Dear Ones — know that you are love and are living on Earth to love. This is not a social media announcement. I’m probably breaking the rules~not the first time.
We can do acts of kindness. We can give more from our larder, walk in the shoes of a mother from Honduras, tutor in a poor school with immigrants, open our homes to Syrians. This is Christian charity, and it is good. We can give from our hearts. And often in charity we only give from our excess. Is this all we are called to do? Is kindness in safe measures what Jesus did? Or what the Holy Spirit today is asking us?
Prepare yourselves. Let’s make straight any crooked (privilege/unjust/uncivil) paths in the US. “Prepare ye a way for the Lord.” The Messiah has come AND is coming. We need to stretch our wings and do courageous acts. And we need to make these paths together. Some Quaker leaders have done intensive spiritual practice like the School of the Spirit. Let’s combine these practices with the discipline of the Highlander Center where Rosa Parks and other Black leaders were trained in the 1960s.
Sometimes with our teens we offer tough love. We set down limits about swearing, or using drugs, or doing dangerous behavior. Love is not maudlin with rosy hearts and teddy bears. I never knew Jesus to carry one stuffed animal. We need Awareness and to Practice Love as a discipline. We need to learn new ways to love Trump and to love when he (and our government) lash out against others- that’s tough love. When bullies set public policy we need to act, not just talk. If hate is the language on Capitol Hill, what ways does our community offer a haven? (I like the slogan “Love Trumps Hate”) Let’s think together what tough love looks like in the 2017 political pantheon and coliseum.
One action we need is to publicly Mourn for the Loss of the Earth (and for the climate deniers who are in power).I connect with all those who voted for Trump because I’m tired of business as usual. Our country need a major overhaul. How many of us voted for HRC out of fear? Many voted for Trump out of fear too. Every day is Election Day. Everyday we can vote with our feet.
Secondly, we cannot change the racism and classism and Islamophobia without recognizing that we (white folk especially) have sinned and are sinning against the Native Peoples of this land. We need to repent. Repent means to turn our hearts away from evil paths. I want to thank Greg Williams for initiating a Quaker Action Group and his blog of “Stone of Hope.” This Thanksgiving time let’s work together Mourning, Repenting, Preparing and Loving.
Contact me if you are joining Friends on Nov 24 for the National Day of Mourning (led by the Wampanoag people) in Plymouth MA at noon. Contact me if this message resonates with you. Wait in the stillness, Listen to God’s Love, then Act on it.
In power, Minga Claggett-Borne