Trump

Are You the Face of Love? I’m Not.

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I’ve seen so many horrible posts since the election about an individual being attacked (verbally or physically) by someone hateful, and a bystander stepping in to help. From the very first day, I knew I’d be ready. I’d keep a close watch for people around me in need, and I’d step in to help that person without hesitation.
 
Instead of seeing others in need, my experience has been this: I’ve been mistaken for a hate supporter THREE times. Just since November 8th, I’ve had people in public mutter something like, “Just wait til January 20th, and we won’t have to put up with these [insert group name here] anymore.” The groups have included everything from immigrants to “lazy welfare” n***ers, right to my face.
 
Each time, I’ve fired back on the individual and hopefully put him in his place. Just last night, it was a Lowe’s employee who couldn’t find the cutting tool he needed to help me with a piece of piping. He said, “Well, the problem is every night about thirty minutes before closing, the place fills up with Mexicans and they steal everything that isn’t nailed down.” I snatched the piece of piping from him and just said, “Wow.”
 
I went straight to the front and reported him. The manager wasn’t available, but the young woman whom I spoke with was horrified. She promised she would mention it to the manager, and then here’s where she stepped in it: “He shouldn’t have said something like that, for all he knows, you’re married to a Mexican!”
 
As if THAT is the reason it was wrong? Not because these are human beings but because I (the white lady) might be offended?
 
I leaned in close and said, “Pass THIS along to the manager…he should be far more worried that I *might* be married to someone from corporate.”
 
But it left me asking myself a very important question: WHY am I giving off the impression that I would be in support of racism, homophobia, Islamophobia, etc? What is it about my mannerisms, my words, the look on my face when I’m not even mad, the way I dress or the way I stand while looking at the shelves…what is it that makes me look like someone who does not have love in her heart? More importantly, how are people supposed to look to me as a friendly face in a crisis if other people think I look like a bigot?
I’ll admit that I inwardly dismissed the “safety pin” when people started sharing it, not because I thought it was ridiculous but because too often, we change our Facebook profile pictures or slap a car magnet on our vehicles and think we’ve done enough. It’s the same reason I don’t typically wear a cross necklace; if my wardrobe accessories are the only thing that lets you know I’m a Christian, then I’ve failed at being one.
It’s certainly given me a lot to think about, especially how others–from victims of hate crimes to just the every day citizen around me who needed God’s love today–see me.

I’ll Be Homeless at 3pm Today

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I know, that’s a weird headline for a blog post. No, I’m not losing my house. No, I’m not being evicted. I’m not homeless (anymore) and don’t have any reason to think I will be in the foreseeable future.

Because I’m white. And middle class. And straight. And Christian. And American. And the list goes on…

Months ago, my teenaged daughter texted me from school (that’s pretty typical, actually) in a panic. A good friend had had enough, and was struggling with the fact that he’d just realized a few weeks before that he was gay. She was urging him to tell his parents, if only so that he didn’t have to hide who he was and live a lie.

She was texting me the play-by-play as she tried to convince him that being honest and true to himself was the best way. I followed up with supportive texts, confirming what she was telling him. As a parent, I would be devastated to learn that my child harbored a secret that she thought she couldn’t tell me.

As he contemplated texting his mom to tell her–please, let that sink in…he was afraid to even text her–he looked at her at one point and said, “I could be homeless at 3pm today.”

Choke on that for a minute. Think about your child really believing that you would kick him out, that you would tell a fifteen-year-old who isn’t even old enough to drive a car that you don’t want him to step foot in your house again. Your own flesh and blood, sent away from your presence.

Would God do that to you? Is there ANYTHING you could do that Our Father would not forgive? That he would cast you out and say, “Don’t show your face again?” Anything that would keep him from gathering you in his arms and sending his angels to lift you up?

No. And you’re a putrid excuse for a human being if you think that’s even possible.

I texted my daughter immediately: “He is NOT homeless! If they don’t want him, he is to come to our house and stay with us! But he is NOT left out in the cold!”

Some of us felt the ground quake beneath us this week, realizing that hatred won out over love and over Jesus Christ. Don’t let that be the end of the story. Show your love everywhere you go, be the force for change and for good, and for God’s sake, open your hearts and your homes to those who are terrified right now. Shower the world with the love that Christ gave us. The Holy Spirit is in us, and it’s not there without reason.

When Satan Wins…

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Yes, this is a political post. No, I’m not affiliated with a church, so yes, I’m allowed to get political. I’m just a Christian who doesn’t understand why so many other Christians have never touched their Bibles and therefore don’t know what commandments were given.

Yesterday, the country voted for someone who espouses everything that Christians are not. He adores greed, extra-marital and underaged sex, division of the races, intolerance for other religions, and money. He is the walking embodiment of the “root of all evil.”

Yet, so many of the people who voted for him do so while professing to be Christians. They at least claim to love others (unless you’re black), welcome all into the fold (unless you’re gay), and want unity (unless you’re Muslim).

With so many people serving as keyboard commandos in the fight against evil, where was their action? Where was their literal movement to prevent this? It was nowhere to be found.

So here is a new commandment: get off your ass and do something to show the world how much you love others. Stop hiding behind hashtags and patting yourself on the back. Put a sign in your front yard that says, “You are safe here,” and open your doors to people in need. Stop whipping out your cellphone to video the violence against a black person and actually throw your body between the victim and the assailant…exactly the way Jesus would have done.

Now is not the time to share pathetic messages of love and unity and hope. Now is the time to stand up and say, “Mr. President, you work for me. I am your boss. I love all and welcome all, and that is what my country will do.”

And of course, it is always the time to pray. It is the single most effective thing we can do when we invoke the will of God, but please remember that it is not the ONLY thing we can do.