I am often overwhelmed by the daily news report. Viewings
leave me sad, scared and breathless. There are killings after killings, angry
people that see absolutely no good in others and “leaders” that are just after
the next sound bite. It certainly does not leave one inspired. Instead I fear
that it leads many to feel hopeless.
We are in a very precarious situation in which more and more
people have no sense of self worth and therefore see no worth in the lives of
others. If their lives are not valued why should they value the lives of anyone
else? It becomes easy to dismiss the pain and suffering of others, to snuff out
a life or to look the other way.
The more I think about how polarized our society becomes the
more I hope for Jesus. In a society built on a treacherous hierarchy where the
majority of lives were unvalued, Jesus helped the least of these realize what
love is and what it is to be loved. He went into the undesirable neighborhoods
and helped to reorganize perceptions of how we should treat one another. Life
didn’t necessarily get easier, but communities came together and supported one
another. People from different sides of town began to recognize their
commonalities and found they could respect one another in this new light. Love
spread like wildfire and toppled a corrupt and overbearing regime with peace.
At a loss at the continued killings and arguing over this
law or that and his right and her right and so on and so on, I said to my
husband, rather vehemently, the other evening, “We NEED Jesus! We need someone
who can help people realize that they are loveable and have the ability to
love. We need someone who can make people listen again and share kindness
towards one another. We need someone who can bring us together not more and
more news that will separate us.”
This, too, left me breathless, because as I called out for
help, I paused and remembered the somewhat hard part; we have to be Jesus.
Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) wrote “Christ has no body now
but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours, yours are the eyes through
which he looks with compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he
walks to do good. Yours are the hands with which he blesses all the world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”
I am not brave. I do not have all the answers. I am kind one
minute and the next something ugly can leave my lips. But I DO believe with
every ounce of my body that we must not give up on love. We must keep trying to
be good to one another. Instead of dismissing the anger and pain of others,
could we address it with kindness? Instead of rising to anger and attack, could
we instead work towards peace? Could we stop trying to get ahead of each other
and instead help each other out?
I don’t know what this ultimately looks like, but there are
others that do. They are out there bravely reaching out to the least of these.
Marching in peace through the forgotten neighborhoods and trying to help people
feel loved.
Where are the hippies now to put flowers into the guns used
in the wars of our streets? Can that moment of stillness be captured again,
when the man holding the gun stands still and lets someone reach him in peace
and hope?
I want to make a difference and will continue to strive and
do so everyday. I may fall short, but I will get up and try again.
God give me the
strength to be kind to all I meet. Help me to share love in a way that others
know that they are loved even when all feels hopeless. God, help us reach
outside of our comfort zones into the uncomfortable space for growth of
community. Help us to be Jesus to one another and to realize that we are all
yours, each of us a treasure to behold.
#BeJesus #WeNeedYou
With love and light,
LT