Category: Witness

Liberated to Witness

How do we live in the world as it is, without being overwhelmed by evil? How do we keep from being cast down in such a way that we are unable to act? “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me?” The answer of Psalm 42 is: “Hope in God, for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.”

How do we live in this nation without succumbing to despair, brought low by hostility, cruelty, and apathy and robbed of the ability to act? There is so very much to lament, and therefore we must lament. But lamentation does not mean acquiescing to things as they are. It means grieving as a movement into prayer, acknowledgement of our own sin and helplessness in the face of evil, and our turning to God who forgives, frees, and empowers us for action.

Jesus calls his followers to action. We are to be witnesses. In a world of lies, we are to witness to the truth, which means we must come to the truth and acknowledge the lies. Above all, we are called to live the truth—which engages us in being truthful with ourselves and our brokenness.

In the sixteenth chapter of John, Jesus tells us that he sends the Helper, the Spirit of truth, who comes to “prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, and you will see me no longer; about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.” (John 16:8-11)

These words are good news for witnesses, who, like Jesus, know they are called to testify to the truth. The Spirit of truth helps us with the truth—the truth of sin, righteousness, and liberation—first within ourselves and then in the world.

We live in a world where massive amounts of information are available to us enhanced by “artificial intelligence” and yet we often remain ignorant of ourselves, our inner life and motivations—and for what builds abiding relationships. We may have all kinds of information at our finger tips but lack knowledge and wisdom regarding ourselves and, as a consequence, we chase after chimeras.

Our problem is spiritual. We need inner truth, the truth of ourselves. We need the Spirit of truth who proves us wrong in our assessments of the world and ourselves. We are “wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment.” We are wrong about the depth of the problem of sin and evil; we downplay it. Without the Spirit, we diminish, in our minds, the depth and extent of sin. We do not believe we need divine help to overcome. We do not believe in the need for liberation. It is the Spirit of truth who comes to convince us of our need, the need for God’s deliverance.

We and the world are wrong about righteousness. The world’s view of what is right is exceedingly superficial. It believes it can know and do the right, while, in truth, it does evil. It is capable of great evil along with great rationalization of evil. The world even finds all manner of ways to convince itself that evil is necessary.

Our deliverence is found in this: the Spirit comes to bring judgment, because “the ruler of this world has been condemned.” With the Spirit there is liberation and victory over the evil that rules the world. It is the work of the Spirit in us that makes possible what has been impossible because of our captivity to sin—our bondage to egotism, arrogance and the manipulation of others.

The central issue of these words from the Gospel of John is this: God does for us what we have been unable to do for ourselves. It is by the power of God’s Spirit that there is true foundational change. As many recovering addcts have realized, as the first step to our healing, is that we come to the place where we “admit we are powerless” to fundamentally change ourselves by our own effort and that “our lives have become unmanageable.”

These words express a broken humanity that comes to the realization that it cannot fix itself. After all, we are all essentially addicts trying to sustain our lives by false dependencies, when in God alone do we have our being and healing and liberation. The good news is that God has not left us to ourselves. God sends the Spirit of truth to convince us of our sin, our false ways of being, and to liberate, empower, and send us out as witnesses. We are set free to witness to life under God’s governance, witnessing to God’s faithfulness, justice and mercy.

Filed under: Spirit, Truth, Witness

Witness

Christians have often viewed themselves as witnesses to Jesus. The first followers saw themselves as witnesses to Jesus’ death and resurrection. Subsequent followers have witnessed to Jesus by passing on to others what they have received concerning Jesus through Scripture, through others’ testimonies, and from their own experience and thoughts about Jesus. At times, Christians have even come up with theologies and formulas for speaking about Jesus to others—a kind of how to talk about Jesus. Often the focus has been on gaining converts. Witnessing has been understood along these lines.

Jesus, however, spoke about being a witness in another sense. To governor Pilate he said, “For this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.” (John 18:37)

To his followers, the one who is in the world to testify to the truth said “Learn from me.”

What we learn from Jesus is that we are to witness to the truth. Therefore, we are to become truthful, first with ourselves, then to the world. We have a Helper for this. Jesus tells his followers that he sends the Spirit of truth to guide them into truth. (John 16:13)

Like Jesus, the Human One (“Son of Man”), we are to be witnesses to the truth—the truth of our humanity and of true community rooted in love. Simply talking about Jesus does not make us (we who are Christians) witnesses. Being truthful does. Loving does.

I raise this issue, in a time of easy Jesus talk, because more easy Jesus talk is not needed. Truth is needed. Pilate dismissed both Jesus and the truth. He said to Jesus, “What is truth?” He did not seem to care to know.

From the Gospel of John we are given these words of Jesus: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) If we are going to come to God it is through “the way and the truth and the life.” Jesus without the truth is not Jesus. Witness to Jesus without the truth is not witness to Jesus.

We encounter truth—the kind Jesus testified to—when the truth of our humanity is spoken and lived, when loving action exists, when our untruth is called out. Without such truth, Jesus talk is just talk. We need truth in our time. True witness to Jesus is witness to the truth.

Jesus testified to the truth, truth that brought life and healing and uplift; truth that shared God’s mercy and forgiveness and liberation. He welcomed sinners. He went to those who were pushed aside and demeaned. He welcomed all. He testified to the love of God that reached out to all.

Jesus testified to the truth, to hard truth, truth that got him in trouble. He said of many religious leaders that “on the outside they look righteous to others, but inside are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” (Matthew 23:28) To king Herod who indicated he was out to kill him, Jesus said, “Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work.” (Luke 13:32) Jesus was going to be about his calling no matter what King Herod did. His calling was to testify to the truth as he lived the truth.

Jesus calls people from falsehood to truth, from false ways of being in the world to living out our true humanity as an expression of the love of God. Therefore, Jesus calls Christians to turn from a Christianity that seeks power to carve out a secure place for itself (including by political means). He calls Christians to “deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow him” in welcoming and serving others with compassion. In other words, to come to know and live and testify to the truth.

Filed under: Confession, Discipleship, Truth, WitnessTagged with: , ,

Christians and Donald Trump

I get the impression that many Christians (particularly evangelicals), who voted for Donald Trump, believed that the goal they sought for Christian renewal in America could be achieved, at least in part, by Trump in the office of the presidency. They believed this despite Trump’s demonstrated narcissism, manipulative ways, dishonesty, arrogance, greed, racism, misogyny, intolerance, bullying, authoritarianism, and lack of empathy.

Many seemed to think that Trump, regardless of these detractions, would be good for Christianity and for what they regard as Christian values (which, for many, often include nationalist and hidden white supremacist values). He would carve out a special place for their Christianity. He would give them power and would support their effort to define the United States as a Christian nation, as many have argued falsely that it was in its origins.

Trump’s election, for many, was a matter of “the end justifies the means,” when the truth is that the end is inherent in the means. If the means are wrong so will be the end. If the motivations and means are right, the end and goal will be right.

As Jesus said, “The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil, for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:4-5 )

The desire for a fighter like Trump to pave a way for Christianity demonstrates the falseness of motive and purpose on the part of Christians who were taken in by him. It may also reveal their desire to have positions of power in order to force their particular kind of Christianity on others. It certainly demonstrates a way of thinking and acting that is distant from Christ who did not seek power over people or systems. He came as a servant. He said of himself: “For the Human One came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45) Jesus exercised power, but it was not over others, but rather power to heal and liberate others.

Jesus called his disciples to the same path of serving others. Furthermore, he called them to be light in the world, not join the darkness in seeking to get their way and carve out a special place for their religion. If they choose a bully to be president, what keeps them from being bullies.

Instead of power over others and dictating the lives of others, Jesus told would-be followers to deny themselves, take up their cross and follow him in serving, in the work of healing and liberating those who are hurt and bound.

Without such following of Jesus, we will choose other leaders to follow. We will choose one who promises to establish us over others, one who will fix things for us. We will choose a bully who breaks up families and destroys people’s lives and easily takes us to war and to other acts of destruction, killing and maiming.

I pray that, as a nation, we would wake up. Wake up to what we choose for ourselves and the world. I pray for those of us who go by the name of Christ, that we wake up to the truth of Christ and the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Filed under: Discernment, Leadership, Serving, Truth, WitnessTagged with: , , ,

Choosing War Again

We are at war again! How easily we go to war! It is as if, having prepared for war with all manner of sophisticated weaponry, we cannot help ourselves but to use our weaponry. Is that because we have to prove how powerful we are?

I am referring to us as a people. Abraham Lincoln reminded us that we are “a government of the people, by the people, for the people” with the hope that our democratic form of government would “not perish from the earth.” We choose our representatives and president. We can choose presidents who are problem solvers for the American people or we can choose a president who is needy for power and make him our commander in chief, making available to him all manner of military power.

We the people have again gone to war. We have attacked Iran, and as with all wars, a rationale has been given by our president and many of our legislators. Apparently, we are going to be the Iranian people’s savior. We are doing regime change again. (How well has that worked in the past?) Or, at least, we will open the way for the people of Iran to make changes, as if we consulted them for what they needed. Iranian organizations working for change in Iran know, on the ground, what is necessary for change. We are not it. Nor does the destruction we bring help them: the loss of life, the children killed in an elementary school, a hospital bombed.

We the people are at war. By a majority, we chose our president and representatives, and the government we have chosen has taken us to war. Yes, our president has acted lawlessly. (There were no “imminent threats from the Iranian regime.” Politico) Nor did he consult with congress. But then we chose a lawless president. We knew he was lawless, if we were paying attention.

Each of us are responsible for the decisions we make, the actions we take, the leaders we choose, the witness we present. We witness from values we hold, from our sense of purpose in life, from what we live for. There are alternatives to war. Yet, we keep choosing war.

The prophet Isaiah envisioned a day when “nation shall not lift up sword against nation; neither shall they learn war any more.” For that day to come he exhorted us: “Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!”

Inherent to our humanity is the potential to decide to walk in the light of our Creator (the light is there for us) or pretend we are our own god and walk in the darkness of our deceit and make life hard for those we live with. A government of the people means that the decisions of a nation come through the people rather than a king. The people choose their representatives and their president. We do so in light or darkness (or some measure of both).

In this moment, we can make decisions about our government. We have agency. We can take stands, speak out, press for change, be witnesses to another way of operating, the way of “doing justice, loving mercy and walking humbly with our God.” We can be light in the darkness, if we will be open to the light.

There is an alternative to war. We have had difficulty accepting it or signing up for it. Jesus speaks it: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

Filed under: Justice, Leadership, Peace, Society, War, WitnessTagged with: , , ,

We Do It Because We Can

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money.” Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. (James 4:13-16)

Come now, you who say we will go into such and such a nation and, having the military power to do it, will take hold of their government to bend it to our will which is to have their oil.

“Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring.”

Never mind that over a hundred people are killed by our actions, families robbed of their loved ones. Never mind the loss of life. It is necessary to obtain access to the oil. After all, it is our oil. We lay claim to it. And we have the means to take it.

“Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring.”

And while we are at it, having the military power we have, why not make Columbia bend to our will and Mexico as well? Why not take over Cuba and Greenland and Canada?

“Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring.”

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:46)

Filed under: Evil, Society, War, WitnessTagged with: ,

Consider

”Consider whether the light in you is not darkness.” (Luke 11:35)

Jesus addressed a crowd with these words. He addressed people who were swept along by a crowd. He addressed those who were unable to discern what was happening around them. Many of them, without discernment, may have ended up in the crowd that cried out for Jesus’ crucifixion.

Jesus would have those in the crowd do some considering: “Consider whether the light in you is not darkness.” Consider whether what you call the light is actually darkness.

Jesus would have us discern the “signs of the times,” to recognize what is happening around and in us. So he spoke of spiritual blindness, the inability to discern our times and our motivations and our purpose.

Jesus said, “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?” It is possible for a whole crowd of people to be blind and guide each other toward a pit.

Therefore, ”Consider whether the light in you is not darkness.”

How do we go about the task of “considering”? We say we are enlightened, that we see, but what if we are blind? What if we assume we are in the light when we operate in darkness? Consider it.

The act of considering means we stop assuming. We ask the question, “Am I actually in the light or am I in darkness?” Is what I call light, actually darkness? Is what I call true, a lie? Is what I go after false? Is what I have been daily choosing false to my true humanity made in the image of God?

Jesus says, “Consider.” Consider motivations. Why do we choose what we choose and go after what we go after? Why do we choose the leaders we choose? What is it that we want when we make choices? Do we tend not to get beyond asking what is in it for us? Do we consider the effects of our decisions on others?

Does what we consider for ourselves bring light into our lives and into the world? Does it make us more open to others, more loving—since love is what makes relationships possible. Do we consider love? Do we consider and seek after the ability to love, to have compassion, to see the needs of others and respond.

”Consider whether the light in you is not darkness.”

These words call for self-examination. Jesus, addressing the crowd, may be speaking to those who have given little place in their lives for self-examination. They may have gone through life giving little care to their motivations, impulses, priorities—why they do what they do. To them he says, “Consider.” Finally, get around to considering.

Consider why you choose what you choose. Consider why you choose what you let into your life. Consider whether you let in light or darkness, love or hate, joy or bitterness, peace or war, hope or despair.

What we choose obviously affects not only ourselves but others. Our darkness adds to the darkness in the world. Our light adds to the light. Therefore, “consider whether the light in you is not darkness.”

Our nation and world need people of the light, people who see and speak from the light, and therefore are witnesses in the midst of darkness.

Filed under: Discernment, Humanity, Mindfulness, Spirituality, WitnessTagged with: ,

Who Is Responsible For Global Warming?

Lately, my wife and I have been wearing masks when we go outside, as smoke from the forest fires in Canada have reached the area in which we live. We understand that climate change is making these events more likely with drier conditions, increased wind and lightening strikes.

Many scientist are calling the time in which we live the anthropocene period. We, humans, are the creature that is having the dominant effect on the earth, bringing great change to the environment and to the earth’s climate. For years, we have pumped carbon into the atmosphere, trapping heat and warming our planet with the subsequent change of our weather patterns.

This change effects not only ourselves but all creatures on this planet. We are making our planet-home increasingly inhospitable to life. This situation is an issue for all creatures, but responsibility resides with humans to take the actions necessary to stop the destruction.

These actions will involve nations working together to bring about an end to the huge amount of carbon gases we are releasing into the air. The United States is the second worst emitter of CO2, China leading the way. As a step in the right direction, the United States joined with other nations in signing the “Paris Agreement,” from which President Trump, with his “drill baby drill” speech and attitude, has ordered our withdrawal in both of his terms, and has pushed against wind and solar energy in favor of oil, gas, and coal.

And yet our responsibility remains. The first chapter of Genesis, drawing from human experience, recognizes this responsibility. We read there that we “have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” It is clearer than ever, in this anthropocene period of our planet, that we have “dominion.” With this power, we can be good stewards or bad. We can decide for life or death. We have a responsibility, whether we exercise it or shirk it.

Clearly, we have many leaders who refuse their responsibility. Nevertheless, we all remain responsible whether we choose to be or not. We are responsible for the leaders we choose. We are responsible for how we contribute to global warming. Each of us is responsible for gaining knowledge of the effects of our personal behavior on our environment and taking actions for reform.

Jesus called his followers to be witnesses whose witness can take many forms. We must join with others in witnessing to God’s care for life on this planet. We must exercise our calling to be good stewards of the earth and encourage others to respond to the needs of all creatures who share our planet-home. We must acknowledge that our life-styles must change. We cannot continue to operate the way we have. People of faith know about the necessity of repentance, of turning around, changing our minds, changing direction. That is what this moment calls for—for the sake, not only of ourselves, but of all creatures that share our home.

Filed under: Climate Change, Environment, Humanity, Society, WitnessTagged with: , , ,

In the Valley of the Shadow of Death – Part 2

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil;
for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff,
they comfort me.

St. Paul writes of our present age as evil. And that is how we experience it. At times, it seems that this evil age has convulsions and things get worse. We experience greater breakdown of the social fabric, breakdown in leadership, greater divisions. And we feel overwhelmed.

We are often then tempted to give way too much attention to what overwhelms us, way too much attention to the power of evil. With that excessive attention, anxiety and fear deepen, and we are tempted to lose heart, to lose our trust in God and to lose our way.

Of course, it is appropriate to give attention to what is happening in our society and the world, but not in such a manner that we become intimidated and fearful and despairing, as if God were not present and lovingly active in our lives. As if the Good Shepherd were not present to lead us.

Frederick Douglass, speaking at a gathering of abolitionists, bemoaned the setbacks in the movement and the intransigence of the institution of slavery. There were sounds of despair in his voice as he went on and on in this vein. At one point, Sojourner Truth simply stood up and called out, “Frederick, did God die?”

Sometimes we need someone like Sojourner Truth to speak similar words to us when we start to despair. Or, we need to be that person for someone else. All of us, at times, need reminding that God is present, that God is watching over us and making a way for us. Even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death we will fear no evil for our Good Shepherd is present to guide us.

Whatever the times we live in, whatever we face in our world, God has a way for us to walk in, and God sends the Holy Spirit to lead us in ever changing situations. Therefore, Paul can say, “We are more than conquerors through God who strengthens us.”

What Paul said about his approach to the time in which he lived, helps us in the time in which we live. Paul said, “One thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

That is a word for us in our present evil age. We are to keep it simple. Do one thing: “Press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” We are to keep our eyes on the prize. Keep our focus on God’s call. Seek God’s will in order to do it.

Every one of us has a calling (or callings) from God. Every one of us has work to do that God gives us to do. Every one of us has gifts and abilities, spiritual gifts for living out our callings, for serving others and being light in the world.

We do not all have the same gifts and callings, but each of us has a calling and a work that fits our gifts. When we are living out that calling in our homes and neighborhoods and workplaces and among people we meet and people we are sent to and in public witness, we are affecting our world. We are being the light Jesus said we were.

While we all have our individual callings, there are some things we know are God’s will for all of us:

It is God’s will that we meet together, that we be in community. That we pray and encourage one another. That we seek God’s direction not only as individuals but as communities of faith. That we exercise our gifts and God-given abilities in ministry within our faith communities which prepares us for our work in the world. That we do so empowered by the Spirit. And that we cast our anxieties on the Lord, knowing that God is our Good Shepherd whose rod and staff comfort and guide us.

Filed under: Discernment, Evil, Faith, Fear, Spirit, WitnessTagged with: , , ,

In the Valley of the Shadow of Death

Elon Musk, head of the newly formed “Department of Government Efficiency,” as one of his first actions, for all intents and purposes, closed down USAID. The richest man in the world cut off the flow of humanitarian aid, food and medical services to the poorest in the world.

With this early action, he made it clear that DOGE was not about efficiency. He told us that USAID had to die because it was filled with “Marxists” (whatever that means to him).

This action was emblematic of the targeting of other life-giving organizations: National Institutes of Health, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Education, among many others. Identifying and providing solutions to their inefficiencies is one thing. Destroying their work is another.

“We walk through the valley of the shadow of death.”

Federal government funds for refugee resettlement have been cut off. Refugees, who had gone through the long process of gaining refugee status and were ready to come to our nation, were simply blocked. The doors were closed. Their lives were left in limbo.

One of the earliest actions of this administration was the scrubbing of DEI language and programs from across the government. Apparently, in the view of this administration, we are through working on a problem we have had throughout our history: the welcome of one another in our diversity, creating just environments and places of belonging for all. In the place of such work, we have seen the increased targeting of those who have been marginalized in our society. Our nation has become a more dangerous place for many people to live.

“We walk through the valley of the shadow of death.”

Our president has a “vision.” He sees possibilities for a strip of land along the Mediterranean Sea. He sees beyond the rubble, the destroyed homes, buildings, schools, hospitals. He barely sees the people of the land, their great loss and grief, the brutalization they have experienced, the death and maiming of loved ones, the daily trauma.

What he sees for Gaza is the “Riviera of the Middle East,” a beautiful playground for the rich. In order to achieve this dream, however, he must first move the 2 million people of Gaza, people who do not want to leave their homeland. Their resistance, of course, would mean a forced removal, and he would have to have a place to remove them to. He is pressing Egypt and Jordan to take them. They are not interested.

Of course, while he is working on this project, he is doing little to address the needs of the nation of which he is president. Instead of addressing needs that government can address, we experience the taking away of what is needed.

Jesus speaks of a spiritual reality when he says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” Evil keeps carving out of what ought to be and leaves us with nothing.

“We walk through the valley of the shadow of death.”

So, what are we to do when we are in the valley of the shadow of death? What are we to do when we experience the loss of care for others, the loss of compassion, mercy, humility; the loss of truth, of leaders telling the truth, the loss of leadership?

We must weep. We must grieve and lament. We must acknowledge our brokenness, our loss of love, our hardness of heart, our feelings of helplessness.

We must be still. And wait. We must be still and know that God is God. And wait. We must acknowledge God’s presence even if we do not feel it.

We must sit in the shadow, in the darkness and wait. Be open. Be prepared to see, to discern, to recognize next steps for witness and action, for certainly God has action for us to take.

And know that we are not alone in this. The love of God holds us together in community. Therefore, we must spend time with one another, pray for one another and together wait on God.

We must recognize each other’s gifts and various ways of serving and encourage each other. Each of us has a part. We must allow ourselves to be deepened in community—in a community that is sent into the world to be light in the darkness. We have work to do.

There is great power in the “body of Christ,” in the fellowship of a “people for others” and in the power of the Spirit at work in and among us, giving us discernment and direction for the work of love for this time.

And we know that “we can do all things through God who strengthens us.”

Filed under: Discernment, Grief, Leadership, Prayer, WitnessTagged with: , , ,

Grief, Healing, and Action

Many of us are grieving the reelection of Donald Trump to the office of president of the United States of America. We have seen his cruelty. We remember his separating children from their parents at the border. We have seen how he demeans and taunts others. We have seen his racism, sexism, and xenophobia. We have seen how he hooks into people’s fears, grievances, and prejudices. He manipulates and abuses human weakness for his own purposes.

So we grieve. We grieve the state of our union, our relationships to one another, our divisions.

Joe Biden has often said “That is not who we are,” when speaking of the kinds of actions and attitudes expressed by Trump. And yet the extent of our embrace of Trump makes him a mirror that reflects us as a nation. He certainly is not the only mirror, but he is one that reveals something of what is valued and pursued in our nation and how we view one another.

The truth is we are all broken. We need healing. We need deliverance. From anger. From self-absorption. From fear. From grievances. From the way we view and judge one another. We need to be freed from the hooks that a Trump can hook into.

We need to love one another. Those of us who are followers of Jesus have learned from Jesus that we are to serve one another with compassion and to witness to the love that is near and available.

When Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (Matthew 9:36)

Harassed and helpless describes the human condition. In our helplessness, we need compassionate action in our lives. When we have come to know that compassion, we must share it. We must exercise it.

Compassion does not judge others; it does not write them off. But it does discern. And it does not remain silent. We must speak the truth in love. We must speak to the underlying egotism and self-absorption that alienates us from one another, alienates us from knowing or caring about what others are going through, confines us to our own felt needs and agendas and views of the world. Alienates us from Love. We must speak deliverance.

And then the compassion we experience must continue to move us outward in doing justice. When, for example, Trump starts rounding up millions of undocumented people, putting them into internment camps, separating them from spouses and children, in order to process them out of the country, we must stand in the way. We must speak out. We must call others to give witness to the injustice and work to make right what is wrong. Rather than add to the darkness, we must be light in our society.

Filed under: Compassion, Healing, Love, Serving, Society, WitnessTagged with: ,