Thursday, September 10, 2009

Easy come, easy go


These are busy days, and they're fraught with angry voices.

A friend talked with me today about her call process, noting that her presbytery of care had written all candidates a note saying, in effect, "Times are tough. Are you sure you want to be a minister? Have you thought about other possibilities?"

Great....

The health care reform debate seems to be granting people permission to be rude and uncivilized in their conduct. What are we modeling, as adults, when we name-call, accuse, form an opinion before allowing another to speak, are hostile and unbending?

One friend calls it a culture of discouragement. Another writes of a climate of incivility.

Surely the church can play a role in offering a different voice, a different climate a stance that befriends the weak and helpless, that tries out grace and finds it to be a roomy path.

Surely.....


Flikr photo

6 comments:

Barbara B. said...

wow, amen to this post!

Jan said...

Surely--I hope. With pastors like you, that seems possible!

Terri said...

amen. I know some of that anger first hand.

Rev SS said...

Surely could ... but will it?

Terri said...

I returned Desert Prayer to a private blog and disabled web notification, so updates won't show up on blogs...not as convenient I know...

Also, I'm coming to Chicago next week, will see if we can meet!

Dianna Woolley said...

Civilized to each other - seems the least we can be, doesn't it? Certainly the least when we consider that we've been called to "love another as we love ourselves" - I don't think people love themselves in many cases.........so being civilized is indeed impossible for them. I wish them peace and an end to their unhappiness and hatefilled rhetoric!