Imagine this. What if there were a politician who could somehow speak of
love? What if there were a President who would not only talk of a kinder and
gentler nation but refuse to drop bombs upon a city like Baghdad? What if a
people's nobler hopes and dreams were addressed, their latent generosity and
fairness, their willingness to share with the unfortunate?
What if there were a liberal politician who could spare as much love for
human fetuses as he or she can muster for baby seals and trees? What if there
were a conservative politician who realized that words of love apply to
criminals and refugees as much as they do to unborn humans and middle-class
Christians? Such a politician would be a person whose professional life was
informed by a faith and love that necessarily yields justice.
It would not be easy. Jesus himself, after he announced the good news to
the poor, first amazed, then angered his audience. He was too ordinary and too
close to give such prophetic utterance. It cannot be real. He cannot be real.
Eventually they were filled with rage and wanted to cast him out. So it went
when he began his ministry.
How goes it with Christians today?
hey, john kavanaugh. i think that will be appropriate for today. what's our prophetic message? i don't think it's a mistake that next sunday's readings contain paul's famous discourse on love, jeremiah's "before i formed you in the womb," and the story about how people from jesus' hometown try to stone him when he preaches.
on the anniversary of roe v. wade, i'd just like to say that i don't think our current anti-abortion rhetoric is working. i'm tired of talking about how many babies are dying and how we need to vote for the people who will keep that from happening. it makes me really sad, for one, to hear more about death and violence and all this. it makes me wonder why we're still preaching to the choir on this issue. and then it frustrates me that it's not working and we're not looking at new options. there was a lot of talk last year about the pro-life movement and how we need to focus on reducing the number of abortions instead of using the "abortion is murder" tactic. one side yells murder, the other yells freedom, and we're still in the same place...
i don't know what the new options are. something about love. something rooted in prayer. something about realizing we're part of a community. something about a call that's higher than judgment and closer to taking care of others. something more personal, maybe. but i'm convinced that we're called to do more than what we're doing now.
No comments:
Post a Comment