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.
Verse of the day
For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound teaching, but, having their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desiresand will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths.
– 2 Timothy 4:3-4
Voice of the day
Mundus vult decipi: the world wants to be deceived.
– Martin Buber, “I and Thou” (1923)
Prayer of the day
God, help us seek the truth and stand firm, even when the world chooses deception over it.
Verse of the day
I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
– Revelation 3:15-16
Voice of the day
Indifference and apathy are parasitism, perversion, not life.
– Antonio Gramsci
Prayer of the day
Creator, help us take a firm stance in our faith, rejecting apathy and living boldly for what we believe.
Like the joy of the sea coming home to shore,
May the relief of laughter rinse through your soul.
As the wind loves to call things to dance,
May your gravity be lightened by grace.
Like the dignity of moonlight restoring the earth,
May your thoughts incline with reverence and respect.
As water takes whatever shape it is in,
So free may you be about who you become.
As silence smiles on the other side of what’s said,
May your sense of irony bring perspective.
As time remains free of all that it frames,
May your mind stay clear of all that it names.
May your prayer of listening deepen enough,
To hear in the depths the laughter of God.
To Bless the Space Between Us, p. 127
As soon as you begin to take yourself seriously and imagine that your virtues are important because they are yours, you become the prisoner of your own vanity and even your best works will blind and deceive you. Then, in order to defend yourself, you will begin to see sins and faults everywhere in the actions of [others]. And the more unreasonable importance you attach to yourself and to your own works, the more you will tend to build up your own idea of yourself by condemning other people. — New Seeds of Contemplation (pp. 59-60, Kindle Edition)
The primary problems of the planet arise not from the poor, for whom education is the answer; they arise from the well-educated, for whom self-interest is the problem. — Credo, p. 61
Pastor Michael Moore's Blog 