This week sucks...
"Behold, how good and pleasant it is when people dwell in unity. " Psalm 133:1
Long post warning...
After the last week, and really the last year, I absolutely needed to join my heart with fellow believers today at St. Luke's just to try to wrap my head around the amount of humankind's inhumanity to one another that is so manifest these days. Since the choir is off for July I was sitting in the congregation and could more fully experience the depth of worshiping together today.
I could look around and see white faces, black faces, and brown faces, straight and gay, all worshiping together and striving to live lives following Christ's command to love God with all our hearts and each other (in and out of the church) as we would want others toward us. As I left, today, the African congregation that uses the St Luke's chapel was arriving to commence their traditional worship service. It really was a joy to my heart to see this verse in action as I drove away.
It breaks my heart that there are people who call themselves followers of Christ who use their religion to justify their individual hatreds, biases, prejudices, and fear. I know it horrifies many adherents of Islam that there are people who call themselves Muslim, but adulterate that religion to practice hatred and violence against others, both Muslim and non-Muslim. It in turn horrifies me as a believer in Christ and the power of his love for us that someone calling themselves "Christian" would adulterate his teachings to justify disregarding the poor and suffering, the sick, the prisoner, and a world in pain, and worse yet advocating hatred and fear of others based on the color of their skin, the country of their origin, the foundation of their faith (or their disbelief), who they choose to love or anything else they somehow see past the plank that is in their own eye (Luke 6:42).
I loath hypocrisy. It hurts most when it is pointed out by non-believers though as it should be recognized and called out by believers in Christ first and foremost when someone who calls themselves a believer advocates for actions and policies that are to the detriment of their fellow humankind. And yet, people who call themselves "Christian" can somehow sleep in peace when black people in this country legitimately fear for their lives when they drive down the street because they don't know if the person pulling them over with the flashing lights is going to be reasonable, or one of the cops that has bought his prejudice, hatred, and bias along for the ride.
They sleep in peace when millions of children in this country go to bed and wake up hungry because there is maybe enough food for one small meal a day. They sleep in peace as thousands go through financial ruin because they can not afford the full coverage of the astronomical cost of their healthcare. They sleep in peace as GLBTQ people are assaulted or killed because they are living their authentic lives. They sleep in peace as the foreigner in their land who cooks their food in the restaurant, builds their house, or mows their grass for wages that are below minimum because they are forced to live in the shadows and are taken advantage of at every turn.
Enough...
The photo is a sunset I captured last fall by the Mississippi River between Tennessee and Missouri. The sky looked on fire...
