With election season in full swing, and debates on stages and around dinner tables gaining intensity by the moment, Jill Duffield writes an insightful editorial, in last week’s Presbyterian Outlook - “Navigating Politics in our Pews.” She challenges us “to think about what is at stake in these conversations and debates- what truly matters and what is only a distraction.”
“When the cultural climate is one of deep schism and inflammatory rhetoric, what should people of faith do?” she asks. While a strong separation of church and state is critical to the health of both church and state, individual Christians are called to be deeply engaged in both for the sake of the world God so loves. “As children of God and disciples of Jesus,” writes Duffield, “we are called to view every issue, person and practice through the waters of our baptism, allowing that perspective to shape all others.”
As we do this, we will not always agree or come to the same conclusions; we will have many differing opinions on the same issue. We need each other, as together we seek to discern the working of the Spirit and the will of God. Whatever our political identity, above all, we are children of God and disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, called to be “involved, and actively working for that which we believe reflects the character of Christ and the will of God … and we need to be ready to love those with whom we disagree.”
Duffield challenges us to “speak boldly and advocate relentlessly for those policies and practices we believe to be in line with the person and work of Jesus, with the command to love God and neighbor … even if we don’t agree all the time on what those policies and practices are.”
May God help us to find our way and to live faithfully.
Elizabeth
At last week’s session meeting, our Clerk of Session shared news of the passing of Rep. Elijah Cummings, at the age of 68. Cummings was born and raised in Baltimore and lived there until his death. He was one of seven children, born to parents who had once been sharecroppers on the same land on which their ancestors were enslaved. He rose from those humble beginnings to become the dean of Maryland's black elected officials and a leader in the U.S. Congress. After Democrats took control of the U.S. House earlier this year, Cummings became chairman of the Oversight Committee.
Congressman Cummings currently serves as the Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform. As the main investigative committee in the House of Representatives, Oversight and Reform has jurisdiction to investigate any federal program and any matter with federal policy implications. As the Committee’s Chairman, Congressman Cummings fights to hold the Presidential Administration to a high standard of excellence and to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in the actions of the government of the United States. He also seeks to identify appropriate reforms that prevent waste, fraud and abuse and that ensure government programs meet the needs of the American people.
Congressman Cummings often says that our children are the living messages that we send to a future we will never see. In that vein, he is committed to ensuring that our next generation has access to quality healthcare and education, clean air and water, and a strong economy defined by fiscal responsibility. “From my own life experience, I can attest that we have come a long way toward universal justice in this country, but we are not there yet,” said Cummings.
“Just a Minute,” a poem by Dr. Benjamin E. Mays was often quoted by Rep Cummings, and seemed to speak volumes of his life as a public servant.
“I’ve only just a minute,
only sixty seconds in it.
Forced upon me, can’t refuse it.
Didn’t seek it, didn’t choose it.
But it’s up to me to use it.
I must suffer if I lose it.
Give an account if I abuse it
Just a tiny little minute,
but eternity is in it.”
Thanks be to God for the gift of Rep. Elijah Cummings and for his challenge to make the most of every minute. May we use each minute wisely!
Elizabeth
J. Barrie Shepherd’s Diary of Daily Prayer, has been one of my favorite devotional resources in recent years. Arranged in the form of a diary, and designed to be read each morning and evening for a month, Shepherd addresses any number of topics that, when reflected on, deepen our walk with each other, and our relationship with God, who created us. In this 25th anniversary edition of Shepherd’s first published book, his prayer is that “these words may clear the way for silence, that deepest silence into which the living Word may speak yet again, and speaking create light in darkness and new life from dusty death … that this book may claim a space for listening as well as for speaking, for waiting upon the Lord, as well as for calling upon his name.”
Here are a few of those words that have touched me in life-giving ways.
First and Last
“Lord, let me live this day
as if it were my first day,
or my last.
Let me bring to it all the wonder and amazement of a newborn child:
the trust
that welcomes everyone I meet,
expects of them only the best,
and grants them the benefit
of every possible doubt;
the openness
to catch the unsuspected beauties,
and unexpected opportunities of each hour;
the purity of soul
that places all its hope in you
and, thus, is infinitely optimistic.
But let me also bring
the wisdom and experience of the aged to this day:
the mellow ripeness that can afford to rest a while,
and share a smile and a story;
the tenderness
that grows from years of care and gentle giving;
the hope that has been forged through all the fires of doubt,
and even of despair,
and still, even better than before,
rings true and clear, and points itself to you.
Lord, help me make this day
as fresh and new as a spring flower,
and as strong and secure as the eternal hills.”
I give thanks for the gift of Shepherd’s words, creating a space for silence and for listening, as I wait upon the Lord from day to day, and for those streams of mercy, never ceasing….
Elizabeth