A lot of the Christian books I’ve read about peace-making include some version of the teaching, “if you want to build peace beyond yourself, you have to first build peace within yourself.” Sure the sentiment makes a nice bumpers sticker, but I know there are a lot of us who aren’t feeling particularly peaceful with the state of our world.
Tag Archives: Justice
Wasting Time on Love
Today is not one of the usual sermons about learning to be less of a Martha and more of a Mary. Instead I want to sit with the word our Gospel uses describe Martha of Bethany “distracted.” How well does that word describe so many of us?
Mercy makes the Samaritan Good: The Rev. Mike Angell
Today Jesus takes what could have been another legalistic argument, counting insiders and outsiders. Instead when asked “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus gets practical. Your neighbor is the person who treats you with dignity, who treats you with love, who treats you with mercy. You neighbor when you go and do likewise.
Faced with War, Violence and Injustice, what can Christians do?
The ancient rabbis taught that the city of God hovers mere inches above the earthly city. The work of faithful people is never to lose sight of the justice, the hope, the fullness of life that can be. We pray. We seek out and stand with the lost, the least, the left out. We ask forgiveness. We soothe the suffering. We pity the afflicted. We hold the hands of the dying. We gather together with those who mourn. We shield the joyous. We build up, inch by inch, until our streets are just a little closer.
Mike Angell 