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

The threshold...

"Then the angel departed from her."
Luke 1:38

May we step back into yesterday's feast of the Annunciation for a minute? Several years ago, when I read of the importance of this one sentence, it was such an enlightenment! How many times do we find ourselves in just this space, the moment the angel departs and leaves us with this mission, or idea or desire of God's will for us. We have an encounter with God, we recognize God's will in our desire, we recognize God's hand in how to bring it all about, and then...Then we wait.  I feel like that right now, and I am so grateful to Mary for being there waiting with me. Some call it the liminal space or a threshold where we are waiting for the next story arc of our lives. We think we know what's going to happen, but it isn't happening quite yet. I often wonder how Mary felt when the angel leaves her with this tremendous, yet scary, foretelling of what was to come. I admit I think she makes it look easy and wonder if her very young age didn't give her an edge for handling new things better! As the end of the school year approaches, we may find ourselves in this exciting, scary, breath-taking space.  Thankfully, we have Mary here to wait with us! Love, heidi

Late to the tomb...

"Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe."
John 20: 25

I feel like I’ve been late getting to the empty tomb. Being sick over Easter meant that I was sort stuck on Good Friday and missed going to the tomb early with Mary. I’m more like one of the tourists who arrived to the tomb later on a tour bus…we peer into the tomb and say, “Yep, that’s empty all right!”
Maybe I'm like dear Thomas, who missed the initial Jesus sighting and couldn’t quite buy the others’ story. My favorite part of the Thomas Gospel is that Jesus doesn't chide Thomas for his need of proof. Jesus just meets him where he is, right there in his unbelief. He needed to see for himself, so Jesus showed him. We mustn't feel too badly about ourselves when we say, "I believe! Help my unbelief!" The opposite of faith isn't doubt, it's more indifference. If we care enough to doubt, we are still well on the path. Today, thankfully, is still Easter and I'm feeling more Easter-ish. Thomas and I are filled with fervor and joy even though we showed up late, with the tourists.  Love, heidi