Shoved by Grace

I was driving with my husband yesterday having a conversation about the state of the world and trying to figure out how we got here, and he said something that stuck with me. "It's all about fear." He's right. Everything we're experiencing right now in our political world is about fear, on both sides of the spectrum. From the right: Fear of terrorism. Fear of illegal immigration. Fear of violence. Fear of job losses. From the left: Fear of oppression. Fear of loss of human and civil rights. Fear of discrimination. And you know what? All of these things are scary and real. People on all sides worry that our country is getting worse, not better and, more importantly, that these changes will affect them. So what's a Christian to do? Fear not, says the Lord. It's a theme that runs through the Bible from beginning to end. Do not be afraid. God is bigger than all this and God's got your back. "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow o...

So, the last 24 hours has been a little nuts, hasn't it? I was hoping to follow my own advice and take a breath, calm down, etc. But then actual people started to be affected by the actions of the current administration. Actual people - men, women and children. We saw their faces, heard their voices. A family of six fleeing the bombing in Syria who arrived in the US with a valid refugee visa and were stopped and put on the next plane back to Qatar. A young Iranian woman, an artist with a green card (permanent residency), married to an American citizen, who was prevented from boarding a plane to come home from visit to Australia. Doctors, scientists, movie directors and more, all prevented from coming to our country to work by an executive order banning them simply because of the country of their origin. What can I say about this? Christian teaching is unequivocal in this regard. From the earliest teaching of Moses to the Israelites, we have been told to welcome the alien in our o...

It's been exactly a week since the inauguration and what a week it's been! It seems like a whirlwind, or maybe a shit-storm, depending on your point of view. You can't turn on the TV, or the radio, or open a newspaper (does anyone do that anymore?) without screaming headlines about executive orders, or agency directives, or even, heaven help us, crowd sizes. If you are like me, then your facebook feed has been full of virtual screaming too. Pundits are analyzing, interest groups are mobilizing, well-meaning friends are posting opinions and links and articles. And, I just need to...take a breath. Hit pause for a moment. Reflect instead of react. It doesn't matter on which side of the political fence you find yourself. I think we all could use a timeout. Not a big timeout, not a permanent timeout. But a little room for the Spirit to move around a bit. We need to remember what is most important to us, but more importantly, to God. We need to move carefully to prevent per...

This is my first post in a new blog. I need to be clear that I am not writing this because I think that I have amazing insights into faith, God or social justice. I'm writing this because God shoved me into it. I'm writing this because I have no other platform to speak or teach right now. I'm writing this because I need to be accountable, to live out my call and to speak the words and thoughts that I believe God has put upon me. A bit about me: I am an ordained pastor in a mainline denomination, currently at loose ends. I just relocated back to the US from London, where I spent an amazing few years learning more about the world than I ever could have from home. I met faithful Christians from all around the globe, kind and thoughtful atheists, Muslims, Buddhists and others. More than I ever did in the US, I realized how small the world is and how much we need to live with and learn from each other. I came back to the US right before the General Election in November. I ne...