Love like Jesus!
Hi there Beloveds!
Election season is over, and I, for one, am very glad to see the ads and texts and emails go away for a while. I'm also thankful that the potential for a longer period of uncertainty around who would win the presidential and down ballot elections was avoided. I'm grateful to know that the likelihood of the peaceful transfer of power come January, will be high.
And, I'm happy that roughly half of the country who were blessed to and did exercise their civic responsibility in casting their ballot are pleased with the outcome. Blessings and joy to those who are celebrating that outcome, as well as comfort and company in lament are my prayers for those who are in deep grief. "Rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn," is in epistle to the Romans, chapter 12 (v.15). The difference in response to the outcome of any of our presidential elections is inevitable, but our response to one another, regardless of how we voted, is to be uniform in following our baptismal covenant. We continue to love one another by treating one another with dignity, by seeing one another as people who are beloved of God, no matter how our politics, ideologies, or theology differs. ALL means ALL. That's what it is to follow our diocesan purpose statement:
"We challenge ourselves and the world to love like Jesus as we worship joyfully, serve compassionately, and grow spiritually."
Easier said than done? Absolutely! Extremely difficult to even imagine, crossing those emotional lines for relating and conversation? Of course! I think that's why Jesus, in so many of the gospel stories, meets the disciples exactly where they are, and THEN moves them toward where he wants them to be. So be gentle with yourselves and authentic. If it's party-time for you and yours, enjoy! If it's a time of tender need, seek those who can accompany you on that road. If it's a time of anxiety and uncertainty, gently acknowledge the state of your body, mind, and spirit, and maybe shut off the news for a little while to be still and know that God is God and God is always Almighty, and is there for you.
And I say all this because we can't give what we haven't received, when it comes to loving our neighbors....ALL our neighbors. And loving our neighbors continues to mean feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, defending the vulnerable...continues to mean justice and equity for ALL...continues to mean welcoming the stranger and the lonely, and speaking out against hate and harm of all kinds. Immigrants, LGBTQIA+ folk, targeted minorities and ethnicities, elders, children, those who have been harmed by sexual violence or any other kind, those without rights to proper healthcare....we will continue to speak out and honor all of these. When we remember that God is here, and God is love, and God in us, the Holy Spirit will still be empowering us and filling us, and moving us in God's story, we can know peace, both within and without.
Please read the following letter (click here) from our Presiding Bishop concerning this time in our country, and continue to pray for those in leadership.
Peace and joy,
Mother Nikki+
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