they swirl around us
like snowflakes in a blizzard
relentless, thick
enfolding us complete so that we can barely
see
where we are going
all those stories
all those “facts”
all those rumors
all those pieces of news
some real, some manufactured
about this group or that group
this person or that person
did you hear!?
according to the FBI!
the President said!
we are presented each day with a plethora
of information
and we must sort through it all
trying to discern truth from falsehood,
struggling with how to respond
sometimes it seems as if the choice is between
falsehood and truth
and it is
but I think it goes deeper than that
obviously we all see the world through our own lenses
our perceptions are all altered by
a myriad of factors
our ideology
our faith system
our culture, our race, our gender, our sexual orientation
our education level, our training
and also by things such as trauma
our life experiences
but I have noticed something lately
in myself, but not just in myself
I have noticed a tendency to believe the worst
of those who are not in my “tribe”
and sometimes even of those who are
this last weekend announcements came out
perhaps from the FBI (I was never quite sure where the
new came from… “sources”)
that “liberal” churches were in danger from “them”
it may have been true
perhaps there was chatter somewhere about
“attacking those libs”
but I was amazed at the fervor with which those
in the more liberal churches embraced the idea that
“they”
those “deplorables” were going to commit violence against
them
I know there are churches, and church leaders, who have
had to live
With the threat of violence. Churches that embrace LGBTQI members
Churches that have had the audacity to hang up a BLM
banner
I get that the danger is, actually, real
But still, there was something unsettling with the ease
in which
we jumped to the ‘demonization’ of others
how quickly we “believed the worst”
I have been on the other side of that human tendency
When people have been quick to believe the worst of me
Have without hesitation given the worst possible
interpretation to
my words or my behavior
I suspect you have been too
And I have, at times, been that person
who believed the worst
And now we live in this polarized world
With angry and even violent polarity
And it is even easier to demonize others
After all
The proof is out there!
The lies are out there
The violence is real
The assault on the capitol happened
We’ve seen “them” with their guns
and their flags
we have read their posts
but
there is something that tells me
that this is the pathway to destruction
I am not calling for us to be “naïve”
or maybe I am
perhaps there is a kind of holy naiveté
Jesus was not naïve
He saw people who who they were
But he also saw them for who and what they could become
He saw that creepy tax collector
but he also saw a child of God, capable of honesty and
generosity
what if
what if we asked the Holy Spirit to give us eyes
that see the Sacred in each other
that see the potential, the possibilities
the best
in each other
not the worst?
And what if we responded to others
Accordingly
I know there is risk.
There are the predators
There are the narcissists, the pathological
There are those so badly damaged
We do need to be careful, and we do need boundaries
But what if our default was NOT to believe the worst, but
the best?
how would our relationships change?
how would our lives change?
how would the world change?
It’s something worth thinking about
As we enter a week filled with division and rancor
It is something worth thinking about
Even as right wing evangelicals suggest
We can’t “preach the cross if we only see the good”
(simplybible.com)
It does seem radical, and dangerous
And naïve
But still
It seems so Jesus
Matthew 5 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your
neighbor[i] and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray
for those who persecute you, that you
may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil
and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward
will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what
are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father
is perfect.
No one ever said the way of “The Lamb” was easy
