As I mentioned last week, I urged the participants of our last Lenten Soup Supper to call their Jewish friends. The program was about how antisemitism over the last 2000 years has been rooted in the Christian Scriptures, and that Jews have been abused by people of my faith tradition for too long. None of us can change the world or the past, but we can be allies. Jews all over the world are afraid of what is happening around them – they are not okay. And before anyone starts going in one direction or another, this is not a recent phenomenon; antisemitic violence has been increasing for decades. It is also part of a symptom of human sickness – the need – desire – proclivity – to hate people who are different than we are. To feel superior or stronger or more in charge. None of us is okay.
Hate – bias – inequality – they come in many forms, and if you were to ask your non-hetero friends if they are okay, I would guess they would say no. If you were to ask women if they feel safe – again, no. MAGA supporters are definitely not okay – most I’ve talked to have gotten to their perspectives because they are afraid of the changes we have seen happening over the last 60 years in America. Agree with them or not, they are not okay. Muslims are afraid of being targeted – they are not okay. Immigrants – here legally or not – born here, or not – are afraid to leave their homes – they are not okay. People are carrying guns at increasingly alarming rates, and while these fears are multiplied by the news and the internet, all of this was happening well before we could log on and fear-scroll. None of us is okay.
I don’t know what could or would stop all of this fear, so I can only speak for me. I’m better when I read different opinions and talk to people who are not like me. I am better when I worship and pray for the common good, and not just myself. I am better when I don’t judge or make assumptions about other people’s dress or behavior or life. When I listen. When I try to understand. Because none of us has any idea what anyone else has gone through. None of us knows each other’s trauma. And none of us can have everything our way. I just want to be okay, not perfect. I want a voice, not control. And I want others to be safe and okay, no matter what their religion or voting record or love life looks like. I want you to be okay, and all you need to want is the same for me. If we cared just a little bit more about each other, we might all get the chance to be okay. Or, at least, better.
Prayer – God of mercy, You never promised perfection in this life, but You have promised us a future filled with hope. That is up to all of us – give us the strength to make this world a place where we can all be okay. Amen.
Today’s art is “Feeling Safe – the Art of Serenity” by Petra Heveroch.