Thursday, April 12, 2018

Seeing the problem...

"If we are all made in God's image, if we are all the Body of Christ, then treating black and brown bodies with love and respect is the only way for our country, our communities, and our Christianity to be whole. Our love must be active and embodied."
Fr. Richard Rohr, Daily Meditation, 4/12/2018

It's sad that this has to even be stated in our day, but it does. We may have thought we were further along overcoming racial prejudice, I'm sure we'd like to think so. But we aren't. Maybe we are still back at Square One or Two. Until we can humbly and painstakingly see that people are still held down and treated unfairly because of the color of their skin, we will never overcome our own racism...or any of our hideous "isms." We cannot change if we don't recognize there is a problem. And we can easily talk ourselves out of seeing the problem.  We need to honestly ask ourselves if we are living as Jesus indicates we must live in Matthew 25:31-46. Are we, as a Christian country welcoming the stranger? Feeding the hungry? Loving those in our midst who need our help? Can we hold our heads high, seeing in our own actions, love and compassion for those of different races, genders, creeds, sexual orientation? Jesus never told us to protect ourselves, see to ourselves first, or look out for Number One, did he? Most of what Jesus said we must do emphasized caring for others and putting our own needs second. And the ultimate good is laying down our lives for others. That's what Jesus told us to do...and then showed us how.  Love, heidi

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