“When violence is put aside, dialogue becomes possible. We don’t have to agree in a dialogue, it is just the secure place for argument. Dialogue is a place where two truths can meet, it is the place where one can accept that the painful price of peace is cheaper than the terrible price of war, it is the place where peace can be achieved. And finally, peace is a place where we can live by accepting our differences and respecting each others’ rights.”—Ali Abu Awwad
Verse of the day
Woe to those who make iniquitous decrees, who write oppressive statutes, to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, to make widows their spoil and to plunder orphans!
– Isaiah 10:1-2
Voice of the day
We follow a God who hates tyranny; who continually leads people in exodus journeys in defiance of authoritarianism. Lift up a vision of who we can be, and are becoming.
– Rev. Jennifer Butler, “31 Liberating Quotes From Christian Women”
Prayer of the day
Lord God, may we defy authoritarianism in all its forms. May we protect the needy, widows, and orphans. Help us to lead each other out of tyranny and speak without fear in the face of tyrants.
Verse of the day
So then, putting away falsehood, let each of you speak the truth with your neighbor, for we are members of one another.
– Ephesians 4:25
Voice of the day
Telling the truth is an act of love, an act of resistance, an act of courage. Its end is liberation, freedom, and if possible, reconciliation. But there can be no reconciliation without truth.
– Jacqui Lewis, “31 Liberating Quotes From Christian Women”
Prayer of the day
Lord, let us speak the truth to one another. Give us open hearts to receive the truth from others, that we may work toward reconciliation.
“By adopting the skills and consciousness of [Nonviolent Communication], we can counsel others in encounters that are genuine, open, and mutual, rather than resort to professional relationships characterized by emotional distance, diagnosis, and hierarchy.”—Marshall B. Rosenberg, Nonviolent Communication(pg. 203)
“The world is imperfect, yes, but we have a responsibility to future generations to do all we can to make the world kinder and fairer. Whether we succeed in our own lifetime is not the measure. The Talmud teaches that the perfection of the world is not ours to complete, nor our to abandon. We don’t expect to see perfection and we will never stop working for it.”—Rabbi Malka Drucker
In a hurried and fast-paced world where speed and productivity are revered over and against rest and reflection, it is easy to become discouraged and burned out. I know that I have been guilty of neglecting the sacred rhythm of Sabbath rest in my quest to meet my own expectations and those of society and the church.
When we lived in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, Denise and I tried to take sacred pauses to simply “be” in God’s presence in the midst of creation. It was easy to do when I often stepped out of the church and had to “wait” for the local elk herd to move across the parking lot on their way from the golf course to Fall River and the meadow. They reminded me to slow down and savor my surroundings.
Today we often see hawks, pelicans, egrets, herons, ducks, and the occasional dolphin when we walk from our apartment to the Wharf and walk alongside the Inter-Coastal Waterway. When we move to our new house in Mobile later this month we will enjoy the beautiful magnolias and azaleas blooming in our neighborhood. We will also enjoy being with the many birds who live in the live oak trees.
What is it that these pause and reflect moments are teaching me? After so many years working and ministering at such a breakneck speed, I am learning to slow down and be more intentional in what I say and do.
I am also learning another lesson that I need to learn and savor every day. Who am I? Who is Michael Moore — Am I a retired Air Force Chaplain? A retired Presbyterian minister? Someone who grew up in Minnesota and has watched SPAM being made? After so many years of being “defined” by my career and calling, I am discovering and savoring who I am aside from all of the “titles.”
I am a child of God. I am created in the image of God (imago Dei). With retirement I am discovering that I haven’t lost a sense of who I am. Instead, I am rediscovering who I am as a child of God. Thomas Merton had something to say about being made in the image of God in his book, New Seeds of Contemplation.
To say that I am made in the image of God is to say that love is the reason for my existence, for God is love. Love is my true identity. Selflessness is my true self. Love is my true character. Love is my name. — Thomas Merton in New Seeds of Contemplation (p. 60)
Guess what, dear reader — You too are created in the image of God. You are created to love and be loved. In a world filled with so much fear and division, this message needs to be shared with others. It is done one relationship at a time. Then we will truly live out our calling to be children of God.
The only message I have to the world is: We are not allowed to kill innocent people. We are not allowed to be complicit in murder. We are not allowed to be silent while preparations for mass murder proceed in our name, with our money, secretly … It’s terrible for me to live in a time where I have nothing to say to human beings except, “Stop killing.” There are other beautiful things that I would love to be saying to people. There are other projects I could be very helpful at. And I can’t do them. I cannot. Because everything is endangered. Everything is up for grabs. Ours is a kind of primitive situation, even though we would call ourselves sophisticated. Our plight is very primitive from a Christian point of view. We are back where we started. Thou shalt not kill; we are not allowed to kill. Everything today comes down to that — everything. — Daniel Berrigan source
In the light of the rise of Christian Nationalism some timely advise for the Church of today and for all who call themselves Christians.
On January 14, 1935, (Dietrich) Bonhoeffer wrote his brother Karl-Friedrich,
I think I am right in saying that I would only achieve true inner clarity and honesty by really starting to take the Sermon on the Mount seriously. Here alone lies the force that can blow all this idiocy sky-high—like fireworks, leaving only a few burnt-out shells behind. The restoration of the church must surely depend on a new kind of monasticism, which has nothing in common with the old but a life of uncompromising discipleship, following Christ according to the Sermon on the Mount.
From Paul Dekar’s book, Thomas Merton: God’s Messenger on the Road towards a New World (p. 100)
You are not what you do, although you do a lot. You are not what you have collected in terms of friendships and connections, although you might have many. You are not the popularity that you have received. You are not the success of your work. You are not what people say about you, whether they speak well or whether they speak poorly about you. All these things that keep you quite busy, quite occupied, and often quite preoccupied are not telling the truth about who you are. I am here to remind you in the name of God that you are the Beloved Daughters and Sons of God, and that God says to you, “I have called you from all eternity and you are engraved from all eternity in the palms of my hands. You are mine. You belong to me, and I love you with an everlasting love.”
(Victor) Hugo stated that peace, a universal religious ideal, emanated from divine law. For Hugo, God’s dream was peace, not war; justice, not oppression; universal prosperity, not the gap between rich and poor that characterized the economic imbalance between the rich and poor in Hugo’s time, and still does. Deploring the immense sums nations squandered on armaments, Hugo urged all countries to direct these funds to the arts, research, agriculture, or science. He pleaded that nations cease to traffic in arms. He advocated creation of international bodies to settle disputes and mediate conflicting interests.
As the audience applauded, Hugo said, The divine law is not one of war, but peace. Lay down your arms. And in that day you will all have one common thought, common interests, a common destiny; you will embrace each other and recognize each other as children of the same blood and of the same race; that day you will be a people, costs directed not to arms but the common good.
Source: Thomas Merton: God’s Messenger on the Road towards a New World, p. 43
Pastor Michael Moore's Blog 