from home
At the call of a wandering preacher.
Our age is an age of moderate virtue
And moderate vice
When men will not lay down the Cross
Because they will never assume it.
Yet nothing is impossible, nothing,
To men of faith and conviction.
Let us therefore make perfect our will.
O God, help us.
--T.S. Eliot
Let me say first I don't believe Preachers should be telling people how to vote. I do believe in Separation of Church and State like old-time Baptists did and still do. But this article by a Roman Catholic is entitled: "A Priest Says Mr. Trump Should Quit Hate Talk" got me too thinking. I found myself saying: "Yes...Yes...Yes." The writer talks about her Priest in Washington who has preached strongly about what the bed-rock principles of our faith are all about. Courageously in his Washington pulpit the Priest said: "the current occupant of the White House spews hatred, bigotry, and intolerance and must resign."
He said that he used these words because: "Jesus won't let me off the hook." He says no President should be telling elected Congresswomen to go back to where they came from. Three of those he attacked last week were born in the United States. The other is a citizen of our country. But the Priest continued: the Christian faith is not consistent with separating migrant children from their families,*courting brutal dictators, seeking to bar Muslims from the country and stirring racism." The list goes on and on. The Priest stressed the need to: "respect one another as children of God" and talked about racism is always rooted in fear.
After Hitler came to power a group of concerned Christians protested many of the things Hitler was doing. They penned what they called: The Barmen Declaration. It is a document rooted in the faith of Jesus Christ and Holy Scripture. You can read it on the Internet if you wish. It is a powerful statement about another time and another place.
Holocaust victims have protested using Hitler to underline many of the actions of our President. I think they are right. This is a different time. But a group of committed and concerned Christians have written a Barmen Document for today. These words do not mention Hitler or Germany. They do talk about our time and where we are as a people. Read these words and ponder their meaning. For the Christian, God must come first.
Many of my friends have supported Trump. Many do not understand my feelings about the President. Most of these folk are decent people whose values for the most part are like our on. We have no business bashing them or raging at any group like Republicans. Neither should Republicans trash Democrats.
Jesus Christ talked about peace. He said the greatest commandment was love God and love one another. That's pretty clear. Most of us fall short of following our Lord. We keep falling off the wagon. Jesus talked a lot about self-righteousness and how wrong it is. But whether you agree with me on this issue or not--we are a divided country. The United in our title does not represent where we are. The ALL in our Constitution seems to have been lost in the shuffle of today.
Looking back in our country's history there have many dark pages--but we seem to put these aside and move on for a while. And then the challenge comes again. And I think we are being challenged as a people. I am not talking about who anybody voted for or will. I am talking about the larger issue of who we really are and what we want to be. I just heard a song, "There Comes a Time..." and have put it on my Facebook page today. It is written by a lady who loves this nation and speaks to all our hearts.
Thanks for reading whether you agree or not. I keep looking at the above statue of Jesus bearing the cross knowing I have much, much yet to do. And so do we all.
* (almost all these desperate people are poor and have nothing but their children)
--Roger Lovette / rogerlovette.blogspot.com
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