout: “You are no good, you are ugly; you are worthless; you are despicable, you are nobody – unless you demonstrate the opposite.” These negative voices are so loud and persistent that it is easy to believe them. That’s the great trap. It is the trap of self-rejection. Over the years, I have come to realize that the greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity, or power, but self-rejection. — Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World
During my second tour of duty in England with the US Air Force, I spent a lot of time in Germany and on the European continent because I was on the HQ USAFE Inspector General’s team. While in Germany I saw both the evidence of destruction from the British and American Bombing Campaigns during WW2 and the work that was done by the Allied Forces and German citizens to rebuild Germany after the war.
The Berlin Wall memorial, which incorporates sections of the actual wall, at Ramstein Air Base was significant to me because when I was first commissioned as a Chaplain Candidate, Second Lieutenant on 15 April 1985, the Wall was still up and the world was in the midst of the Cold War.
During my time in uniform we used to have Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical (NBC) Warfare training. It was then that I truly learned that while you could possibly shelter and survive a Biological or Chemical attack, the chances of surviving a nuclear attack weren’t very good. That’s why the scenario was called Mutually Assured Destruction!
I came to truly believe and understand that the path of destruction we were on as a nation and world was obscene. So why am I writing about this now? Why on the 250th Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence? It is because I see the US trying to destroy the very organisations that were established to prevent such a scenario. Additionally, there is so much harmful and hateful rhetoric being spewed by politicians and by the christian nationalist movement that is counter to the spirit of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States.
Yes, the Constitution was and remains a flawed document. Amendments through the years have tried to correct those flaws. Birthright citizenship, the abolition of slavery, voting rights for African Americans who had formerly been enslaved, the right of Women to vote, and the prohibition of poll taxes are some of those changes. Sadly, many of the hard-fought rights that have been enshrined in the Constitutional Amendments and through law (like the Civil Rights Act) are under attack. The attacks are coming from the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of the Federal Government and from individuals and groups at the national, state, and local levels.
Yes, the 250th Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence is complicated to say the very least. When I see the slow destruction of the Constitution which I swore to support and defend in my Oath of Commissioning to support and defend for the first time in 1985 and continued to do so during my 26 years in uniform. I believe that it is my duty and responsibility to continue to do so as a retired military chaplain, and it deeply saddens me to see what is going on today. We can do so much better than this as a nation.
So what do I do? As a dear friend of mine once said, I try to make a difference in my own little part of the world. Will you join with me in this effort, dear reader? My prayer is that the majority of the people in this country will do the same. So help us God.
When it can be said by any country in the world, my poor are happy, neither ignorance nor distress is to be found among them, my jails are empty of prisoners, my streets of beggars, the aged are not in want, the taxes are not oppressive, the rational world is my friend because I am the friend of happiness. When these things can be said, then may that country boast its constitution and government. — Thomas Paine, Rights of Man
Verse of the day
Whoever says, “I am in the light,” while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness.
– 1 John 2:9
Voice of the day
I do not owe my opponents my affection, warmth, or regard. But I do owe myself a chance to live in this world without the burden of hate.
– Valarie Kaur, See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love (2020)
Prayer of the day
Turn our minds from the heaviness of hatred and toward the light of love instead.
Our many conversations led me to the inner conviction that the words “You are my Beloved” revealed the most intimate truth about all human beings, whether they belong to any particular tradition or not. All I want to say to you is “You are the Beloved,” and all I hope is that you can hear these words as spoken to you with all the tenderness and force that love can hold. My only desire is to make these words reverberate in every corner of your being – “You are the Beloved.” — Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World
Christian leadership is accomplished only through service. This service requires the willingness to enter into a situation, with all the human vulnerabilities…. This is a painful and self-denying experience, but an experience which can indeed lead man out of his prison of confusion and fear. Indeed, the paradox of Christian leadership is that the way out is the way in, that only by entering into communion with human suffering can relief be found. — The Wounded Healer: Ministry in Contemporary Society
Verse of the day
Whatever task you must do, work as if your soul depends on it, as for the Lord and not for humans, since you know that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you serve the Lord Christ.
– Colossians 3:23-24
Voice of the day
I find myself most alone / When I believe I am striving for glory.
– Tracy K. Smith, “Everybody’s Autobiography”
Prayer of the day
Victorious One, remind your children that the truest wins aren’t rooted in earning accolades, but in tender acceptance of each other.
We pray to know not only in our head, but in our heart, and in the center of our being that we are fully loved. That is why we pray. We pray so we can walk around this world and not be so needy, not be wounding others, and not be giving so we can get something in return. We pray to be free. — Following Jesus: Finding Our Way Home in an Age of Anxiety
“I am not divine. But I am of the divine. And through that connection to the one who created me, I am connected to the rest of Creation. So, while I may not be cosmic myself, I am part of the cosmos. I am part of the sacred flow of time, not just in this moment of time. We are all part of sacred time.”
—John Valters Paintner, Sacred Time: Embracing an Intentional Way of Life
How do you find connection with the rest of humanity, creation, and the cosmos?
Pastor Michael Moore's Blog 