“As a general rule, I would say that human beings never
behave more badly toward one another than when they believe they are protecting
God.”
Barbara Brown Taylor, Leaving Church: A Memoir
of Faith
_____________________________________________________________
People behave pretty poorly when they think they need to
protect God
(as if)
They judge
They exclude
They hate
They start wars
They legislate morality (or try)
The call people names
The minimize and dehumanize
And marginalize
They condemn people to death
Either slow deaths by neglect (as they shame and ignore the
poor)
Or quick deaths (as they reject refugees, or champion the
death penalty)
Seem harsh?
Look at the worst things our society has done?
Most of it has been done in the name of God
But here is the thing
In the parable of the sheep and the goats
Yes, that one, where the righteous religious folk are
compared to randy goats
And the bleeding heart socialist types are compared to sheep
It is made perfectly clear
Where God is to be found
In the immigrant at the border
In the young black man lying dead in the street
In the young woman being abused by her boyfriend or husband
In the old man passed out in a door way
In the poverty stricken angry white person in a MAGA hat
God is found in
The poor, the homeless, the old
The ill, the mentally ill
In the person of color
In the most vulnerable, messed up people in our midst
And how we treat them
Is how we treat God
How we love them
Is how we love God
How we fail to love them
Is how we fail to love God
And how we fail to serve them
Is how we fail to serve God
Any questions?
(My only question, is
How do I do it?
I can’t
Honestly
I can’t
But the Sacred in me
As it is awake
As it is given room to move
By faith, humility, and more
Can
It won’t always turn out perfectly
Because I still get in the way
But I can try
I can “put on” the kindness, patience, and generosity of God
And I can lean on God, for help, for hope, and forgiveness,
When I fail)
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