Display strength, take action

I have been thinking about this a lot lately.
Normally, I keep pretty quiet politically- I am not a fan of mudslinging in any form.
I have a tendency to be moderate and independent.
I am pro-life in any sense of the word, but I also understand that God gives us free will, hence people are pro-choice.  But I personally think ALL life has value. I am also not for the death penalty- although I know our system is broken and sometimes prisoners receive better care than veterans, which I find appalling.
Life is much more complicated and nuanced than all of our tweets and soundbites make it out to be. Hence my past few sentences don't even begin to scrape the surface of these complicated issues that face people on a daily basis.
The world is so broken.
The world is so angry, and noisy.
But to stay silent is not an option.
I agree with Bonhoeffer, God is not okay with us sticking our heads in the sand, pretending it will go away, pretending it has nothing to do with us.  It does.  We live in this world.  Of course it does.

So how do we do this?
How do we become the voice of love in the face of hate and lawlessness?
How do we stand up for those who are unjustly persecuted?

We just....do.
We speak up.  We speak love.  We fight.  We vote.
Although, I confess- this has appeared on Facebook, and I really relate to it....

Blerg- so many talking heads, some make sense, some don't.....

And then there is Trump.

This is ridiculous.  Why is he even a thing? Something I was reading today compared him to PT Barnum.  A consummate showman.  I think that pretty much sums him up.  A savvy salesman selling himself.
But...

How many businesses has he bankrupted?  Yet people think he's the one to get us out of the economic mess? Really? You really think he's going to help even out the money gaps, spread the wealth? I am sorry- you are delusional.

And explain to me how he even has any remote grasp on the concept of "foreign policy."  He whips his following into a violent frenzy with fear, racism and hate at the center of it and people want to give him the nuclear codes?  How do we think that we aren't going to get nuked?  

Listen, I get that the country is a mess.  I think it's wrong that politicians are paid for life. I think it's wrong that there are unlimited terms of office. I think it's wrong that special interest groups make policy.  And don't even get me started on the Supreme Court...  But do we really think Mr. Trump- misogynistic, racist, "rich" Mr. Trump is going to get us out of this mess?  No.  He won't.

He'll make it worse.  Much, much worse.

Remember this gal?  One of the major symbols of our nation?

The one who stood as the Towers smoked and fell behind her?

This is what is inscribed on her base:

Give me your tired, your poor,

your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

the wretched refuse of your teeming shore,

send these, the homeless

tempest- tos''t to me.

How the HELL does Mr. Trump's rhetoric even remotely resemble that? 

These are values the country was founded on...however, I don't even think he's read the Constitution.  Does he know we have one?

And don't even get me started on his being "christian"- I think the only "Jesus" he knows is someone he would shoot or deport.

This is not merely unacceptable- it is evil.
It is Anti-Christ.

You may be mad at the ineptitude of the government- I will give you that one.  It's fifty kinds of  hot mess.

And I grant you that the other candidate options aren't particularly stellar either.
But by not voting, or not voting our conscience- not knowing what we are voting for- we are partially to blame for this mess.

Staying silent is not the answer.

Staying ignorant is not the answer.

I have stood in one of the gas chambers at Auschwitz, I have seen the rooms full of hair, luggage, glasses, kitchen utensils, artificial limbs that the nazi's took from the jews, I know how horrible we humans can be.

There is a park in Warsaw commemorating the Warsaw Ghetto- you can see the whole park as you stand there. You know, the boundaries- it's not like Central Park which seems to go on for days.  It is a normal park.  Over 400,000 Jews lived in 1.3 square miles before they were sent to the concentration camps.  That's a lot of people in a tiny space.  I have been to both these places that are a testimony to the darkness that lies within the heart of mankind.  The fact that some people think that the Holocaust didn't happen is mystifying to me.  The fact that people think it can't happen again is downright terrifying.

Hitler evolved out of  post-war Germany, in an unstable economic environment where fear and racism ruled.   Sound familiar? 

Just because Mr. Trump doesn't give a crap about what he says- whether it is truth or not, whether it hurts people or not- this doesn't make him "cool" or "honest" or "a breath of fresh air"- it doesn't make him anything other than an ignorant bully and a jerk.

Do you really want this man representing us?  To a world that already hates us because of our selfish, vain and wasteful ways?  Really?
Now, I suspect that I am preaching to the choir here- that the people who need to hear it won't.  But I don't know what else to do.

Other than speak-up.

Other than pray.

Other than try to pick up the pieces and defend those that need defending when the time comes.

This doesn't change who God is, who Jesus is, or who we are in Him.

We will still need to champion the afflicted and the needy.

We will need to look out for the widow and the orphan.
We will need to love.

We will need to feed the hungry and heal the sick.

We will need to be prepared to do these things even more.

Or at all.

Maybe, just maybe, God is giving the Church, the Bride- an opportunity to rise up and be what she is called to be.

Maybe instead of treating her as a business (doesn't that make her a prostitute?  A non-profit prostitute? Just a thought...) we should treat her as the humble, glorious, beautiful and healing servant she is called to be.

We need to realize that somewhere in the not so distant future, there is a possibility that it may become illegal to be a Christian.  

There's the rub- you start shutting down religious freedoms, and who is to say they can't shut yours down?

Any time the "Church" or  any religion for that matter, has gotten political, it hasn't ended well.

Jesus crucified.

The Crusades.

The Inquisition.

The Salem Witch trials.

If you think it doesn't happen today, what about conflict in Northern Ireland?
Israel?

And that's just Christianity- that doesn't include all the wars of other religions.

We need to wake up and care.

I know we are capable.

You may have seen my neighborhood on the news this week.  We had a big old natural gas explosion in the wee hours of last Wednesday.  5 blocks from our apartment, less than a block from where we work. 3 businesses were annihilated.  In the photo- all that debris?  Used to be buildings.  Miraculously, no one was killed.  10 people sustained minor injuries and were released that day.  The physical damage was astonishing.

photo- Steve Ringman/Seattle Times

This past weekend, over 100 volunteers showed up in my neighborhood to clean up, to serve, to bond, to heal.  This explosion decimated 3 businesses and damaged several others.  This happened 7 years after an arsonist wreaked havoc upon our neighborhood. The theatre sustained major damage back during the arsons, and relatively minor damage from the explosion.  It seems like any time this neighborhood starts to prosper- something terrible happens.  But you know what?  The glass from all the shattered windows (radiating out 2 or more blocks from the blast site) is picked up, the trash and debris is gathered, the windows are boarded up and painted, there are flowers in pots and planted in the tree wells all over the neighborhood. Over $100,000 has been raised so far in 5 days to help those affected and the fundraising continues.  There is also good in the face of evil.

It is up to us.

To love.
To vote.
To speak out against evil.

To help one another.

To pray.

I have been reading the book of Daniel lately- and I was struck by this verse.

By smooth words he will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly

toward the covenant, 

but the people who know their God will display strength and take action.

Daniel 11:32

So now, our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his supplications,

and for Your sake, O Lord, let Your face shine

on Your desolate sanctuary.

O My God, incline Your ear and hear!

Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city

which is called by Your name; 

for we are not presenting our supplications before You 

on account of any merits of our own, 

but on account of Your great compassion.

O Lord hear!

O Lord forgive!

O Lord, listen and take action!

For Your own sake,

O my God,

do not delay, 

Because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.

Daniel 9: 17-19

Display strength and take action.

Selah.