Pastor's Message
                                                                                           

Spirit Steps/July 2008

Your neighbor is your other self, dwelling behind a wall.  In understanding,
all the walls shall fall down.  Who knows but that your neighbor is your better
self wearing another body?  See that you love him as you would yourself. 
He too is a manifestation of the Most High.
                                                                                                                  -Kahlil Gibran

I love the month of July.  Everything seems more relaxed.  It is vacation time.  It is picnic time.  It is time to celebrate the “4th”.  It is a time for fireworks.  (I love fireworks.  I even tolerate the crowds and traffic to view them.)  It is a time to celebrate the birth of our nation.  Yet as we celebrate this historic event, we are reminded of the difficult struggles and challenges our nation faces.  How do we deal with the incredibly complex issues involved with undocumented persons in this country?  How do we deal with the real threat of terrorism?  How do we deal with huge problem of mortgage foreclosures and the economic impact on our communities?  How do we address the ongoing problems of poverty, racism, and sexism? 

The marquee on the church next to our house (yes, I live next-door to a church) today reads, “Let us not become the evil we deplore.”  As I pass that sign each day, it causes me to stop and think.  I have become aware of how easy it is to become the evil we deplore.  When I first saw the sign, I remembered a scene from the movie Star War.  It was the scene where Darth Vader is fighting Luke Skywalker, and DarthVader is goading Luke Skywalker in an attempt to get Luke to get angry and kill Darth Vader thus giving into the dark side of The Force.  Identifying with Luke Skywalker I realized how tempting this would be.  In our fear, in our anger we would strike out at those we consider a threat believing that the best defense is a good offence.  Is that what our faith teaches?  Can we develop the capacity to understand?  Can we develop the capacity to see in the other the face of Christ? 

Food, shelter, clothing, a job and core relationships such as family and close friends form the basis of a stable life.  Without these anchors, it is almost impossible to do anything else with your life.  A person who has to struggle to find a meal every day, for instance, has a great deal of difficulty envisioning a future that is free from want.  To people who are homeless gifts of food and shelter are actually a second chance at life.  When our way of life or our faith is threatened we want to strike out.  Can we learn to accept this in the other?

As a Christian Community it seems to me that July might be a good time to demonstrate what it truly means to be a “nation under God” and work to understand the other.  As we understand the other maybe the answers to the complex issues facing our nation will become clearer and we will be able to reach out in love. 

Pastor Bob