A colleague put it like this tonight in our monthly men's gathering: American politics is in a fog of confusion. Are we entering a clear time of division like 1850 - before the Civil War - when calcified and ugly ideology destroyed the common good? We're still sorting our way out of that war - and it doesn't look good for those committed to the commonweal.
That's why in May we're starting a 3 level conversation/study about justice in our faith community. On Monday nights we'll be using Parker Palmer's new book - Healing the Heart of Democracy - because we consciously choose to oppose the hatred of this era with love and compassion. (for more information go to: http://www.couragerenewal.org/democracy.)
On Wednesday nights, our leadership team will read and discuss the wisdom and insights of Reinhold Niebuhr re: justice, grace and faith in politics. And then in September and October - in the months before the November elections - I will be preaching about Christ's call to justice and compassion and using the studies of Palmer and Niebuhr as a foundation.
Perhaps more than at any other time in my conscious memory I sense that these are times when gentleness, the wisdom of the heart, patience and quiet love are needed more than ever before. I was kidding my sweetheart that in my heart and soul I WANT to be like Carrie Newcomer - gentle, tender and clear - in her ministry of truth, goodness and beauty but mostly I wind up sounding like Cornel West. She smiled and said, "You just gotta be who you are, man!"
May I find a way for more quiet and gentle beauty...
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