We’ve all known for some time now that something is terribly wrong in America, but many of us feel we have little, if any, control over what we see happening today. Some of have become inured to our gut feelings that we ignore the fact that we can be voices for a transformational sanity. Many of us are just not sure what direction to take.
We hear words like tribalism, identity politics, DEI, and feel torn as the push and pull of various factions demand our attention and agreement. Some politicians are trying to re-divide the pie differently, giving slivers, rather than pieces to certain groups. Perhaps we should look at making a bigger pie, like the ones you see at Costco.
People who feel they are only given slivers when they thought they had pieces in the past have become the target of political campaigns, focusing on their anger rather than ways of building a shared vision of who we are and who we can become. We focus inward rather than outward when we feel the latter is too overwhelming. The lesson of Advent is that we can focus outward, even if we only do so little by little.
Prayer for the Day
Looking at the night sky with its dark brilliance,
We wonder if there are answers to our questions;
Often feeling bereft of hope in the future, O God,
We just want to shut out the world and its problem.
But you, O Holy One, tug at our sleeves,
Urging us to take steps, albeit small ones, for justice.
In the name of the One born to help us embrace others,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
The person who tries to live alone will not succeed as a human being. [The] heart withers if it does not answer another heart. [The] mind shrinks away if [it] hears only the echoes of [its] own thoughts and finds no other inspiration.
Pearl S. Buck, American novelist (1892-1973)
Those who love the dream of a Christian community more than the community itself become destroyers of that Christian community even though their personal intentions ever so honest, earnest, and sacrificial.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German pastor, theologian (1906-1945)
But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me,”
Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for her child?
Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.
See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands; your walls are always before me.
Isaiah 49: 14-16