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Primitive religion is not believed, it is danced!

Arthur Darby Nock

Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
And only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.

Elizabeth Browning



Tuesday, September 6, 2022

a case ffor humility

Sometimes I say to myself

Quite smugly I’m afraid

That I am inclusive

 

That I am a welcoming person who

Includes all in the circle of grace

 

Yay for me!

 

And then I think about it!

And humility sets in

 

Problem one is the very idea that

“I” and including “them” in “my” community of faith

 

Really?

Since when did the church belong to me?

Since when is it the Body of Stephen?

Is it not the Body of Christ?

 

How can I be so arrogant as to congratulate myself

for “allowing” people like “them” (whomever my “them” might be)

into my fellowship.

 

And who are these mythical people I am welcoming?

LGBTQI+?

The poor?

The addicted?

 

Perhaps the question should not be “who am I welcoming”

It should be “who am I NOT welcoming”

For while I might welcome some others would not welcome

There are still (sadly) those I probably

Would gladly kick out of the tent of grace

 

Those who have bought into right-wing authoritarianism (for example)

People who lie for power

Or pollute for profit

 

Out! Out with thee

Those who follow the cultish Trump

Out, out, those who believe the “big lie”

 

I would most certainly exclude those who exclude

Just as I hate people who hate

 

We can be such silly creatures

 

I think of Phillip and the Ethiopian eunuch

(who was clearly “out” of the circle, the tent)

Who learned the most for their encounter

 

The Eunuch or Philip?

Sure, God through Philip in the Eunuch’s (non-binary that he was) path

But the Eunuch asked the questions and brought forth the answer

That no person can stand between another and God

There are no gatekeepers

No watchers at the flap of the tent

 

It is not our tent

It is God’s

 

I fear the reality is I cannot be inclusive

I can only be included

Along with all other saints and sinners

 

Thanks be to God

 

(And thanks to Nadia Bolz-Weber for her insight on Philip and the Eunuch in Cranky Beautiful Faith)

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