What Can I Do?
Ministerial Meandering
What can I do?
As small, individual people we feel quite helpless, and yet Jesus told us that we were - and are - the salt of the earth, He also told us that a little yeast works through a whole lot of dough. As a bread-maker, I have seen the effect of a little yeast. I was also a wine and beer-maker, so I noticed the same thing there too! Neither of these facts is news to us, and yet so often we are paralyzed by fear or embarrassment to speak our truth.
It is easy, isn’t it, to talk of your faith and beliefs when you are in similar company? Recently, I found myself in a group of people who were slamming the Liberal Party, and Trudeau in particular. I am aware that our Justin has probably gone past his sell-by date, and that the Liberal Party, after 10 years in power, are unlikely to be voted in again at the next election. However, the voluble and outspoken support for Polievre was disconcerting, and I had to say that I didn’t like his right-wing leanings. That instantly silenced the group, and I felt like a pariah. Actually, I didn’t care that much, as it gave us an opportunity to change the subject. I remembered the injunction that my father had given me when I was a child; ‘Don’t talk about politics, religion, or women - if you want to keep your friends.’
It was good advice then, and it’s good advice now - but the world has changed in a quantum leap, and instead of it being a significant advance, it is a staggering fall in standards, ethics, compassion, and morals. It is obvious to all who have the eyes to see, that this has been brought about by the insane and misled election of the most egregious president known to the so-called civilized world. It is true to say that there have been leaders as bad - and still are - but most of them have been self-appointed. Tyrants steeped in narcissistic self-aggrandizement have been known for millennia, but most of them don’t try and hide behind a pathetic facade of ‘doing good’. The only thing that Trump is good for is himself. Unfortunately, he drags a sycophantic train of the duped and the stupid with him.
Our job is to stand up for what is good and true; for the real gospel of Jesus Christ - not the prosperity gospel, as his newly appointed Senior Advisor of the newly created White House Faith Office, Paula White-Cain, advocates. Just as an unfair aside, and an observation on the unfortunate name of her third husband - Cain; the biblical Cain was the man who killed his brother Abel, because Abel’s offering to God was acceptable - and Cain’s was not. To my mind, Paula White-Cain’s theology is also not acceptable, and clearly not in keeping with Jesus’ views on money. But I’m sure that the lady herself is charming - at least Trump seems to be extremely close to her, if photographs of the two of them together is anything to go by. However, with Photoshop and AI, I guess you can do anything with images.
My concern is for the clear, refreshing, and redeeming message of Jesus to come through the foul miasma of what is issuing forth from so many of the ‘churches’ of America, to penetrate the lies, and to redirect our hearts and souls to the Cross. The grace of God is not something that we can demand or earn, it is a gift we are given. It is not for us - or any others - to deface, destroy, or deny. ‘The sacrifice of God is a broken and contrite heart’ - let us pray for that, both for ourselves and those others in the world who have been defaced, destroyed, or denied by human beings barely worthy of the name.
Philip+