Rumblings 4.24.26
Rumblings. 4.24.26
1. When religious folks first began to idolize Trump, he was thrilled. When they came to be called MAGA Christians, he started doing back flips. He never thought it would be that easy for his con to become gospel. For sure, he was a trinket god, but that was apparently enough for religious folks looking for a different kind of Savior - a Warrior King.
Those religious types are still with us. They still go to church and sing songs to Jesus but I’m concerned, that for far too many of them, their true allegiance still belongs to Trump, not to the Jesus of the New Testament. From my vantage point that’s why “Thou shalt not put any other gods before me” has been shelved. It’s an inconvenient truth.
Trump, I’ve observed, really doesn’t give a rip about God or the people of God. However, he wants you to think that he does. He does that awkwardly but it’s enough for his followers.
By the way, if you’ve bought into this deception, it’s not too late to rise up and discover the delight that comes from choosing to walk a narrower, less traveled path.
2. “Lately, I’ve been reflecting on something so simple that it almost feels obvious: Nearly everything that Jesus does in his ministry is to heal broken people.
He did not heal people so they could go to heaven; he healed people so they could live fully in this world now. It’s obvious. How did we miss that?
The healing focus of the gospel became corrupted when we made it about securing a “ticket” for the next world, rather than experiencing aliveness in this one. Many of us are tempted to seek an escape from this moment instead of trusting that God’s healing is possible for us now — that even this moment can be good. We have treated “repentance” as the price of our heavenly ticket, when it actually means “a change of mind” — a transformation for the better.
We are living in a time that is crying out for healing. We see the tears of personal and collective grief flowing. We see the anger over injustice, understandably boiling. We see people tempted toward despair and cynicism. At the same time, we see so many people meeting this moment with courage and compassion, as instruments of God’s universal ministry of love, healing, and peacemaking.” ~ Center for Action and Contemplation
3. Mark Carney, the Canadian Prime Minister, said that “hoping the United States will return to normal is not a feasible strategy. Hope isn't a plan and nostalgia is not a strategy."
Carney also said that “Canada has been a great neighbor" standing with the U.S. in conflicts including Afghanistan, plus two World Wars but the U.S. has changed and we must respond. It's about taking back control of our security, our borders and our future."
He’s one among many.
4. "By the end of the second century, Roman officials were not particularly aware of the nuances of Christian teaching, but they did know what the word 'bishop' meant—it meant someone who kept on agitating about the needs of the poor." ~ N.T. Wright, Paul: A Biography
“They will know us by our love.”
5. Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, said ‘there is something demonic’ in the ‘political culture’ of the United States.”
Well, that rings true. Anyone know a good exorcist?
6. “So we go on the journey. We continue proclaiming the Gospel message, and the text of the Gospel we’ve been using for the liturgies give a number of different fantastic, beautiful aspects of what it’s about to be Christian, of what it’s about to follow Christ, of what it’s about to promote fraternity, brotherhood, trusting in the Lord, but also looking for ways to promote justice in our world. Promote peace in our world.” ~ Pope Leo
I know he’s on target. I also know there are those who don’t know how to deal with him so they minimize both his ministry and his impact. Big mistake.
7. What the White House gives us each day is not governance. It’s performance art at its very, very worst. As long as we keep applauding it, they’ll keep doing it.
8. A Prayer
“Inhale: I will not be silenced by fear.
Exhale: A quivering voice is still sacred
Inhale: God, my soul trembles.
Exhale: Steady me in your arms.
Inhale: I will meet this fear with rest.
Exhale: God, steady me in your arms.”
A Thought
“Give us friends who aren’t threatened when we name a thing for what it is and don’t shrink back.”
Thank you Cole Arthur Riley for both offerings and for your book “Black Liturgies”
9. Care for the environment is a sacred responsibility. Senate Republicans last week voted to allow mining in parts of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in MN. That’s a big oops.
The BWCA and its adjacent environmental cousin, Canada’s Quetico Provincial Park, is a vast, pristine wilderness (2.2 million acres). That’s a lot of land. It’s a whole lot of rugged beauty.
Based on this Administration's lack of concern for the environment, I’m pretty sure something so beautiful will, over time, be altered dramatically.
Creation care is not their strong suit.
10. Last week Pete Hegseth prayed for “great vengeance and violent anger” to be unleashed by our troops in the Middle East. He used a fake Bible verse from ‘Pulp Fiction’ to legitimize his prayer. Sigh.
Pete, here’s a Bible verse for you: “Jesus wept.” Sit with that for a while.