Verse of the day
The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. Now go, I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.
– Exodus 3:9-10
Voice of the day
We follow a God who hates tyranny; who continually leads people in exodus journeys in defiance of authoritarianism.
– Rev. Jennifer Butler
Prayer of the day
God of justice, hear the cries of the oppressed and send us to confront tyranny, bringing freedom to those in need.
The many names from Abraham to Jesus are certainly not saints. They are names of men and women who struggled hard with the powers of evil, sometimes more successfully than others, and who have experienced love, hatred, joy, pain, reward, and punishment, like ourselves. It is these men and women who form the story in which God himself wanted to become a part. God, so it seems, inserted himself in our tiresome and often exhausting journey and became a fellow traveler. When Jesus joined the sad and deeply disappointed disciples on the road to Emmaus and opened their eyes so that they could see what was happening, he revealed what it means that God is a God with us.
He recognized with authentic realism that anyone who permits another to determine the quality of his inner life gives into the hands of the other the keys to his destiny. — Jesus and the Disinherited, p. 19
We must especially beware of that small group of selfish men who would clip the wings of the American eagle in order to feather their own nests. — Four Freedoms Speech, January 1941
“To honor the sacred is to create conditions in which nourishment, sustenance, habitat, knowledge, freedom, and beauty can thrive. To honor the sacred is to make love possible. To this we dedicate our curiosity, our will, our courage, our silences, and our voices. To this we dedicate our lives.”—Starhawk, The Spiral Dance
The most insidious, divisive, and wounding power is the power used in the service of God. The number of people who “have been wounded by religion” overwhelms me. An unfriendly or judgmental word by a minister or priest, a critical remark in church about a certain lifestyle, a refusal to welcome people at the table, an absence during an illness or death, and countless other hurts often remain longer in people’s memories than other more world-like rejections. Thousands of separated and divorced men and women, numerous gay and lesbian people, and all of the homeless people who felt unwelcome in the houses of worship of their brothers and sisters in the human family have turned away from God because they experienced the use of power when they expected an expression of love.
I am thankful that my denomination, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), is a part of this
Christ-followers are standing up to the Administration… Paula White, et. al. you are NOT the voice of those of us who condemn christian nationalism and stand with the prophet Micah who wrote:
He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8, New Revised Standard Version)
Read the text at the below link. There are LOTS of faith groups who are speaking out.
A politically committed spirituality contends against wrong without becoming wrongly contentious. It confronts national self-righteousness without personal self-righteousness. It cherishes God’s creation; it serves the poor; it is not interested in the might of a nation but in the goodness of its people. — Credo, p. 69
Had I but one wish for the churches of America I think it would be that they come to see the difference between charity and justice. Charity is a matter of personal attributes; justice, a matter of public policy. Charity seeks to alleviate the effects of injustice; justice seeks to eliminate the causes of it. Charity in no way affects the status quo, while justice leads inevitably to political confrontation. Especially I would hope that Christians would see that the compassion that moved the Good Samaritan to act charitably — that same compassion prompted biblical prophets to confront injustice, to speak truth to power, as did Jesus, who, though more than a prophet, was certainly nothing less. — Credo, pp.62-63
This image of God inviting us to his home is used throughout scripture. The Lord is my house. The Lord is my hiding place. The Lord is my awning. The Lord is my refuge. The Lord is my tent. The Lord is my temple. The Lord is my dwelling place. The Lord is my home. The Lord is the place where I want to dwell all the days of my life. God wants to be our room, our house. He wants to be anything that makes us feel at home. She is like a bird hugging us under her wings. She is like a woman holding us in her womb. She is Infinite Mother, Loving Host, Caring Father, the Good Provider who invites us to join him.
Pastor Michael Moore's Blog 