I am writing this on Thursday afternoon and much is not yet clear about the presidential election. And waiting for the election to be finalized, which is not easy. One thing that is perfectly clear is that our nation is deeply divided along political lines. No matter which candidate is finally and legally declared the winner, we will still be deeply divided. If we move forward with the fixed mindsets of Red and Blue, we all lose. It will take much work to right the course of the United States of America.
During the 2004 election, Sojourners magazine distributed bumper stickers with the slogan, “God is not a Republican or a Democrat. The day before the 2012 presidential election, Jim Wallis, the founder of Sojourners, wrote an article titled, “God is still not a republican, or a democrat.” That holds true today. Jesus isn’t a member of a political party either. Jesus, we are told, “is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
In Jesus, the labels that we place on ourselves and others do not describe who we truly are. The apostle Paul puts it this way, “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)
Parker Palmer, in The Heart of Democracy, said, “The heart’s alchemy can turn suffering into community, conflict into the energy of creativity, and tension into an opening toward the common good.” In this season, our communities, our nation, our world needs us, hearts wide open to love. We are the very ones we are waiting for.
Live in love ~ Anne
Wayfinding 