I live my life in a very God-centered world; my vocation makes that obvious, of course, so you might be thinking, “So what?” I am one of those lucky people who gets to make a living doing what I love, and I am thankful to God every day for that. For the most part, the people I interact with who are religious and devoutly committed to the work of God through the church are good, nice, caring people. They want to make a difference for the better, so they spend their time and money, and energy trying to make the world a better place. They are my teachers and examples, and I wish people who don’t know them could see them the way I do.
I also spend a lot of time working with so-called secular people and organizations. Many of the individuals are devout and many are not. Some are far more conservative than I am while many have no religious affiliation at all. They do incredible work in the community, and I would be hard-pressed to tell you which of them are religious, and which are not. The adage, “They will know we are Christians by our love” is very true, but not universal. There have been times I have found out that a person I thought was a religious person was in fact an Atheist, which doesn’t surprise me, but definitely bothers some of my conservative Christian friends. The line between religious and secular is often invisible; we should be careful about judging one as better than the other.
I don’t want to live in a country that is one faith flavor, nor do I want to be in a mono-racial or cultural community either. Diversity makes the world a better place, and seeing the secular saints all around us should bring some humility into the God-fearing souls who smugly wear their faith like a crown. While I see very few people trying to move to Iran, I see a lot of people yearning for an America that is a pseudo-Christian version of Iran’s theocracy. I am glad that blue laws that restrict commerce on Sundays are fading away, and while it frustrates me when people choose their kid’s soccer or bagels and coffee with the family instead of church, I also am gratified by those who put God first on Sunday morning (or Friday or Saturday or whatever day they choose as sabbath time). We are a nation that was created to allow for religious zealotry and secularity to thrive side by side, and to change that to favor one way over the other would be detrimental to our way of life. It isn’t just unconstitutional; it’s unhealthy! The moment we allow one to overwhelm the other is the moment we end as a republic. That is the moment we become a place of enslavement, not freedom.
So, I thank all of you; those who honor God by doing good and those who do good because it makes you happy. As long as we are doing good together, we will be just fine. Let’s keep that happy balance, for the sake of the world and the sake of the Holy. Extremism is always dangerous, no matter how well-meaning. My free will is just as important as your faith. To believe otherwise is not of God.
Prayer – Holy God, You have created all of us with sacred worth and sacred free will. May we each find our own way to live for the good of our communities. Amen.
Today’s art is from a 2017 article called “On not leaning in, but not leaning out” by Brianne Derosa on the Motherwell website. The artist is not listed.