Kindfulness

 

I carved this a few years ago. It's still one of my favorite things. Often to be really fruitful, a tree has to be pruned, a vine has to be cut back. And then it produces more.

There's also something else in this carving, something that I often put on my artwork. There's a line at the bottom with a dot on both sides. It represents the timeline of humanity, which has a beginning and an end if the Bible is to be believed. And that line is straight, because none of us is above another. When God looks at that line, He sees humanity. He doesn't see one person way up high and one down low, it's not a curve. I often put that on my artwork because it reminds me that even with my high ideals, I'm not allowed to put myself up on a pedestal either. We are all on that line, all on the same level. That actually makes me happy, because it shows that what we can do is make lives as happy and kind as possible on that line. We don't have to strive to be higher than others, because that is not achievable. Everything outside of that line is God. And we are not gods.

One of the big reasons it's really important to pay attention to all of these executive orders that release criminals and discriminate against minorities is this: It encourages more of these people to be outrageously unkind, to come right out and say things that 10 years ago would have been unspeakable in public. On January 8, a big American conservative political activist, Charlie Kirk, announced that he thinks sign language interpreters should be done away with during emergency briefings. That means when emergency briefs are going out because a wildfire is about to wipe out an entire neighborhood, they don't want to make any exceptions for the deaf, because it's too distracting for those who don't have any issues. That is actually saying that those who are deaf are not worth as much as those who can hear. And that is the type of rhetoric that is coming out of the White House and being encouraged today.

Do you see how things have changed? Oh Christian. The deaf ARE the weak and the vulnerable. You should not only not be participating in this sort of discrimination; this is when you should be STANDING UP. This is WHERE Christ called you to be. This is WHEN you stand your ground and push back. This is where YOU turn over tables. 

Sadly, I see many people who do not believe in God, stepping up in place of those who were taught to stand up in church. They are at times less blinded by false preaching in the way that someone who grew up in a church sometimes can be. Some people believe God calls for blind obedience, but he does not. He wants our souls and bodies, but notice that he also wants our minds. We're supposed to think.

I find it disheartening that the churches who taught me about Christ sit back for the most part during all of this. Or even worse, they cheer it on, because they believe that the platform of abortion is the platform of Christ. And so many believe the words of Folly when he says that he is the way towards the abolition of abortion. They have traded the reality of love and kindness for the false words of a destroyer whose actions clearly show that he does not care about a baby. You might want to read your Bible again. Because that is NOT the fight you are called to. 

You are called to LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR, the neighbors who live next to you, and the neighbors of the world. People who are like you, but even more so, people who are not like you. People who hold the same beliefs as you, but even more so, the stranger with a completely different set of cultural traditions and beliefs. You are called, actually ordered, not to judge other people. You don't get to decide whether their beliefs or their lifestyle is wrong. He died so that you may live. He did not die so that you may judge. We are to trust him to judge and we only have to love. And that is a battle, isn't it? It is a battle to love those who are different, and the majority of people today seem to be picking the wrong side of that battle, led by someone who teaches hate as publicly as possible.

 

Stand up and fight the right battle. Love those who are not the same as you. Love them with the love of somebody who died for you, when you didn't deserve that love. Love them no matter what. You have an incredible freedom, the freedom to put aside judgment and simply love. AND THAT IS THE FIGHT. It's easy to fight against something concrete that you hate like abortion or a different lifestyle. And it's easy for a politician to use that to pull the wool over the eyes and redirect attention. It's easy to pretend that Christ loves a particular Nation more than another. But that is anti everything he stood for. Christian nationalism is Anti-Christ.

Put your head in the sand and hide. Believe words rather than actions. And you will fight on the wrong side. 

Or stand up. Look around and see the actions. Stop being blinded by people who pander to your own personal biases and dislikes. If you feel anger or hatred, let that be a signal that you are going the wrong direction, regardless of the side you claim to be on. And that goes for people who are struggling on both sides. It does no good to stand on a moral high ground and look down on everyone around you, no matter how tempting it is.

 But we are all on the same line. Do you understand what that means? None of us is above another. And anyone who tries to make the playing field different levels is selling something, sometimes literally.