Tom Adams
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“It’s a crummy world out there, and if you don’t know it, we’ll give you a field trip. It’s a beautiful world out there, and if you don’t know it, we’ll give you a field trip. When I wake up, I’m not sure if I’m called to save it, or savor it. I stretch that tension– until life sings.” (unknown source)
After the “No Kings” rally in DC, my wife and I stopped for a cup of coffee before we moved on to the Light the Night rally for Blood Cancers United. As we were outside reading, sipping our coffee, a young man came up to me and asked what I was reading. It so happened that I was reading a book on spiritual transformation. He was an inquisitive and cordial man of 23 and he mentioned that he had been reading Søren Kierkegaard, who has much to say about the human spirit. But he also mentioned that he was an atheist, but presumed I was a Christian. We soon moved on to the No Kings rally and the threat to democracy it was trying to counter. He then stated that he was not so much in favor of democracy. He didn’t think the masses could be trusted to govern themselves well.
Editor’s Note: Last week I wrote about the challenges I see in responding to the threat White Christian Nationalism presents to our democracy. This week, a friend and retired Lutheran pastor Mark Docken, provides a thoughtful explanation of why understanding and responding to Christian Nationalism is complex and important.
Editor’s Note: This week’s post is by guest contributor Mark Docken and continues the question of how do we all work for more racial justice without shutting down communication through “us” and “them” approaches and “discussions”. Mark is a native of the Midwest, a retired pastor and friend and brings a fresh perspective to the discussions.
TJ Klune writes in “The House in the Cerulean Sea” about magical children who are segregated from society because their differences are seen as dangerous and in need of regulation and prescribed assimilation. Thomas Page McBee writes in Amateur, a memoir of his journey as a transgender male: “It is not easy to face the long shadow of assimilation in the United States, which is as old as the nation itself. It is so much a part of our national history to pretend to be what we are not in our striving that many of us no longer see what we have lost.”
God is unconditional love, uncaused love, pure gift love. God’s love is God emptying God’s self for the sake of creation, into creation. God is unconditional love, self-giving love.
As we enter Black History Month, we hear the echoes of Martin Luther King’s call for a Beloved Community. Throughout the 1950s and into the 1960s, Dr. King preached a deep connection between God’s love, “beloved community,” non-violence, justice, and peace. In a time of world conflict and daily struggles to see each other as beloved brothers and sisters, Dr. King’s words offer us a road map.
Tom Adams writes and speaks on topics vital to the intersection of our personal lives with our community and global lives. He has for decades been engaged in and written about nonprofit leadership and transitions, spirituality and spiritual growth, how we each contribute to a more just and equitable world and recovery from addictions and the Twelve Step recovery movement.