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Imagine you are traveling during rush hour in the middle lane heading North on I-95. You are stuck behind an 18-wheeler and hemmed in on both sides by smaller trucks. In essence you cannot see what lies ahead. Nor will the trucks on either side of you let you cut in front of them. In about five miles, you want to exit the turnpike to get to your destination. What can you do to ensure your safety, those in your car, and those behind you?

How many civilians around the world find themselves in a similar situation with their leaders? Do they have to or should they continue to blindly follow their leaders if they are similarly stuck behind an 18-wheeler?

Russian protestors against the Ukrainian war and Putin’s despotism are beaten and jailed. The same happens to Myanmar protestors against their military coup leaders.

Think About It

• If you are in a no win situation, what actions can you or should you take?
• How important is it to take action?
• What can civilians do?
• What will be the consequences of their actions?

“This very day in David’s town your Savior was born—Christ the Lord! …You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.
(Luke 2:11-12)

In Luke 2, we read that there is no room in the inn for Mary to give birth to Jesus. The non-literal interpretation of this event could mean that we, too, symbolically have no room for Jesus in our lives. Jesus enters this world under very adverse circumstances. He is born in a stable to a simple maiden who does not even have the luxury of home, midwife, or doctor. Yet Jesus, who represented God on earth, entered this world and subjected Himself to worldly circumstances which dictated how He entered and left this world. God had no intentions to disrupt this world by physical force or by rearranging political systems.

God has different intentions. God wants to reach people through love, His love and our love for each other. Yet many of us are afraid of God’s presence in our lives. The reasons are many. They range from unwillingness to admit that we are not in control of our lives to not wanting to live our lives for God or anyone else but ourselves. Often we build walls around ourselves so as not to be hurt by anyone or anything. These walls break communications and love between God and ourselves and each other. Yet these walls are no guarantee against hardships, disappointments, illness, separation, and death of loves ones. In fact these walls may be our self-imposed jailer. When adversities occur, many of us become bitter and blame God for them.

But if we would only try to understand the Christmas message, we can discover the truth about God and God’s purpose. God wants to tear down our walls of separation. God wants us to be vulnerable to love. As the angels said to the shepherds: “Be not afraid.” God wants us to understand that He has only our good in mind. The shepherds leave their flocks to see the glory of God. We need to do likewise. We need to leave behind all that prevents us from loving God.

You see, love is a hunger. God knows of our deep yearning to love and be loved. That is why God gives us the gift of love in Jesus. He is born into an indifferent and unloving world. God knows that some people are afraid to risk love. They fear being hurt or rejected. Yet Jesus loved and forgave those who would someday hurt and reject Him and put Him on a cross to die. For those that hurt, God knows that love is the great healer. He knows that beneath our rough exteriors beats a heart that cries out: “Hold me. Love Me. I need you. Only your love can save me from my self-imposed exile from others.” That is why God gives us Jesus, the gift of love.

Think About It

• • What is the symbolic meaning that there was no room in the inn for Mary?
  • How is Jesus the gift of love? What makes you think so?
  • Why has God allowed the evil in this world to exist?

Why do some blame God for the adversities in their lives?

Today, many Ayatollahs, Mullahs, some Christian leaders, cult leaders, and national and world political leaders say they are speaking for God and what God expects of their followers. It is interesting that these supposed absolutists’ messages from God are so different and contradictory.

The absolutists thrive in dangerous times. Insecure and afraid people who desperately want to be right seek out the absolutists who create a fortress mentality for their followers. After a while, the absolutists have to have absolute enemies: the rich, the people of color, the Protestants, the Catholics, the Jews, the Muslims, the atheists, the imperialists, the politically correct, etc. The absolutists mind loves censorship, book burnings, ostracism, and excommunication. Self-righteous hate unifies their ignorant herd mentality.

The absolutists offer easy answers to a great many human problems for which there are no easy answers. I believe God wants us to struggle with political, religious, social, and world issues. It is interesting to watch those for and against political issues in our country. Many chant their slogans and act as a cheering section at a football game. Instead, times of struggle should be times for spiritual growth, understanding and tolerance of each other. Quick glib solutions which are offered to perplexing problems is nothing short of quackery and harmful to all.

The major difference between religious and political absolutists and Jesus is that Jesus was never coercive, never resorted to force. Jesus allowed others to have the dignity to differ. Jesus loves us whether we do His will or not. Absolutists tend to be incapable of real love. Those who love others do not force their rule over them. Instead those who love do as Jesus did by giving His life in love to others.

As thinking Christians, we need to keep in mind three points.

1. It is imperative to be aware and educated about what is happening at home and abroad; i.e., we are living in a time when the paranoid, absolutistic mind is spreading and tries to capture us in their web. We cannot allow absolutism and those with absolutistic minds capture and control us. No good can come from it. Absolutism is found in embryonic form in single-issue politics. It is found in gender and white supremacist issues of superiority. It is found in be-saved or be-damned religion. It is found in sinister terrorists groups, holy wars, dictatorships, and authoritarian rule.

2. As Christians, we need to be aware also that absolutistic minds are a peculiar perversion and double temptation in religion simply because those who say they speak for God equate God with their own platforms. They falsely say they are in partnership with God. Nothing is worse than to make God into our disciplinarian and source for our authority. God does not give us that authority.

3. As citizens of the United States, we are under an obligation to join hands with everyone who believes in the Bill of Rights and who accords other people the dignity to differ without retaliation. Reasonable, thoughtful discussion, and debate are essential to the resolution of complex problems. Browbeating, unified opposition, and condescension have no room in these discussions.

So do not let absolutism and those with absolutistic minds capture and control us. Beware of the peculiar perversion and double temptation absolutists have in religion. Accord people their rights under the Bill of Rights.

Call out governments that do not allow free speech. They persecute and imprison opponents on trumped up charges for challenging authoritarians and dictators.

Think About It

· What are your thoughts about absolutism?

· With so much disinformation, whom do you trust/distrust and why?

· How does power corrupt?

Will history repeat itself? Will Pharaoh Putin succeed in enslaving and slaughtering the Ukrainian people and take over their nation? 

Moses Zelensky and citizens are standing firm against Pharaoh Putin. It took 10 plagues for Pharaoh to release the Israelites from their slavery. When Pharaoh changed his mind, he sent his army after the fleeing Israelites only to be swallowed up in the Red Sea. (Exodus 14)

A few months ago in a video address, Moses Zelensky called for peace talks with Russia whose casualties already outpaced those of Iwo Jima, the Iraq and Afghanistan War, and Pearl Harbor. At that time, the Ukrainian military estimated that Russia “lost 19,500 troops, 725 tanks, 1,923 armored vehicles, 347 artillery systems, 154 aircraft, 137 helicopters” and significant other weapons. As of this writing, it is believed that there are more than 30,000 dead and 40,000 wounded Russian soldiers.

Zelensky says:

I want everyone to hear me now, especially in Moscow. The time has come for a meeting. It is time to talk. The time has come to restore territorial integrity and justice for Ukraine. Otherwise, Russia’s losses will be such that it will take you several generations to recover.

Alan Moore is his book V for Vendetta sums up everyone’s responsibility against their oppressors. He writes:

Since mankind’s dawn, a handful of oppressors have accepted the responsibility over our lives that we should have accepted for ourselves. By doing so, they took our power. By doing nothing, we gave it away. We’ve seen where their way leads, through camps and wars, toward the slaughterhouse.

George Orwell in his book 1984 writes that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Therefore, I cannot believe that Pharaoh Putin will back down. He is a predator. Nor can any promises he makes be trusted. He needs to be tried for war crimes against humanity because he has targeted civilians and their homes, nurseries, hospitals, defiant Russian “traitors” who do not submit to Pharaoh Putin’s propaganda machine, etc.

Let there be no more Russian false flags for aggression and deadly carnage. Let us all hope and pray that Pharaoh Putin’s army will once again be swallowed up and/or put down their weapons so that the Ukrainian people can live in peace and flourish on their land.

I pray that sanctions against Pharaoh Putin and his supporters will bring peace and justice to the Ukrainian people and neighboring countries.

Think about It

• How is Putin similar to Pharaoh?
• How is Zelenskyy similar yet different from Moses?
• Why do you think people tolerate oppressors?
• Why have Russian forces suffered so many casualties?

The Rev. Anita E. Keire
www.mustardseedseries.com

“Wake up Captain! Wake up! We are on a collision course with another ship! Wake up!”

“All right. All right. What’s the problem?”

“Even though it is foggy, we can still see a ship’s light coming towards us. You have to warn the other ship that we are in the waters ahead of it.”

So, the captain goes on deck and sees the oncoming light. He activates his EPIRB and shouts out:

“Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! I am Captain Mercy of the US Navy’s battleship William Jefferson. I am ordering you to change your course by 45 degrees NOW.”

“No! You need to change your course by 45 degrees to your starboard.”

“Do as I order you.”

“It’s your call. We are a lighthouse.”

This story has been retold and/or reimagined numerous times since the 1930’s. It is an excellent example of worldly authoritarians/dictators and their sense of self-importance that control and imperil their people’s lives to their impending danger and disaster.

   I feel sorry for the young men and women who serve in their countries’ armed forces and must do what their commanding officers order them to do even if it violates their conscious. They are severely punished if they disobey.

   Also, civilian dissenters and their followers are vilified, beaten, jailed, poisoned, enslaved, and/or sentenced to death by power authorities. History is replete with such behavior. Fear, self-interest, and survival, often dictates a person’s allegiance or lack thereof.

Think About It 

• In human history, what misery have dictators and authoritarians created?
• Identify today’s dictators and authoritarians and the harm they have done to others without any consequences to their power.
• Why did the Chief Priests and Pharisees Jesus’ time have Him crucified?
• Are similar tactics used today at home and abroad? If so, what are they?  

A sense of place is very important to us especially at Christmas time. All our senses are activated. We decorate our homes and fill them with aromas of cooked and baked goodies. We sing and hear Christmas carols. We invite family and friends to visit with us. We do not want to be alone. The pace of life accelerates, and we try to cram more into every day. Our days are filled with anticipation of reunions with family and friends and peace on earth good will toward all.

   Home is that call and journey that bring us back to the soundest landmarks of our hearts and souls. Home-coming at Christmas is a return to our spiritual base, a yearning for our God and beliefs and values that we know we can “be at home” with. It is a coming home to more truthfulness, more caring, more spiritual values, and more of the God we can really believe in, the God of peace on earth, the God who “so loved the world that He gave His only Son” who was born in a manger in Bethlehem.

   Jesus came into our midst through a new creative act of the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ life and mission redefines the meaning of home. Home is not so much a beloved location. Home is the journey that brings us back to the soundest landmarks of the heart and soul. Perhaps that is why Christians are called a pilgrim people, a people constantly on the move. Christians hear God’s call and are at home making the trip together to Bethlehem. It is how we travel this journey and with what motivation that matters.

   Our relationship to God is similar to two neighbors who quarreled and parted company for some reason. Then it occurs to one of them that this situation is just not right. He writes a letter to his former friend suggesting that they make peace. He receives no reply. Come now, he thinks, I must try again. So he writes him another letter asking for them to make peace and resume their former friendly relationship. Still there is no reply. Then the man decides one evening during a bitter cold winter’s night with howling wind and snow to undertake the journey to the other man’s house on foot. He arrives panting and stiff with cold. He repeats his invitation for reconciliation. And now it begins to dawn on his neighbor that he has before him a real human being, frozen, drenched with snow, and panting. His heart melts and he takes the neighbor’s invitation seriously. So, he says “Yes! Let us be friends again.” 

   We could say that the neighbor with the initiative is God. God has communicated with us in numerous ways such as through the Holy Scripture and the prophets. We failed to respond. Finally, God came to dwell among us as a poor, homeless man, as one who had nowhere to lay His head, as one who was slain on the cross because people refused to believe in His invitation and mission. And yet in that time, the eyes of some were opened. God’s love is so persistent in His invitation that we cannot now fail to say “Yes! Here am I, the servant of the Lord. Let it be with me according your word.” 

   Christmas is an invitation to faith, hope, love, and obedience. God, similar to the good neighbor, repeats His invitation but this time not with a letter nor by God’s sending the prophets. This time, God comes to us as the baby born in a stable to a young peasant women. God comes to us in the flesh—in a form that we can understand. Later in life, Jesus allows Himself to be crucified so that we may realize how serious God is about His message of faith, hope, love, peace, and reconciliation.

   Christmas is God coming to our “home” knocking on the door of our hearts. Christmas is the time to make peace in our households and with our neighbors. Christmas is the time for really coming home to God by opening our lives to the Christ Child and making room for Him in our hearts. 

Think About It 

• Of what importance are the Christmas holidays for you?
• What is the message of Christmas for you?
• Where is your spiritual home or are you among the spiritually homeless?

Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, rabbi-in-residence at Avodah, a Jewish social justice organization that deals with pressing issues facing this country, wrote an important article on September 6, 2018, in the Washington Post. The title of her piece is “Famous abusers seek easy forgiveness. Rosh Hashanah teaches us repentance is hard.”

I think it will be helpful to Christians to consider the Jewish perspective on repentance and redemption. For this article, Ruttenberg focuses on famous men known for their sexual misconduct that removed them briefly from the public eye only to be restored a year or so later to their former positions. She asks, “Are these men sorry? Should they be forgiven? More to the point, perhaps, who has the right to forgive them?

Most non-Jews do not understand that there is no place for cheap grace and easy forgiveness as our pop culture accepts and expects. They do not know the true meaning of repentance—“the work that a person who has done harm must undertake.”

Repentance requires the sinner to publicly and sorrowfully own the harm he has done, which also involves an inner struggle to make a change in his behavior, so that he never sins again. He then directs his life towards God. Also, these sinners should seek to make restitution to their victims financially and/or with sincere and meaningful apology.

Think About It

• Do you agree with Rabbi Ruttenberg? Why?
• Who do you think has the right to forgive a sexual predator?
• Ultimately, what role does God have in forgiveness?
• What should be done to sexual predators?
• What should their punishment be?

During the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020 numerous, unmasked protestors gathered together in public places insisting on their right to freely assemble without governmental restrictions. They know they are violating state and federal laws requiring people to self-quarantine in their homes and when running essential errands to wear face masks and to maintain a six-foot social distancing regulation. These protestors reject the advice of the medical care professionals and infectious disease experts. They claim that their First Amendment Rights to our nation’s Bill of Rights are being violated by governmental regulations for the suppression of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Their reckless behavior endangers the lives of at least three others with whom they come in contact. Should they be held responsible for someone’s infection and possible death? Are they carrying the virus to family members, friends, and associates? Are we not supposed to be our brother’s keeper not the transmitter of Covid-19?

When the day comes that they contract this virus, let alone the number of people they may have infected, should the over-worked medical profession treat them first or the innocent, law-abiding citizens who contracted Covid-19 through no fault of their own? Decisions like these have to be made daily in life.

Can we let the self-centered behavior of others sabotage our present and future well-being? In Matthew 25:1-13, Jesus compares admission to the kingdom of heaven by telling the parable of the wise and foolish maidens who took their lamps with them to meet the arriving bridegroom. The wise maidens took flasks of oil with them for their lamps. The foolish maidens did not. The bridegroom was delayed. When he finally arrived, the foolish maidens had no oil left and asked the wise ones to give them some.

But the wise replied, ‘Perhaps there will not be enough for us and for you; go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast; and the door was shut. Afterward the other maidens came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he replied, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

Often unexpected burdens are thrust upon us. Sometimes we do not know how to resolve the dilemma of what we should do. What is our responsibility as God’s children? Jesus’ parable of the wise and foolish maidens reminds me of the Covid-19 protestors and others who go racing through life, grabbing what they can from others without any care or thought to the consequences of their actions. They always expect someone to bail them out of any trouble they might get themselves into as though all privileges and help are their due rather than a gift.

Plastered on many college administration offices is a sign that says: “Your poor planning does not constitute a crisis for me.” The foolish maidens can be compared to carefree, freeloaders that exist in most societies. They go through life unprepared and take no responsibility for the consequences of their actions. God is the bridegroom in this parable. The foolish maidens are not ready or prepared for meeting God. They are expecting someone else to help save them. They expect God to let them into the bridal feast no matter what their behavior or excuses may be. But God shuts the door to the bridal feast for the unprepared and the unrepentant.

Likewise, we should not let our valuable energies and medical resources be directed toward helping those who refuse to take responsibility for their lives and their own behavior. Hysterics and irresponsibility on the part of some people is a way of controlling and manipulating others and making them responsible for the hysterical person’s well-being and dependency.

Jesus told the parable of the wise and foolish maidens for His hearers either to accept or reject His message. He did not try to manipulate or be held responsible for other people’s behavior and decisions.

We, too, cannot allow others to control our behavior and our future through sabotage or hostage-like activities. Let me give you an example. After one of my parishioners had her hip replaced, I visited her in the hospital. The woman in the bed next to her refused to do anything to help herself. Her family stood by helplessly wringing their hands while the medical staff tried to motivate the sick woman into action. This sick woman had everybody exactly where she wanted them. Contrasted to her was my elderly parishioner walking around with discomfort and pain.

You see, we need to be able to separate legitimate needs such as incapacitation, mental and physical illness, from self-induced manufactured needs and their subsequent consequences. Also, we cannot do for others what they must learn to do for themselves. Otherwise we deprive them of their growth and independence. Motivation determines how we climb the hills and descend into the valleys of our lives.

Think About It
• During the Covid-19 pandemic, should unmasked demonstrators be allowed to gather together in a mass protest to the violation of their First Amendment rights? What makes you think so?
• What is their responsibility for protecting the vulnerable?
• Who should care for these demonstrators when they become ill with Covid-19?

Don’t panic. Stay calm. In times of trouble and in life and death situations, Jews and Christians find comfort in Psalm 23. Today with the Coronavirus, we face an invisible enemy that affects all our lives. In an effort to give you more insight on this Psalm, let me share with you my thoughts and how it helped me through some difficult times. Then and now I adapt Psalm 23 to my present situation. I make this psalm my own.
Psalm 23 uses shepherd and sheep imagery. God is the good shepherd that provides us, the sheep, with safety and sustenance. The first three verses of this psalm focus on God’s provisions given to us.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures: He leads me beside still waters;
He restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.

Lying down is a symbol for peace and tranquility. The still waters refresh us. So if we are part of God’s flock and let God govern our lives, we will be revived spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically. And we will be content to go wherever God leads us.
Verse 4 challenges us in how to survive bad times. It reads:

Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil; for you are with me;
Your rod and your staff—they comfort me.

God’s “rod” is used against enemies and His “staff” is used to guide us.

In October 2019, I had to have an ablation done on my heart at Yale New Haven Hospital to stop the many extra beats my ventricular chambers were making. During the procedure, I was tightly strapped to the operating table. Because anesthesia gives me problems, I was allowed to be partially conscious and could watch the entire procedure on closed circuit TV. I repeatedly prayed Psalm 23 and put myself in God’s care and that of my cardio electrophysiologist. I was not fearful and trusted in them to deliver me from death’s door.
Verses 5 and 6 celebrate my recovery. They read:

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.

For me, these verses celebrate my recovery and gratitude. My length of days will be determined by God.

Today we are confronted by a horrible natural evil—the Covid-19. It is our enemy that we must defeat. We are trying to defeat it so that it cannot be perpetuated. What we can control is our response to it. Rabbi Harold Kushner, author of The Lord is my Shepherd: Healing from the Twenty-Third Psalm, challenges us with these thoughts:

God teaches us to look at the world and see it as God would have us see it. If we are anxious, the psalm gives us courage and we overcome our fears. If we are grieving, it offers comfort and we find our way through the valley of the shadow. If our lives are embittered by unpleasant people, it teaches us how to deal with them. If the world threatens to wear us down, the psalm guides us to replenish our souls. If we are obsessed with what we lack, it teaches us gratitude for what we have. And most of all, if we feel alone and adrift in a friendless world, it offers us the priceless reassurance that God is with us.

Rabbi Kushner and most of us have suffered the loss of loved ones and have been wounded by life. Some of us currently live in the valley of the shadow of death and seem to have trouble getting out of that valley. Others live in error. Still others feel the effects of war, intimidation, depression, oppression, violence, and starvation. No matter what these enemies do to us, if we call upon God, Psalm 23, verse 4, asserts that God is with us and comforts us. No enemy can overcome or banish God’s presence and comfort towards us as God’s rod symbolically drives away enemies. God’s staff with its shepherd’s hook pulls us out of our dark valleys.

So pray Psalm 23 and make it your own.

Think About It:

• Do you find comfort in Psalm 23? How so?
• Who will go with you through your dark valley?
• Who are your enemies? And why are they your enemies?
• Why will God anoint you?
• Why are you confident or not confident that you dwell in the house of the Lord?

Happenings in today’s world distresses most people and me. Yet some of my friends do not even want to stay informed. They figure what will be will be, and they will deal with it when it happens. Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor, believes the worst sin anyone can commit is to be silent in the face of evil. When he accepted the award for the Nobel Peace Prize on December 10, 1986, he said the following in his acceptance speech.

We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must—at that moment—become the center of the Universe.

History is full of people, mostly men, who sought power and economic advantage over the lives of others through predatory practices. In the United States, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Elijah Cummings are two shining examples from a persecuted minority who challenged all predatory and unjust practices against their race and other under-represented and voiceless minorities. Unafraid, they rose up and shined a bright light for people to follow and to stand firm against the injustices practiced against all of them.

I pray that people of conscience will also rise up and do the same against racism, genocidal practices against the Kurds in Syria, Myanmar Rohingya Muslims, Yazidis, and the Uyghur Muslims in China. Persecuted minorities need the United States and the world’s protection against all predators, not withdrawal, silence, and the giving of green lights to the predators. We should not be pulled into darkness.

This holds true for evil cartels in countries such as Mexico and Central America where protection money must be paid by innocent civilians if they wish to stay alive and keep their children from being drafted into the cartels to be foot soldiers and sex slaves. We need to willingly leave our comfort zone to aid and assist vulnerable people who are preyed upon in this world. It is my hope that young people like Greta Thunberg will start a movement that challenges people of all ages to rise up with them and leave their comfort zone to shine a light on predators and their evil practices.

I pray that people will accept God’s calling to protect the innocent and vulnerable. May God bless, guide and protect them and give them the courage, energy, and wisdom necessary to confront and overcome all obstacles. May predators and their predatory practices be brought to justice so that peace and good will reign forever.

Think about it

• What are your thoughts on today’s genocides? What can you do about them?
• Why do you think anti-Semitism is on the rise? What can you do about it?
• What can you do about white supremacy?
• How and why have political leaders given the green light for the persecution of minorities?
• Actions and inactions have consequences. How can we call ourselves Christians when we turn a blind eye on unbridled evil? What can you do to help the persecuted?