Good living . . .
Our universal vision must change as to what the definition of charity is. When we withhold equality in all parts of life, we obfuscate the meaning of charity. Jesus calls us to protect the most vulnerable in our society. We must stop the denial of our history of inequality, since the first of our ancestors stepped on the shores of Virginia and Massachusetts. What we can do is recognize the errors made and reverse them for all humanity, and by extension, all of God’s creation.
Equal rights, be them for people of color or by gender, are supposed to be guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States, but lawmakers have passed laws limiting the rights of those who are on the fringe of society and will not allow their prejudices to be reversed. This is why religion and the churches in the United States must take a lead on this issue of equality.
Like it or not, we are all make in God’s image; nowhere in the words of Jesus does it say that we are to discriminate against a certain class of people. It is time for all people of faith help repair the virulent divisions created by duplicitous politicians. Jesus gives us certain instructions when it comes those left behind by society; “what you do to the least of these, you do to Me.” We cannot say we love Jesus and not love all people.
What Jesus asks is not easy; but, if we truly love Jesus and praise God for the gifts given to us, we cannot ignore the two greatest of the commandments. We are all poor in our humanity; the economic standards of the poor in Israel two thousand years ago may not be the same as they are today, but spiritually, we are just as bankrupt. We need to recognize God within us all. I pray that 2021 will bring us closer to Love.
© Russell Kendall Carter
Meditating to Heal 