Today’s Readings: Psalm 102; Isaiah 48:12-22; John 2:1-12; 1 Corinthians 2:10-16; Psalm 119:153-176
I have had mixed feelings in the days leading up to today’s Inauguration. I can certainly celebrate the fact that we have overcome a significant barrier that has blocked the full participation of many Americans in our society over the past three hundred plus years: race. As I hear people swept up in the excitement over the Inauguration talk, however, I am deeply saddened that they don’t realize that while one barrier has been overcome – many other structural barriers still exist. Today, for instance, we inaugurate someone who has made his strong support of segregation publically known (i.e. marriage for opposite gender relationships and civil unions for same-gender relationships). This saddens me more than I can put into words. So how do I deal with my mixed emotions on this day? Well, I do so by acknowledging that no human being (myself included) is ever going to fully get “it”. Every last one of us will have areas of our life where we extend the fullness of God’s love and grace, and every last one of us will have areas that are blind spots: areas where we refuse to extend the fullness of God’s love and grace to others. This includes our president-elect. The beauty of today’s timely reading from Isaiah is that it reminds us that in spite of those limitations, God can still work through us. God was able to use Cyrus – an imperfect leader from Babylon – to help get the Israelites back to Israel. Just think what God could accomplish through you and I. Today, as we inaugurate a new era of leadership in this country, my hope and prayer is that we will ground ourselves in the One (and only) place the fullness of our faith ought to lie: God. Til next time…
I have had mixed feelings in the days leading up to today’s Inauguration. I can certainly celebrate the fact that we have overcome a significant barrier that has blocked the full participation of many Americans in our society over the past three hundred plus years: race. As I hear people swept up in the excitement over the Inauguration talk, however, I am deeply saddened that they don’t realize that while one barrier has been overcome – many other structural barriers still exist. Today, for instance, we inaugurate someone who has made his strong support of segregation publically known (i.e. marriage for opposite gender relationships and civil unions for same-gender relationships). This saddens me more than I can put into words. So how do I deal with my mixed emotions on this day? Well, I do so by acknowledging that no human being (myself included) is ever going to fully get “it”. Every last one of us will have areas of our life where we extend the fullness of God’s love and grace, and every last one of us will have areas that are blind spots: areas where we refuse to extend the fullness of God’s love and grace to others. This includes our president-elect. The beauty of today’s timely reading from Isaiah is that it reminds us that in spite of those limitations, God can still work through us. God was able to use Cyrus – an imperfect leader from Babylon – to help get the Israelites back to Israel. Just think what God could accomplish through you and I. Today, as we inaugurate a new era of leadership in this country, my hope and prayer is that we will ground ourselves in the One (and only) place the fullness of our faith ought to lie: God. Til next time…
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