"O Lord, we beseech you: give your people love to turn away from evil; and to follow you, the only God, in pureness of heart and mind.” (collect Pent 17, 2019) We see evil in the world around us. On this Sunday where we ask God's Blessing on our Pets and all of Creation, we see evil acts fuelled by greed. The Burning of the Amazonian rain forest killing millions of animals, the destruction of the planet's climate killing about 1/3 of the wildlife already. We are called to be stewards of the land.
Evil also motivates our treatment of each other. Fear is heightened to "other" the stranger in our midst. This gives licence to broadcast fear for anything that may change our fragile place of privilege. We see this in action as people lash out at the churches of our community who are ministering together to establish a safe place for homeless people to transition to a better life. Distorted rumours are being spread to generate fear and stoke myths about the poor.
We as Christians are called to propagate love and healing. The work that the ministerial is supporting will be careful, well planned and responsible for the well being of all. It is up to us as Progressive Christians to stand against ignorance with truth and against evil with love. This is our call to ministry now!