Traveling in Finland during this time is more than just an interesting experience. First, Finns are extraordinarily polite and reticent about asking what might seem to be intrusive questions, but given the opportunity to do so, many of the questions are about the violence they see on the news from ICE raids, especially now in Minneapolis.
Feeling a unity with other Europeans, memories of Gestapo type tactics continue to haunt them. Even during the depths of the Cold War, the U.S. never behaved in such a way. They shake their head in disbelief.
Then there’s Greenland. Since we (the U.S.) have a military base there, why not just ramp up the base to its previous levels of several thousand? No reason to threaten a sovereign nation, a NATO ally, with invasion. What is the matter with this president, they ask. And what is the matter with Congress, the legislative body that is supposed to hold the executive in check? Good questions. What are our asnwers?
Prayer for the Day
Floundering about, we strive to find direction in our lives,
And we do not know where to turn, O God;
Needing new direction, we struggle to make sense of the world,
For so much seems so disturbing, O Lord.
Help us to center our minds and hearts in you, Holy One,
For you are the only One who can rescue us.
In the name of the One who gives us courage,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
The truth is that, thanks to the two-party system, relative economic comfort, and basic stability, many of us in America do not have much in the way of political imagination.
Jay Caspian King, from Fault Lines, reprinted in The Atlantic
The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country
Abraham Lincoln, President (1809-1865)
Rise up. O Lord, do not let mortals prevail;
Let the nations be judged before you.
Put them in fear, O Lord;
Let the nations know they are only human.
Psalm 9: 18-20