sundays speak .. violence and hope

one of the pleasures of my life at present is Sunday routine ..
if i can, i get to be with church
   and participate in the Gospel in its fullness, in context
and then spend some private time in a public coffee place
   ruminate
   read
   write

for me, it is a blissful blessing all its own

..

perusing Huffpost, the hot headline is ' days of rage ', a report on the dread israeli/palestinian conflict as it persists - death, threat, anger and rage, offense, abuse and confrontation ..

..

the hot topic at church was Magdalene house for abused women in Nashville and its Thistle Farms ..
hospitality
which, according to the preacher, speaks this .. " at bottom, at its core, christianity is hospitality ..
' in my Father's house are many dwellings; i go to prepare you one' .  " ..

..

while we war at one another
   there are pieces of peace in places
while we dispute vehemently over shiite and sunni, catholic and protestant, evangelical, fundamentalist, liberal ..
   there is the gospel in its going, here and there
while we kill in all its forms - abuse, hate, cast out, curse, malign and gossip, disregard and shame
   there is lifegiving in the name of Jesus

..

a certain man was travelling down to Jericho
and fell among thieves ..
a story Jesus told when asked about eternal life and "so, who is my neighbour ?"
a story about an outsider, a stranger who stopped on that wicked road to help
while all the religious folk walked on by, smelling themselves ..
the neighbour was the stranger, the outcast samaritan, the outsider
   says the preacher

..

while this world is marked and defined more by evil than by good
   there is the indescribable peace of God

i am fortunate to live in a 'free' country
while the majority live in or under threat of violence and war and greed that leads to poverty ..
very fortunate
and yet, there is a violence and war of another not-so-bulleted-and-bombed sort all around me ..
that abuse, hate, cast out, curse, malign and gossip, disregard and shame
that divide into groups
dismiss for colour
denigrate for sexuality
degrade for religion
disregard for social status
deprive of basic wellbeing for poverty
   the senseless delusion of finding oneself in riches
      “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.” ( Lk 12.15 )

..
the fruit of godliness is
love
joy
peace
patience
kindness
goodness
faithfulness
humility
self-control

this is where Godspirit leads and dwells

..

while we are a most violent and abusive breed of creature
there is Good News
messages of hope
for us
here, in our context
to be planted in the hearts of our neighbours ..
good seed
producing such fruit

hope in the face of dread

let us be a people of hope
blessing our neighbour with good! news
   in Jesus' name