As I sat down to write this, the question that kept coming back to me was…”How did we get to this place where we are right now?”
As a people and country we have had our ups and downs. We have had high points in our collective history, but we have also had some very low points. The many broken treaties with the indigenous peoples of this land, to me, are some of the extremely low points in our history. The general pulling together of our society during World War II to help fight fascism, was a high point. The whole red scare foisted upon the public by Joe McCarthy that ruined many lives, was a low point. The hard work and determination to lift the populace out of the Great Depression, was a high point. The freeing of the enslaved peoples of this country was a high point, the interjection of Jim Crow laws was a low point. The push for protecting vulnerable people with social safety nets such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and SNAP benefits was a high point. The hard fought fight for Civil Rights was a tumultuous time that led to a high point.
What I’m saying is, we as a people, have had our share of good and bad. Somehow we have weathered all we’ve been through to continue as a leading nation that helped other nations in their struggle to survive. We have been a force for good when we’ve sent tons of needed food to starving people. We have been a force for good when we’ve fought alongside those who were fighting for their freedom. We have been a force for good when helping to establish the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. I’m sure I’m missing plenty of other examples, these just came to mind.
Recently we have slashed budgets to take money away from the most needy, including funds for USAID which was designed to feed others starving around the world. We incinerated tons of food already on the docks, rather than feed the hungry. We’ve done these things by saying we simply can no longer afford to be generous to others. Yet we have seemingly unlimited funds to make war and accost other nations.
Do I know all the ins and outs of why some things have occurred, no. What I do know is there is an ugliness and a meanness in some of what I’m witnessing. Administrations come and go. Wars come and go. Budgets come and go. Regardless of those kinds of things, the spirit of the people remains.
Right now there appears to be a meanness of spirit that is not at all what I understand it means to be a citizen of the United States of America, and certainly not what it means to be a Christ follower. Currently there is discussion about broadcasting the execution of a person convicted and sentenced to death. The death penalty is horrific in itself, in that are any of us qualified and justified to take a human life? I’m not arguing for or against the sentence, that’s for others charged with setting and fixing punishments. I’m simply saying causing the death of another person should never be something to be glorified or sensationalized. Its a somber thing to take a life, especially when we remember that life and death are the purview of God. God breathes life into a person, and God withdraws the spirit from one when death comes.
Paul in writing to the Ephesians in 4:31-32 says…”Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.” In my opinion, this is what how we’re called to be in the world.
In Proverbs 11:7 we read…”Your kindness will reward you, but your cruelty will destroy you.” This is the precipice I feel we’re standing on at this point in time. Will we allow meanness and cruelty to guide our actions?
Finally, in Paul’s letter to the Colossians 3:12 we are admonished…”Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” This is what Christ followers should be attempting to do in every time, in every place. The light to the nations should shine from what is the best inside each of us.
May God’s love overshadow and obscure the ugliness that has crept into so many. May we as God’s people, never let the darkness overcome the light God places in us.
Your companion on the Way,
Pastor Tom