Wrapped up in the World Too Much
Celebrate the Resurrection Instead
You know. My good friend is so right. I am wrapped up too much in the world. And during tough interior times, like I am traveling thru now, I lose balance. I just lose my balance with life. I go into dark places in my attitude and the world becomes more and more a place that is just a shit place to be. It gets me down. I let it get me down. And anxiety gets to be my constant ‘friend’. Hope dwindles. The future seems ludicrous almost, if current events and news point to what seems to be coming. So my friend, my most valued friend, makes a good point.
But I cannot just sit back and bask in … any kind of faith actually. To the evangelical Christian, I am not a Christian. I do not believe that my Jewish brothers and sisters are condemned by not believing in Jesus as their savior. I do not believe that Muslims are condemned to hell as they do not accept Jesus as their lord and savior. I just do not. And to many of my evangelical friends, well, I am sure that their God judges me to be destined for hell.
I believe, I sense, that we are accepting a hell on earth if we stand silent while our Democratic Republic is attacked. But what do I know. Nothing really. I am simply following my heart.
So when my friend, my oldest friend whom I will never abandon, sent me a message that my focus should be on Jesus and not on the world, I felt a need to reply. I do not quote my friend, I have not asked permission to do so. So the following words are all my own.
Thank you for engaging xxxxx. I have some comments.
God has moved me to try and move fellow Christians, and other fellow Americans about our current ethical and moral blight in our leader and his MAGA movement. Trump is riding the dark side of our human psyche - it is not totally him…it is us. And he knows, whether consciously or not, that the more he divides us and pits us against each other, the more power he can wield. And the power of the Congress and the Judicial will wane. Our founders wanted a difficult government where the Congress, Judicial and the Executive were in equal measure. Trump is working against that balance. He is consolidating power in the Executive, and it is dangerous.
I was trading emails with a brother of a friend recently - he was head of the southern baptist convention for two years. He quoted the verse from Romans 13 where Paul encourages believers to support their leader. I quoted about 10 verses to him that said you must oppose a leader that is against God. This leader we have is not interested in the God that Paul writes about. He is more akin to Orban, Putin, even Hitler in his early days. I am taking a chance as I don’t know the future … no one does.
But all indicators point to this man, Trump, as heading us into a dictatorship. A clear sign is refusal of the right to be heard before a judge. A clear sign is him taking over the Arts at the Kennedy Center. A clear sign is him attacking academia with black mail - support me or else you lose your funding. A clear sign is him disappearing people off the streets for writing in support of Palestenians. A clear sign is him co-opting law firms all over the country. All dictators try to control academia, the arts, the lawyers, the courts. Trump is going all out to do so. All indicators point to this man, who is himself a convicted criminal in New York, is attacking the very foundations of our Democratic Republic.
I am not in heaven yet. I am indeed too much in the world. Yet I must work with what I have. I am on earth. And I must try to point out a true and dangerous darkness when it is in our midst. Perhaps it is God’s will that this man divide us so that he may have more power. But I doubt it. If he continues to destroy our efforts to become a more perfect union, i believe it is due to our inaction, not to God’s will. I think it is God’s will to stop Mr Trump in his tracks. So that the people realize he is not working in God’s interest nor in the interest of the common man and woman.
The world is changing rapidly. Personally, I pray that Armageddon does not become a reality. But with leaders like Trump, Putin, Chi, Orban, Erdogan in Turkey, Bukele in El Salvador, Murduro in Venezuela , the Iranian Imams, Netanyahu in Israel, … it looks like we humans want destruction. Personally, I pray that it does not happen, that Jesus does not come back. That he gives each and everyone of us alive and yet to come, get to know him. You will be with him forever. You don’t need the destruction of the earth for salvation … it is already accomplished.
If we are going to get thru this, we will need a huge transformation in human consciousness. I believe it will require all of us, Jew, Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Atheist, Muslim, and countless other beliefs, it will require us all to accept each other and not condemn each other for not believing the way I do, or you do.
He who has not sinned throw the first stone, that is what we need to concentrate on now.
I am wrestling with God. Like Job perhaps.
Forgive my rambling. I am concerned about our country, and our world.
Take a look at this guy: Martin Niemöller
I pray we find more people like him in our midst. I pray for a Martin Luther King. We just don’t seem to have them now. The Franklin Grahams of the world are all in on the Trump Thing. It kind of sickens me. It is why Easter, the resurrection, when put up next to the religious leaders that are sucking up to trump, it drives me insane. It …..
Peace my brother. I have had enough for today. I am sure you have had enough of me. And once again, thank you for responding.
Great to be in conversation with you always. And you remind me u r always 6 months ahead of me! I love you and we’ll continue!
My friend contacted me again, and encouraged me again to focus on Christ. Not on the world. Perhaps he makes a good point. But I just can’t keep my mind off what is going on in the world. And I am moved to speak about it. Is God moving me….I don’t know. Maybe I should start saying it is God’s will that I speak about it. But that would just be too presumptuous. So I will take the blame. It’s me. It’s all me, and my thoughts on life as I am experiencing it.
That’s all I have to say about that.