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Ten Principles From Scripture to Guide Engagement
“I can’t believe you just said that!” I look aghast at my screen. “Does she really believe that?” “This can’t be happening again!” My heart starts beating faster. I feel a mixture of anger, astonishment, disgust, disappointment, confusion, fear, exasperation, and superiority. I waffle between wanting to fight or to flee. I can’t go on this way. How do I respond when social media, news, and typical conversation is fraught with fear-driven division? When I read a disturbing post, when a friend purports a conspiracy theory, when my least favorite politician wins, should I turn off all devices, quit reading the news, and only talk about the weather? I need…
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He Regrets Us
“But the Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind had become great on the earth. Every inclination of the thoughts of their minds was only evil all the time. The Lord REGRETTED that he had made humankind on the earth…. So the Lord said, ‘I will wipe humankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth – everything from humankind to animals, including creatures that move on the ground and birds of the air, for I REGRET that I have made them” (Genesis 6:5-7). “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so too it will be in the days of the Son of Man. People were…
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A Baptist, A Methodist and a Catholic sit down at the Thanksgiving table
While it feels like there should be a punch line to the title, in truth I’m not that clever. The reality is that Thanksgiving is fast approaching and the ability to offer a space for everyone in our home is no joke! While Thanksgiving itself doesn’t discriminate, we have the unique opportunity to choose just how “open” our homes will be. The guest list is likely just as colorful as the decorations and dishes themselves. Politics and religion are our favorite divisive topics, but in reality the possibilities for bias, exclusion and disagreements are endless. If we will take the time to examine our hearts the Lord will reveal the…
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Seeing As God Sees
As I’ve grieved over this time of civil unrest, God has reminded me of my constant prayer years ago. I’m not a naturally merciful person and I don’t have the gift of mercy, but God graciously burdened me to see people as he does instead of through the lens of my culture and human nature. As God is loving and merciful to all, I wanted to be also. I really hadn’t thought of this prayer for many years, but as I look back now in this time in history, I see that God has been answering it. The polarization in the United States calls us to see everyone as either…
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Is It Safe to Open My Eyes Now?
I write this post two days before the US elects its next president. By the time you read this, the election would have already passed. The election results won’t make a difference to me. (Translation: I’m jaded.) Too many people have died from COVID, riots, and racism this year. Add to that unemployment, mask wars (a.k.a. selfishness), hurricane after hurricane, and fire after fire. We came into this election season an exhausted hostile nation—already overwhelmed with anxiety and grief. I can picture the devil high-fiving his minions right now over their victory at dividing our nation. There is no real winner here. Because a presidential election can’t buy peace…
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Homogeneity is Easy (But Unity’s Better)
Can I be frank with you? Homogeneity is easy. Whole cultures exist where people have common stories and experiences, surrounded by people who speak the same language (both literally and figuratively). Exhausted from the fractalization, Americans daydream of such utopia, like Camelot or Wakanda or maybe Finland. Meanwhile across our melting pot, we don’t share anything but angst. Is holding a door patriarchal or polite? Does our compliment show appreciation or reveal underlying racism? Requiring masks wise or a lack of faith? Is there any politician, educator, or mommy blogger who isn’t accused of being extreme and trying to ruin the country? Chasms cut and crosscut the nation, including…
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What Could Responses to Mask Wearing Tell Us About Ourselves?
Masks[1] were used in the 1600’s plague by doctors[2]and in the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic by the public.[3] Meriam-Webster defines a mask as-a protective covering for the face; a comparable device to prevent exhalation of infectious material. Masks have been around for a long time. With COVID-19, the wearing of masks has resurfaced and has become a divisive topic among church goers. Both sides seem passionate about their choice. I have been a Christian for about 40 years and I have not witnessed a division like this before. Admittedly, school choices, hymn versus choruses, and vaccinations have caused some divisions. These topics might have been as divisive, but with time…
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Listening: An Antidote to Polarization
Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters! Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger. James 1:19 (NET) I visited the National Museum of African American History & Culture last week—I and thousands of other people—and the experience overwhelmed me. The upper floors of the museum celebrate the significant contributions of African Americans to every sector of our culture. But the three-floor basement of the museum documents how the powerful have dominated the powerless in our country. For example, when enslaved people were finally freed in the U.S., compensation was given—but not to the slaves who had put in a lifetime of uncompensated labor. Instead, slave…
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Three Responses to Charlottesville
Like many of you, I watched in disbelief as white supremacists spouted bigotry, violence, and KKK rhetoric last weekend at a “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, VA. For a brief summary of the weekend’s events and aftermath, see: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/13/us/charlottesville-virginia-overview.html I’ve noted two common responses to the persistent racial and political divide in our country: 1) Us vs. Them. Whether it’s Democrat vs. Republican, black vs. white, black vs. blue, male vs. female, gays vs. straights, or Cowboys vs. Redskins, a “vs.” in the middle necessarily puts one group in complete opposition to another. Dividing ourselves into ideological categories is a natural way of expressing our identity, heritage, and values.…
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Six Ways to Grow in Unity
I’ve been disturbed by the trend to disagree without unity within the body of Christ, not only in this putrid political climate but also within churches. Belittling Christians who don’t agree with us or treating them as enemies is undermining our unity, which Jesus clearly identified as the way the world would see the reality of who he is (John 17:20-23). So it’s no small thing! We are divided by our backgrounds, life experiences, the biases of the teaching and preaching that we hear, and the people we hang with. (And yes, we all have biases because of pride and the preconceived ideas that we fail to recognize.) Is it…
