The Heart of Mercy

 "When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them,

'Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.'

When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders... 

Jesus said to her, 'Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?' 

She said, 'No one sir.' And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. 

Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.'"

- John 8: 7-11

        Today, August 26, 2020, there will be another execution carried out by the federal government.  I don't like to be political in my blog, because it's not the heart of what these postings are about.  The heart of this political posting, however, has to do with the Heart of Jesus.

In the passage from the Gospel of John that is included above, Jesus so clearly demonstrates his earlier statements that He came not to condemn the world but to save it.  And each one of us is the world for which He came to save. (John 3:17)  

When I was a child and heard this story of the adulterous woman read in church on Sunday morning, I thought, "It's so mean to throw rocks at someone!" - as I pictured the small stones that mischievous children would throw for entertainment or sometimes for destructive reasons.  How naive I was, in my childhood innocence!  These rocks were, in fact, huge stones that would be thrown by a group of people at the accused person until that person slowly died of blunt force trauma.  A barbaric and gruesome act of capital punishment - and behavior that obviously was displeasing to our Lord Jesus.  

A year ago this month, I said yes to a nudging by the Holy Spirit to become a pen pal to a man on death row in NC.  My life has not been the same since then.  My earlier conviction that the death penalty is inherently wrong (and another evil we seem to celebrate in this country) became not just political - it became personal!  My pen pal has slowly become my friend, and I could no longer just sit back and oppose the death penalty in theory, I had to take action.  My friendship with this young man has been a two-way blessing.  He assures me of how much he values my letters that share day-to-day activities, while we both write stories from our lives, and about books we have read and enjoyed.  We write about our favorite basketball teams, local and national news, and TV shows.  He calls me and we enjoy 15 minutes of chatting and laughing, listening and consoling. And I have come to learn about the very young person who was condemned to die and the man he is today who shows compassion and remorse, thoughtfulness and friendship.  He is so much more than the worst things that he has ever done.  We are first and foremost children of God - broken and wounded by life.  We are all worthy of God's redemption.

If we think that today's execution of a man has no affect on you or on this country, I challenge you to educate yourself, before moving on to something less troubling to read today. There are numerous books where one can learn about the toll that this cold-blooded act has on the defense attorneys, the correctional officers, the "death teams," and the prison wardens and administrative staff.  The families and friends of those being killed by the state are deeply impacted; when their loved one was sentenced to death row, so were they.  And what may be the most surprising - not all victims' families want to see the offender killed.  Thinking that's true is a myth that some people want us to believe.  Organizations and non-profits have been formed by multiple victims' families to help in abolishing the death penalty!

I hope you will choose to learn more about this emotional and controversial political, social, and spiritual problem. Here's a short list of books, from so many written, that I can attest to for educating yourself on this issue:

Lethal State: A History of the Death Penalty in North Carolina

The Death of Innocents: The Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions

Executing Grace: How the Death Penalty Killed Jesus and Why It’s Killing Us

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

Dead Man Walking

The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row

Death Row: The Final Minutes

Where Justice and Mercy Meet

Crimson Letters: Voices from Death Row

Here also are websites where you can literally spend hours reading and learning - and, hopefully, taking action:

www.deathpenaltyinfo.org

www.ncadp.org

www.deathpenaltyaction.org

www.witnesstoinnocence.org

www.eji.org

www.catholicsmobilizing.org

www.aclu.org

I ask you to spend some time today in prayer for the victims, the family and friends of the victims, and those of the condemned. Pray too for the federal officers, the warden, the condemned's fellow death row inmates, and for Lezmond Mitchell himself, as he is put to death...  And then ask yourself if you feel safer because this man died today.  

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Breathing into our True Hearts

       It has been a number of weeks since I have written, and I found myself waiting for Pentecost to begin posting again.  And then before Pentecost Sunday arrived the heart of our nation was ripped open and all the grief, anger, frustration, and pain came pouring out for the life of George Floyd so senselessly, and yet, purposely taken.

The words, “I can’t breathe,” said (yet again) in a pleading murmur tears at my heart so badly that I can barely think about them.  How much of one’s humanity, moral compass, and sense of decency have to have been shut off, before a person can ignore such a plea? 

God breathed life into the first human being and loved him so much that God provided him a mate and then gave to them both all this glorious natural creation for them (and for us) to enjoy.  Scripture says it wasn’t until God breathed into the nostrils of the first human that he “became a living being.”  And, as you know, the story goes downhill from there.  Christianity teaches of the original sin of the first man and woman, when they disobeyed God’s request.  And humanity continues to disobey God’s natural law of love and gratitude.

In the same way that our Creator breathed life into us, Christ breathed the Holy Spirit into the disciples, according to John 20: 19-23.   After His resurrection, he appeared before them, wishing them His Peace. Then He “breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”  I find it sorrowfully ironic that breath is so important to each of the Three Persons of the Trinity, and yet humanity has made so light of it, taken it away as easily as appearing to comfortably kneel upon a helpless man’s windpipe with one’s hands in one’s pockets.

How long before this nation wakes up to its own “original sin” of creating a system of white supremacy and giving birth to all the ugliest parts of racism?  How can any nation truly be peaceful when it has been founded by the conquering and attempted annihilation of native people?  How can there be justice when the land of a nation was stolen right out from under the indigenous people who lived here for more than 10,000 years before they arrived?  How can a nation be considered great and powerful when most of its very foundation was built by human souls that were kidnapped and forced to be enslaved for centuries?  How can there be equality, when these same people remain enslaved by a system that is weighted in such a way that only those who have the most power keep the most power? 

When can the breath of living Black men and women, before and after the murder of George Floyd, be inhaled freely – without the raggedness of fear and without the shallowness of dread?  Has our nation at last reached its tipping point?  Can injustice finally topple and break open so that everyone can clearly see that reform needs to start at the top and not stop until it puddles around the realities of slavery, lynching, Jim Crow, stop-and-frisk, three-strikes laws, disproportionate incarceration of people of color, and police brutality?  When will these things become ugly memories?

During this time of the COVID-19 pandemic, I was looking forward to the joy of Pentecost.  It’s a time in the church year that I especially enjoy.  This year, 2020, has been all about breathing – the struggle for breath that those sick with coronavirus experience.  The need for some to be on ventilators so that their bodies can still take in much needed air.  And now, there’s one more breath to consider in 2020:  The breath being torturously snatched from a helpless George Floyd, as he lies on the dirty pavement, at the mercy of merciless men.

Breath – it’s how we began life.  May we each – and as a nation – come to know the breath of the Holy Spirit, as it cleanses and renews, as it keeps us alive and makes us holy.  God bless you and keep you safe from all harm.

 💙

A Heart that Waits and Learns

       It is Holy Saturday, and as we anxiously await the rolling away of the stone, discovering Jesus in the garden, finding Him watching for us on the shore - and waiting for this pandemic to be subdued and controlled - I am reminded that this time is ripe for getting to know better my God and my Self. 

There are poems and prayers circulating about this time of pandemic, and each one that I've been sent (or sent myself) speak to opportunities during this time of waiting: Getting to know our families more; discovering talents that we didn't know we had; spending time just "being."  In actuality, all have to do with ultimately becoming the person that we were created to be.  

But I challenge us not to go about trying to create ourselves into these more grateful, evolved beings but instead learning to allow God to show us our authentic selves, the unique individuals that God created us to become. Our true self is already within each of us; we are authentically and beautifully created, while still in our mothers' wombs.  We have been knit together by a Loving Creator.

I asked myself this week: What am I doing for Christ during this pandemic?  I have been feeling stymied by the suspension of what I was doing before we began self-isolating.  Opportunities to continue volunteering outside my home have all but ceased, but other occasions for loving my neighbor have increased or been discovered... not to mention more time for prayer: The money I'm saving on gas alone can go to local food pantries that are feeding even more people now; I have more time to read about the causes that I am involved in or in which I want to become involved so that I'm better educated and better prepared to take action someday soon; I have more time to connect with friends in the same town or across the country; I can send more letters and cards to my friend on death row to help keep up his spirits while there are no visitations permitted; I can spend more time praying for others and the countless needs of those around the world; I can meet with people from my church more easily, because we're now just a click away and not 50 minutes apart; I can fall in love with my spouse again; talk to my cat more and watch her lovingly respond to the extra attention; I can literally watch God recreating the world, as each day the leaves are bigger and greener and the irises go from dormant to full bloom!  My list could go on and on, and I'm sure your list of callings and blessings could do the same.

As we excitedly await speaking "Alleluia! He is Risen!" let's remember that we are not just in a holding pattern during COVID-19.  Each of us has more time and more quiet to find within ourselves the person that each was born to become.  And we have more time to do so as we put on Christ during these holiest of days.  Let our Lord teach you about yourself. Be open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit - no matter how small you think the nudge may be. Allow the Creator to show you the Unconditional Love in which you were born.  Watch for the glory of the empty tomb. Await His calling you by name - and, importantly, prepare yourself to answer.

Happy Easter to friends and family!  Blessings and all Good be to you and to those you love. 

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A Heart that will Listen to You

       It is Noon on the second Sunday that all churches in our area are closed for worship.  I hope that most, if not all, of you have found either that your church offers a "virtual worship service" or that you have found another church that offers you the Word (online) on Sunday mornings.

Everyone who knows me personally, or reads this blog, knows that I am a spiritual director.  I do presently meet with directees online - via Skype or Zoom.  At this stressful time, I want to offer one free 30-minute session of spiritual direction to anyone who feels isolated from family, friends, or from God or to anyone who has been curious about spiritual direction (what is it? why do I want it? what will I "get" from it?).  My contact information may be found at the bottom of this screen.  If you choose for us to continue to meet together, I offer a sliding-scale fee.  I will never turn away anyone because of lack of funds.

Friends, please pass on this offer to anyone that you think may want or is looking for a heart that will listen to them.  Or better yet, take the time to reach out yourself.  We are all called, at this time especially, to be Christ to one another. 

Stay well, and abide in His Peace.  

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A Non-Judgmental Heart

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

"Do not judge, and you will not be judged;

do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.

Forgive, and you will be forgiven;

give, and it will be given to you.

A good measure, pressed down, shaken together,

running over, will be put into your lap;

for the measure you give is the measure you will get back."

Luke 6: 36 -38

     Now that we are well into the 40 days of Lent, many of us have given up something that we usually enjoy or indulge in.  If we give up chocolate, are we secretly wanting to lose weight?  (If so, have you noticed it never works?☺) Rather than giving up something we pamper ourselves with or feel we are entitled to, perhaps our Lord is asking us to dig deeper and give up something that usually is neither enjoyable nor to our liking. 

For example, a group of us, who meet annually for Lenten meals and prayer once a week, have chosen to give up something that is keeping us separated from the love of God and from loving our neighbor.  In the Gospel reading for Monday, March 9, 2020, Jesus continues his instructions for his followers on how to live the Good News.  The sixth chapter of Luke is full of important events and teachings: Jesus chooses his 12 and also gives his lesson known as the Beatitudes. Jesus goes on to compare the works of the good with the selfishness of the wicked, and then we're brought to today's Gospel.  We hear about one quality we can choose to put on for Lent and one characteristic that we can give up. 

Christ tells his followers to be like their Heavenly Father, the One He has been describing to his listeners. And one of the ways to be like our Creator is to be merciful. Mercy is defined as leniency and compassion.  Another way to see mercy is the ability to remain free of judgment and instead be forgiving, when someone has harmed you.  Being non-judgmental keeps us merciful, because we have to look beyond the surface action or just the words we hear.  We must not condemn people, but instead we can be more understanding.  

This command from Christ is one of the hardest instructions to follow, but without at least trying to master it, there is no way that we can love our enemies and do good to those who hurt us, or even follow the Golden Rule.  Being judged, and being condemned, especially wrongly, is a mighty lesson in forgiveness.  But even here, Jesus lets us know that our efforts will not go unrewarded. Whatever mercy and forgiveness we are able to give, our Heavenly Parent will show us the same - and then even more so.  The love, compassion, and benevolence of our gracious God will be given to us till it overflows! 

So there is still time to do something for the sake of your spiritual life during this season of Lent.  In addition to giving up that indulgence, give up being narrow in your opinion of others; give up summing up someone before (or right after) you meet them; or give up condemning someone for their sin, because we are all sinners!  Instead, offer the benefit of the doubt, forgive instead of holding a grudge, or offer understanding instead of condemnation.  

Lent is a time for reflection on our relationship with God - and about what stands in the way of that connection.  We can give up something and make a sacrifice for Christ, but is that enough?  Will giving up going to the movies or drinking expensive coffee bring you closer to God?  Or will being more forgiving tear down barriers between you and God, between you and your neighbor?  It's your choice; choose from your heart.

💙