Rumblings. 5.1.26
Rumblings. 5.1.26
1. Pope Leo, when asked about his stance on migration said:
“I would change the question and ask: “What is the global north doing to help the global south in its situation that forces them to migrate?”
Great question, huh? Most people have never asked it. I don’t want to be ‘most people’. And you?
Ask the obvious questions, then dig deeper and ask the harder ones. Keep asking until you get a meaningful response.
2. “We can begin to heal that rift between our love and actions, our values and our daily lives, by turning our attention to whatever patch of ground we have been given to tend, even if it is a potted planter on a balcony in the city.” ~ Ragan Sutterfield, Watch and Wonder
Don’t ever underestimate the power that emerges when we attend to and cherish even the smallest of things.
3. “I have always been a strong believer in the separation of church and state. I am deeply religious, but I have never believed that the government should impose religion on its people. Religion is a personal matter and the government should not interfere with it … The separation of church and state is not only a constitutional principle… it is also a way to protect religion from being corrupted by politics and to protect politics from being dominated by religion.” ~ Jimmy Carter
Carter was able to speak coherently and passionately about religion and its place in the public arena.
I so wish we still had a president who could speak with clarity, sincerity and wisdom about such things. Sigh. Unfortunately, we’re stuck with a man who has no real affection for matters of faith and lacks the vocabulary to speak about what little he does know.
4. For my Christian friends who are so pro-war, may I remind you that your enthusiasm for hostility and bloodshed grieves God.
5. I’ve posted this before. It won’t be the last time.
“In a world of change, the learners shall inherit the earth, while the learned shall find themselves perfectly suited for a world that no longer exists.” ~ Eric Hoffer, The Longshoreman Philosopher
Please, please, please. Posture yourself as a learner. Smile and be apologetic when you discover you’ve been wrong about something or someone. Be thankful for even small discoveries that make your day interesting. Learn to pivot and enjoy laughing at yourself.
6. On Wednesday, the conservative majority of the Supreme Court, basically told the nation that the Voting Rights Act had outlived its usefulness.
Almost immediately, legislators in ‘those’ states that love marginalizing people of color began redrawing the electoral maps.
Want to find out where sin is hanging out? Look for those who are delighted that racism is back on the throne in America. You won’t have to look very far.
The disenfranchisement of the ‘other’ by the way, comes right out of the authoritarian handbook.
7. I am glad no one was really hurt at the White House Correspondents Dinner.
Violence is never the answer and the remedy is certainly not a White House adjacent vanity ballroom. Lord have mercy.
8. “… What exactly is the Christian case for the White House Deputy Chief of Staff, Stephen Miller? To those Christians who would defend him, just why? Help me understand…
Explain in regular old basic English the Christian case for a politics that wants to deny children an education. Or, help me understand how terrorizing immigrant families makes us more like Jesus.
I wouldn't mind hearing a theological justification for why spending $200 billion on blowing people and places up is more pleasing to God than spending that same money to make sure the uninsured have healthcare, and that little kids have food to eat and safe place to sleep at night...
Explain how children became acceptable collateral damage.
Explain how immigrant families living under constant fear became a tolerable price to pay for a faith tradition with close to three dozen commands about welcoming the stranger.
Explain how the clenched fist became more emotionally satisfying than the open hand.
That last one may be the question lurking beneath all the others.
Because I suspect this isn't only about policy. It's about the kind of world many Christians have come to long for. A world where the "right" people get to be in charge, the "wrong" people are kept under control, and the fragility of others is met not with mercy but with suspicion and management.
I'm trying to understand a world in which Jesus seems perfectly comfortable with the idea that holding onto power matters more than giving away love… I get why a theology of control might feel comforting. But I don't recognize Jesus in the longing for a world like that…” ~ Derek Penwell, Senior Pastor of Douglass Boulevard Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky.
9. A tip of the hat goes to King Charles who spoke to Congress this week. He eloquently reminded Congress that standing proudly for democracy, caring for the environment, standing with Ukraine and other allies, plus serving as a check and balance to the Executive Branch is all a part of their job description.
I think that caught the MAGA legislators by surprise. You see, they act as if their only job is to suck up to the President. Now, they’ve learned there’s more they should be doing. It won’t change anything (they aren’t a particularly brave bunch) but at least now they know.
10. “St. Benedict saw what the Christian religion was becoming, and he recalled Jesus’s life of simplicity, love, and nonviolence. And something deep within him called him to do something new. Benedict believed that it was possible to live by the path of Jesus, rather than by the standards and norms of the crazy system that was operating around him.
I can imagine him thinking: I’m going to leave the city and my privilege. I’m going to go out and establish an alternative community, a little island of sanity in a world that seems to be going nuts. I’m going to try to create a place where we seek to live by the law of love in the sacred ecosystem of God.
We will care for the sick and the dying. We will welcome the stranger and create an order of life that has dignity. We will preserve learning, writing down ancient wisdom. Every day, all day, we will enter into deep listening with God and with one another to keep Jesus’s wisdom alive.” ~ Center for Action and Contemplation
And all God’s people said: Amen
Jesuit James Martin has written a book entitled “My Life With the Saints”. It’s a good starting point for learning more about the men and women, from days gone by, who truly understood what walking and talking with Jesus was all about.