How are you all doing this week?
I know that for many it’s been a hard week. Are you doing anything differently?
I’ve quit watching political and national news, instead catching a half hour of local news in the morning and then getting caught up with the world through online subscriptions. It turns out that I’m not the only one as ratings for two cable news networks have plummeted.
That’s doing one thing differently that may, actually WILL, be good for my mental health.
The other thing I need to do differently is much harder, which is, as I wrote last week, to not let the issue become more important than the relationship.
This is hard! Some on social media were not very happy with me saying this. But I continue think it is what we need to do.
Maybe one important clarification is in order: I am not suggesting appeasement, or not defending those who need defending.
Rather, I am encouraging us (me) to be in, or work on, relationships with people (sometimes family members) with whom we disagree, while ALSO staying true to what we believe and why we believe it.
I was talking with one of my own coaches this morning and said,
“Often when we talk about politics we’re not ‘saying this is what I believe and why,’ but rather ‘here’s why you are so wrong.’” This does not lead to productive conversation.
This is not working, as we can see by our polarization and by the general level of anger. It seems as if those whose candidates won are also angry. We seem to have lots of anger to process. This anger was present before the election. Thankfully, our faith gives us something to do in response, which is to love God and love neighbor. Did I mention this is hard?
Last week I also declared the church was dead! That may have shocked some of you. But it’s actually not something that is a new thought. We see it in dwindling attendance and dwindling resources. And, thankfully, our faith gives us the sure and certain knowledge of new life, of resurrection, and through that, hope.
I believe that we, the church, can experience resurrection when we recognize that the way we’ve done things is no longer working. When we do the hard work of relationships, even difficult relationships, and through them, build community. Right now, our world needs community. We’ve always needed it, and many of us experience it in church or other social organizations. But a sad reality is that many lonely people don’t think they will find welcome, acceptance, and community in a church. We have an invitation to change that.
My question for ALC is, what might God be calling us to do?”
Peace in Christ,
Pastor Nancy
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