Wednesday December 16, 2020
Fortunately, we have not had the violence in New Jersey and the Northeast that occurred in Washington, D.C., by an onslaught of a group of young white men who call themselves the “Proud Boys” who could think of nothing more heroic than taking a Black Lives Matter sign from the Asbury United Methodist Church and burning it.
How sad that these young white men have been so taken in by fear-mongering, so-called leaders that they think they have done something significant. How sad that our Nation has been caught up in such racist and chauvinist hatred. They should be pitied if they weren’t so dangerous.
“Now is the time”, Martin Luther King said. Now indeed is the time to speak out for justice; now is the time to speak out for a restoration of our ideals as a nation rather than to the fears of sad young men who have such a narrow vision of the world.
Prayer for the Day
Free us, O Righteous One, from our fears of change,
For you are the Agent of change in a fluctuating world;
Extricate us, O Liberating One, from the chains that bid us
As we strive to be your vessels of freedom for all.
Disentangle us from our conceptions frozen as ice
And allow us to swim in the currents of a new world.
In the name of him who is the Great Liberator,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
It is possible to become discouraged about the injustice we see everywhere. But God did not promise us that the world would be humane and just. He gives us the gift of life and allows us to choose the way we will use our limited time on earth. It is an awesome opportunity.
- Cesar Chavez, activist for the marginalized (1927-1993)
People always want to be on the right side of history; it is a lot easier to say, "What an atrocity that was" than it is to say, "What an atrocity this is."
- Natasha Trethewey, American poet
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?
Psalm 27: 1